Y2K, the Dot Com Bubble, and Opportunity Everywhere

Y2K, the Dot Com Bubble, and Opportunity Everywhere - Lessons Learned, Episode 20

I have to say, 1999 was a great year for my business. Prince says it all: "Life is just a party and parties weren't meant to last." (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rblt2EtFfC4) 2000 would burst the bubble. But 1999 was all about SALES. And for me, a lot of lessons about marketing and sales. 

The Y2K rollover brought a great deal of FUD - fear, uncertainty, and doubt - to businesses of all sizes. As I mentioned in the last episode, some businesses were very worried, knowing that they had done nothing to prepare for problems.

I believe no one really thought he world would end. But the more you knew about the state of computer code at the time, the more you worried that a lot of stuff would just not work right. Luckily, small businesses could do some upgrades to BIOS code, operating systems, and software to avoid the problems. Or - and here's the part I enjoyed the most - they could just buy a new computer with none of those problems built in.

I committed to creating program specifically designed to help small businesses during this time. These included:

• Seminars on Y2K preparation from a strictly business perspective
• Seminars on Y2K preparation for technology folks
• Y2K audits to see if companies had software and hardware that wouldn't make it
• and lots of marketing to make sure everyone knew that we were offering these services

And here are the most important things I learned from the year-long campaign.

First, there are buyers and non-buyers. Some people were 100% guaranteed to have problems on 1/1/00 if they did not upgrade to 1/1/2000. And yet, they refused to spend any money. 

I was busy enough that didn't bother to bug them about it. Some did come back to me later (after 1/1/2000). By then I had decided that they either needed to sign a contract or I would refer them to someone else for tech support. None of them signed a contract.

As Russell Brunson reminds us, a buyer is a buyer. And, conversely, a non-buyer is a non-buyer.

Second, holding seminars, charging for them, and promoting them, gives you instant credibility as an expert. I think I was charging between $99 and $199 per person for seminars on Y2K preparedness for small business.

Here's the best part. I did ONE live presentation to an audience of about 100 people. And I never held any of my focused seminars at all. No one signed up. Why is that good? Because LOTS of people called me and said, "I don't have time for your seminar. Can you come by, evaluate our systems, and make sure we have what we need?" Yes. We have a deal for that service.

In other words, I sold a lot of consulting services because I advertised seminars. Clearly, I got my advertising in front of the right people. But they didn't want to be personally educated. They wanted their business to survive - and I was the person expert enough to hold a seminar on the topic.

I later repeated this with cloud services, virtual servers, and other topics. No one who doesn't attend a seminar knows whether anyone else actually signed up for it. It's like Schrodinger's Seminar. Is it live? 

Third, I was sold on direct mail! I had always dabbled in direct mail (postal mail) as a marketing tool. With y2K I went all-in. I sent letters, postcards, and flyers. I sent reminders, newsletters, and stories with examples of how to check some things yourself.

Pretty much everything we did with direct mail worked. We had to mail the same folks again and again. But we always got a response. And I was committed to direct mail as a major lead source from then on.

Fourth, I personalized the lesson you've heard a hundred times: Don't mine for gold. All the money is in selling shovels to miners. When you are absolutely certain that people need something, and that you can provide it, drop your insecurities and sell that thing!

Over the years, I enjoyed the gold rushes to in-house computers, in-house servers, Small Business Server, cloud services, SaaS, and other technologies. As I mentioned in Episode 15, I completely regret my choice to skip the connectivity gold rush. But I sold my share of shovels.

The bottom line is that 1999 met the two "perfect" goals I had set for the year. 1) I made money in the present. And 2) I gained new clients and prospects for the future. I started the year wondering where to go from here, and I finished it with a solid business to build on.

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My favorite Y2K-prep story. One of my favorite clients ran a software company that was a spinoff of a former client's company. They did whatever it took to make sure they didn't have one second of downtime.

That included investing in a rooftop generator, a failover system for the electricity, and redundant internet connections. My friend Andrew literally spent New Years Eve 2000 up on the roof. He "failed over" to the generator before midnight, checked out all the operations, and "failed back" after we were safely into the new year.

Maybe not his favorite new years eve story, but it's a good one he can talk about forever.

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Were you in business back then? I'd love to hear about your Y2K prep.

All comments welcome.

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Episode 20

This Episode is part of the ongoing Lessons Learned series. For all the information, and an index of Lessons Learned episodes, go to the Lessons Learned Page. 

Leave comments and questions below. And join me next week, right here.

Subscribe to the blog so you don't miss a thing.

