One of the fundamental concepts we explore is whether you’ll choose to be a competitor or a creator in 2024. It’s a choice that can significantly impact the trajectory of your MSP. Competing means constantly fighting for a share of the existing pie, believing resources are limited, and you need to outwork the competition. But is that the best approach?
Stuart encourages MSPs to consider becoming creators instead. This mindset shift involves innovating, focusing on what you can build uniquely, and differentiating your business from the competition. Rather than fighting for scraps, become the creator of something new, something that resonates with your target audience, and ultimately, something that sets you apart from the crowd.
We start our journey towards a successful 2024 with a focus on culture and character within your MSP. Creating a thriving culture is crucial for attracting and retaining the right team members. When your team aligns with your vision and values, it’s a powerful driver for success. Don’t just assume your culture is fine; define it, communicate it, and demand it from your team.
Next up, we explore harnessing ambition. This involves strategic planning, accountability, and getting your head in the right space to achieve your goals. You can’t expect to compete or create effectively without a clear vision and a strategy to get there.
Effective communication of your plan is key, so consider regular one-on-one meetings, monthly management gatherings, or other mechanisms to ensure everyone in your MSP understands and aligns with your strategy for 2024.
Sales and marketing are often where MSPs feel they must compete with others, but it doesn’t have to be that way. You can take a more creative approach to your lead generation efforts. This means creating a marketing strategy that truly resonates with your target audience and provides value. Stop guessing and commit to a long-term strategy that’s tailored to your unique strengths and weaknesses.
Building your dream team is a critical part of scaling your MSP in 2024. You can’t do it all on your own, and you shouldn’t try to. Identify the key team members who will form the foundation of your success, and then make sure you have the right people in those roles. It’s not just about skills; it’s also about attitudes and alignment with your vision.
Consider whether some team members need to step up or if it’s time for them to move on, making way for new talent that better fits your future goals.
As we embrace the possibilities of 2024, keep an eye on our website for an upcoming masterclass on building your dream team. We’re excited to continue helping MSPs like you thrive and grow in the year ahead.
Stuart and I are thrilled about the journey ahead in 2024. We’re not just looking forward to helping more MSPs scale and succeed; we’re also excited about having some fun along the way.
So, as we raise our virtual glasses to toast the new year, remember that you have the power to choose whether you compete or create. Make 2024 matter for your MSP by creating something new, something unique, and something truly remarkable. Here’s to a successful and fulfilling year ahead for all of us. Cheers!
Connect with me on LinkedIn and see what I’m up to by clicking HERE
To join our amazing Facebook Group of over 300 MSPs where we are helping you Scale Up with Confidence, then click HERE
Again, if you’re ready to take the next step in supercharging your MSP, take the Scale with Confidence MSP Mastery Quiz. This will provide you with insights and guidance tailored to your specific needs.
Thank you for tuning in to the IT Experts Podcast, and we’ll be back soon with more valuable insights and expert advice to help you on your MSP journey in 2024 and beyond. Happy New Year!
INTRO
In this episode of the IT Experts Podcast, Stuart and I help you get ready for 2024 and how to make this year matter.
Welcome to the IT Experts Podcast, the only podcast to help MSPs scale to 1,000,000 and if already there get to 5 and go fast. At the end of the day, isn't it all about building a business that works for you rather than you for it? I hope you enjoy the show.
IAN
So, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, happy New Year by the way.
STUART
Happy New Year, Ian. Hi.
IAN
If you're listening to this on the day of release, which is New Year's Day, so you could either have a really sore head or you could be raring to go delete as applicable. Anyway, this podcast episode gives us a couple of things to think about to get this year's really successful 2024 better than 2023. What do we need to do? And how do we make this year matter? So, the last episode we've just been talking about all the things bit of a year in review. What do we learn? What are some of the key points that we heard from MSP, where they're struggling with. So, if you missed that, go and listen to that one back again. But Stuart, we had a great conversation just before Christmas about how to shape this part of the show and we're gonna keep this super, super simple. Aren’t we?
STUART
Yeah. Completely simple and I think, the word you used a moment ago is, this episode was to get you thinking about 2024 thinking, thinking. And that's the thing that MSPs don't do very often is stop and think because it's when we stop and think that we have our best ideas and when we have those best ideas, then we need a framework about how to implement them and what to do with them. However, there is a point at which we need to start in there.
IAN
Yes, there certainly is. And the New Year, we're not talking about New Year's resolutions. We're not talking about kind of Weight Watchers and Alcoholics Anonymous and all that sort of stuff because we know by the end of January that ran out. We're talking about kind of raising your standards, getting yourself into a good regime, a healthy mindset of what's going on and making sure that you've got that framework that really resonates, doesn't it? And we were talking in preparation for this show and reflecting and thinking about, right, how should we frame this? And it was around whether you are going to be a competitor or whether you're going to be a creator.
STUART
Yeah, it is. And it isn't just relevant to, you know, the calendar, start of the new calendar year because, you know, a lot of what we do day in day out is stuff that we should be doing day in, day out, week in, week out. So, it's not just relevant for January. Yeah the competitor. Do I show up this year as a competitor or a creator? That was what we came up with. And, what does that mean to you? Well, what do we mean by that? Well, you have a choice. Many. And we have ourselves gone into the new year going, right, I need to work harder. I need to do more. I need to smash more out. I need to get ahead of the competition. You know I need to do more to get more. And it isn't like that, depending on where you are and it doesn't have to be that way. The alternative though is instead of competing, which is like saying you've got to fight over what's there, because what's there is fixed in supply. It's a fallacy. It's not true. Now, you can believe that that's true and fight over the scraps because you think there's only so many clients to be had, or so many members of staff that could be relevant to your MSP that you could ever employ and that everybody else is employing them. So, therefore you're screwed. Or you can choose to create this year and be a creator because when you create, you by definition create something new, something unique. And what is it in your MSP that you could do that you could create that is going to differentiate you, such that you get more leads, you get better quality clients. You get the right staff, you get better processes installed or your systems improve. Now you can fight and try and work with what you've got because you've got no time. We talked about this before Christmas, didn't we? Got no time. All busy, busy, busy. So I'll just keep doing what I was doing and just do it faster this year or I won't touch it cause I'm too busy over here doing something else. What kind of result is that going to get you?
IAN
Exactly. So, this is always normally about trying to find things that are in the gap, isn't it? Trying to find things that are missing because there's normally one or two things that's just missing in your sales and marketing strategy or in your building the correct team, or your direction on where the business wants to go that people get stuck at and when they get stuck cause they don't know there's a bit of a gap. And that's