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Personal Health Crisis Takes Center Stage - Lessons Learned

Personal Health Crisis Takes Center Stage 

- Lessons Learned

Way back in 1999, my life took a sudden turn. I came down with a disease called rheumatoid arthritis. R.A. is an immune disease in which the body attacks itself. In particular, the immune system goes into overdrive and begins attacking specific joints and body parts.

The symptoms are pain in the the joints (primarily hands, feet, wrists, and knees), plus extreme exhaustion. That's the very short list of symptoms. The long list is extremely long, which leads to the disease being misdiagnosed quite frequently. I was lucky to be properly diagnosed within six months. (I recently wrote a long blog post about this on my Relax Focus Succeed blog. See https://relaxfocussucceed.com/2024/07/25-years-with-rheumatoid-arthritis-my-personal-report/.)

For my business, this disease hit at a critical time. I had a part-time employee. I was still working from a home office, but my employee never showed up there. We met at coffee shops and client offices. I had about a dozen clients under contract, but this was before "managed services" and flat fee services came along. 

A key thing to remember about the world we now call break/fix: You begin every money with zero dollars in the bank and zero dollars of predictable revenue. You can expect more than that, but any client can simply say, "Let's skip this month," and the projected money is just gone.

Note the date. This was 1999. This was, strangely enough, a truly great time to be in the IT business. Really big, old systems (like the company I left in 1995) had lots of old code written in old languages. That meant that the code was filled with two-digit year fields, often written in COBOL. There was legitimate concern that 1999 would rollover to 1900 and mess up a lot of stuff. Image a spreadsheet with this problem!

Small business was another story. There were a few things that could go very wrong, like security codes expiring when the date says 1900. But most problems were simply annoying: Calendars show the wrong dates for the month and day. Many, many problems could be fixed by simply resetting the date in the BIOS or operating system.

Ultimately, businesses that did not have custom-built software had almost nothing to worry about. They might have hardware and software that was not Y2K ready. But that made the fix easy: Buy new hardware and buy new software.

Hence, it was a good year to be in the IT business. We didn't create the situation, but we had an easy fix. Not cheap. Certainly not free. But easy.

I built many promotions around Y2K preparedness and Y2K testing and verifications. And, of course, we sold a lot of hardware and software. So it was a pretty busy year.

On the personal front, we had bought a new house. I was spending my evenings fixing up the new house so we could move in, and fixing up the old house to turn into rental property. My long days included working enough hours to pay for everything (including an employee), making sales, doing all the marketing, and then working until midnight. 

My daughter was in first grade and I was the primary caregiver. So I also took her to school, picked her up, and she hung out with me doing whatever "fixing" needed to be done each day.

Given all that, it didn't seem out of place to wake up one day and feel exhausted and painful all over. It felt a lot like someone who was working hard on all fronts and physically wearing out his body at the same time.

The exhaustion grew worse and worse. Eventually, it took me more than an hour to get out of bed in the morning. I later learned that one of the key screening questions for RA is, "How long does it take you to get out of bed in the morning?" Even today, twenty-five years later, I am asked that question every time I see my rheumatologist.

Along with the diagnosis was a severe prediction: If we don't get this under control, you will be too crippled to work in ten years. I paid attention to that warning, for sure. I do whatever my doctor says. I take the medications they tell me to. I move the way they tell me. I eat the way they tell me. I do what I'm told!

It took about two years to get the R.A. under control. But I have been operating at a lower, slower level of activity since then. I simply cannot work an eight-hour day. I certainly can't work ten or twelve hours in a day. And I can't work every day. 

I have to recharge my batteries and I have to avoid habits that will build cumulative exhaustion.

My challenge was how to grow my business, manage my home life, and continue to pay all the bills while working a lot fewer hours  than anyone else. Several key lessons came out of this.

First, I learned the "absolute truth" that no one is paying attention to me. No one is paying attention to you, either. If you take off at 3PM, but still manage to answer voicemails and emails during business hours, no one will know that you're not sitting at a desk, or crawling under a desk. Clients spend their time thinking about themselves, not you.

Second, I discovered the value of real self-care. This includes exercise, going to the chiropractor, getting massages, meditating, and spending time recharging my batteries. Ultimately, I believe it is this self-care that gave me the energy and stamina I needed to get few the next five years.

When I finally got the disease "under control," my business had grown to one part-time and one full-time employee, a couple dozen clients under contract, and a solid, predictable set of revenue streams. I didn't have to do all the work, but I did a lot of it.

I decided to write a book about my philosophy for work/life balance and achieving spectacular results without working yourself to death. And, thus, the Relax Focus Succeed book, blog, and web site came into existence. RFS won a book award that is one of the very few awards I keep around where I can find it and look at it from time to time.

Ultimately, I hope the RFS philosophy takes on a life of its own. It is probably the most important thing I've ever produced. You can learn more at https://www.relaxfocussucceed.com.

All comments welcome.

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Episode 19

This Episode is part of the ongoing Lessons Learned series. For all the information, and an index of Lessons Learned episodes, go to the Lessons Learned Page. 

Leave comments and questions below. And join me next week, right here.

Subscribe to the blog so you don't miss a thing.

:-)

The ASCII Group Expands Member Advisory Committee with Four New Appointments

The latest missive from my friends at ASCII . . .

The ASCII Group Expands Member Advisory Committee with Four New Appointments

Washington, D.C. – February 19, 2025 – The ASCII Group, North America’s leading community for independent Managed Service Providers (MSPs), is pleased to announce the appointment of four distinguished MSP leaders to its Member Advisory Committee: Kathy Durfee of TechHouse; Michael Goldstein of LAN Infotech, LLC; Felicia King of Quality Plus Consulting; and Ken Wong of DragonTek International. These accomplished professionals bring a wealth of experience and insight to the committee, further strengthening ASCII’s commitment to supporting MSPs in an ever-evolving technology landscape.

The Member Advisory Committee is comprised of select IT professionals from diverse technology sectors who collaborate with ASCII leadership to provide strategic input on membership initiatives, industry challenges, and emerging opportunities. By expanding the committee with these new members, ASCII is reinforcing its mission to equip MSPs with the tools and knowledge needed to navigate the next phase of industry transformation.

“Our Advisory Committee plays a crucial role in shaping the direction of ASCII’s programs and initiatives,” said Alan Weinberger, Chairman and CEO of The ASCII Group. “The addition of Kathy, Michael, Felicia, and Ken enhances our ability to provide meaningful guidance to our growing community as the industry continues to evolve.”

Representing 12 member businesses across North America, the Member Advisory Committee meets regularly with ASCII leadership to discuss new alliances, peer networking opportunities, and innovative ways to bring value to the membership. 

In addition to the newly appointed members, the ASCII Member Advisory Committee includes Joe Balsarotti, Tom Fox, Sean Jennings, Chad Kempt, Stanley Louissaint, Stephen Monk, Kim Nielsen, and David Stinner. Established in 2001, the committee remains a vital part of ASCII’s dedication to fostering collaboration and driving innovation within the MSP community.

For more information about The ASCII Group and its initiatives, visit www.ascii.com.

About The ASCII Group, Inc.

Founded in 1984, The ASCII Group is the original IT community of the channel, uniting Managed Service Providers (MSPs) across North America. As a vendor-neutral organization, ASCII provides unbiased resources and a collaborative environment to support business growth. Members span the U.S. and Canada, ranging from SMB-focused MSPs to international solution providers. ASCII offers leveraged purchasing programs, education, marketing support, peer networking, and more, complemented by a vibrant ecosystem of technology vendors. Learn more at www.ascii.com.

-30-

:-)

Jimmy the Phone Guy - the Saga Begins

Jimmy the Phone Guy - the Saga Begins - Lessons Learned

If you read Cloud Services in a Month, you might remember Jimmy the Phone Guy. The name is real. I didn't change it because I don't care if he knows I'm talking about him. 

I met Jimmy when he was a contractor for one of my favorite early clients. I was in charge of Internet operations and worked closely with the guy in charge of the the Novell network and the entire internal wiring, including fibre channel.

Jimmy literally pulled the wires. And he was good. Some phone techs don't seem to actually care. They put connections in stupid places, don't label anything, and some don't even test their wiring when they're done. Jimmy did a beautiful job.

The office I worked in was actually about fifty employees spread across three small-ish buildings. So "wiring" included buried pipes between buildings so that the network could be shared and the wires were secured. It was a sweet setup for 1996.

At that time, I "specialized" in getting people connected to this new thing called the Internet. And that quickly morphed into the real opportunity: Bringing networks into small businesses. Jimmy and I got along and he saw that I had some skills with networking.

One day, he invited me to be a subcontractor on a two-day job in the Bay Area. He had the then-rare skill of setting up network and phone wiring together, and making it perfect. He had sold a client on the concept of not just phones, but also a network. He needed me to sell a server, several desktops, and all the stuff it took to make them talk to each other, and the Internet.

On the second day of that job, Jimmy told me flat out, "Someday, I'm going to take all your clients." Wow, I thought. So I asked him to explain.

His vision was that, just like the current job, he would start with a phone referral. Then he would add the network. And all he had to do was to learn how to make Windows computers talk to each other and he'd be set. My only response was, "Bring it on."

As Jimmy explained it, he was already in every office. He was already in their billing system. He was already a contractor for them. And his work was rock solid, so most people never needed him except if they needed to change the phone tree of run lines for a new phone extension. He had a good reputation.

"All" he needed to learn was Windows networking, TCP/IP, NetBEUI, IPX/SPX, plus operating systems such as Windows server, Windows desktop, Novell services. Oh, and printing protocols and troubleshooting all of the above.  

Here's the lesson I learned, which I still find truth in today. When you do your job well, it looks easy to other people. Eventually, this evolved into what I can The Paradox of Simplicity. 

The Paradox of Simplicity simply states: Everyone thinks they can do everyone else's job. Not great. Not as well. But enough to get by. For example, with Photoshop, I can do some graphic (see this blog). I wouldn't try to sell any graphic work I've done. But it's good enough. I certainly wouldn't create my own book cover.

We download legal agreements we don't understand rather than hire a lawyer. We take pictures with our cell phones rather than hire a photographer. We buy a do-it-yourself kit rather than hire a professional for just about everything. 

But thinking you can do something good enough won't cut it when your business is on the line. 

Jimmy also opened my eyes to something I had done a little of and would do a lot more of: sub-contracting with people who sold other services to small businesses. Sometimes, I just networked with people who could be a source of lead referrals. Sometimes, I hired other IT consultants to help with large jobs. Sometimes, I found specialists who allowed me to expand my offering without learning a new skill (e.g., printer repair).

Working with others in the field, and in adjacent fields, is a great way to keep your fingers on the pulse of small business technology. It help you to focus on the nature of the changing business environment you work in. See yesterday's blog post (You won't be taken out by a competitor; You'll be taken out by a new business model).

Jimmy and I did a few jobs together. But that client, Debbie, signed a contract with me to provide support for her new server, desktops, laptops, and the entire network. She was one of our longest-standing clients until I sold the business. But I still manage a few things for her. In fact, I just sent her an invoice to renew her domain registration. So she's still a client in a small way.

There's more to the Jimmy story. But I'll tell you that story another day.

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This Episode is part of the ongoing Lessons Learned series. For all the information, and an index of Lessons Learned episodes, go to the Lessons Learned Page. 

Leave comments and questions below. And join me next week, right here.

Subscribe to the blog so you don't miss a thing.

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You Won't Be Taken Out by a Competitor

I hope you have some favorite authors (Michael Gerber, Brene Brown, Jim Collins, etc.). I certainly do. And one of them is Clayton Christensen. I consume everything I can by him. If you haven't read (or listened to) his two biggest books, I highly encourage you to do so right now:

- The Innovator's Dilemma - https://amzn.to/42PL9iR

and

- The Innovator's Solution - https://amzn.to/4hwJ7bZ

He literally defined what "disruption" means in the modern business world.

So anyway . . .

Disruption is far more than being conquered by a wily competitor, or one with more money. Most people fear those outcomes. But Christensen makes clear that disruption is not about losing the battle you're fighting today. Disruption happens when someone comes along with a better business model

You won't be taken out by a competitor. You'll be taken out by a new business model.

I always try to steer people away from paying attention to your competition. I absolutely believe that your so-called competition is irrelevant. It's very rare, in the 21st century, to have two monster competitors who divide 95% of the market between them. And it's impossible in small business, by definition. And so, it's never true that you lose a dollar when I earn a dollar.*

You've probably heard the old truth that your real competition is no decision or no change. That's true most of the time. But don't forget that you can simply be displaced. That's where most businesses die: They are displaced, but not by the competition. They're displaced by new technologies and businesses made possible by new technologies.

In my lifetime, many businesses have simply vanished. Consider almost any kind of small appliance repair. Do you remember TV repair shops? Oh, some also repaired VCRs. And don't forget "video" rentals like Blockbuster. And, along with them, record stores.

I'm not talking about the disappearing technology itself. That's normal and essentially built into your job. You'll always adopt the new technology, even if you're slow to get there. 

I'm talking about the business models that don't exist anymore. When I first got started as an IT consultant, I made really big money getting people connected to the Internet. This was literally 1995 and it was the bluest ocean that ever existed. There were thousands of companies connected to the Internet, and hundreds of millions that were not.

That business model lasted less than five years. IT consulting onsite became the next big thing. And then managed services and cloud consulting. Now it's software (and everything else) as a service. Next up AI.

How will AI disrupt your business? It's not completely clear yet, but hints are all around. (See my blog from Feb. 3: https://blog.smallbizthoughts.com/2025/02/the-two-biggest-challenges-for-msps.html).

Consider: What do you do most of the time? Google it. Now open Gemini or ChatGPT and ask how to fix your biggest problems. Today, an eager tech-savvy client can do that. Tomorrow, the average office manager will be able to.

Example: Router Configuration by AI

I opened Gemini and asked, "please give me step by step instructions for configuring a new cisco router." It responded:

Configuring a Cisco router can seem daunting, but it's a straightforward process when broken down into steps. Here's a comprehensive guide to get you started:

1. Preparation

• Gather necessary equipment: You'll need the Cisco router, a console cable, a computer with a terminal emulation program (like PuTTY or Tera Term), and any necessary network cables.
• Connect the console cable: Connect one end of the console cable to the console port on the router and the other end to a¹ USB port on your computer (you may need a USB-to-serial adapter).
• Open a terminal emulation program: Configure the program with the following settings:
  • Baud rate: 9600
  • Data bits: 8
  • Parity: None
  • Stop bits: 1
  • Flow control: None

2. Initial Configuration

• Power on the router: Once the router powers on, you'll see a series of messages in the terminal window.
• Enter privileged EXEC mode: At the prompt, type enable  and press Enter. You'll be prompted for a password if one has been set.
• Enter global configuration mode: Type configure terminal  and press Enter.

3. Basic Configuration

• Set the hostname: Type hostname <your_router_name>  (e.g., hostname MyRouter)  and press Enter. This gives your router a unique name.
• Configure interfaces:
  • Identify the interfaces you need to configure (e.g., GigabitEthernet0/0, FastEthernet0/1).
  • For each interface, enter interface configuration mode: interface <interface_name>  (e.g., interface GigabitEthernet0/0).
  • Assign an IP address and subnet mask: ip address <ip_address> <subnet_mask> (e.g., ip address 192.168.1.1 255.255.255.0 ).
  • Enable the interface: no shutdown .
  • Exit interface configuration mode: exit .
• Set passwords:
  • Enable secret password: enable secret <password>  (this encrypts the password).
  • Console password: line console 0 , password <password> ,  login .
  • VTY password (for remote access): line vty 0 4 , password <password>  ,login  .

4. Advanced Configuration (Optional)

• Configure routing protocols: If you have multiple networks, you'll need to configure a routing protocol (e.g., RIP, OSPF) to allow the router to forward traffic between them.
• Set up DHCP: If you want the router to assign IP addresses to devices on your network, you can configure it as a DHCP server.
• Configure NAT: If you want devices on your local network to be able to access the internet using a single public IP address, you'll need to configure Network Address Translation (NAT).

5. Save the Configuration

• Exit global configuration mode: Type exit  until you are back in privileged EXEC mode.
• Save the configuration: Type copy running-config startup-config  and press Enter. This saves the configuration to the router's NVRAM, so it will be loaded when the router restarts.

Important Notes:

• This is a basic configuration guide. Cisco routers have many advanced features that you may need to configure depending on your specific needs.
• Always consult the official Cisco documentation for your specific router model and IOS version for the most accurate and up-to-date information.
• Be careful when configuring your router, as incorrect settings can cause network problems.

Additional Resources:

• Cisco Getting Started Guide: This guide provides basic information about setting up a Cisco router.
• Cisco Configuration Fundamentals: This guide covers the fundamentals of configuring Cisco devices.
• Cisco Command Reference: This reference provides detailed information about all of the commands that can be used on Cisco devices.

By following these steps, you can successfully configure your new Cisco router and get your network up and running.

It's not perfect. It's probably not your process. But it's a good start. And with some follow-up prompts, it could be better. You might be called in to fine-tune the setup.

Your current business is disappearing. Are you ignoring it to see if this fear is justified, or are you thinking about how to build the technology business of the future?

How can you adjust the value chain so that you continue to be worth paying month after month? In the transition period (probably 5-10 years), I think the best bet is to increase the personal touches and customer service. Whether you're fighting AI or mega-MSPs, good personalized service will always win the day.

But you need to make it happen. Your business won't change by itself. You need to take action now to start building the future of your business. And the two big questions remain the same:

- Where are you going?

and

- How will you get there?

Feedback Welcome

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* Let's be clear. If you're losing clients to the competition, they're doing something better than you. They've got better value somewhere in the value chain. Everyone wants to whine about price, but it's a pain in the neck to change IT consultants if you have a good one. If you regularly lose clients to the competition, either you're responsible for some pain or they've already moved to a business model that's better than yours.

:-)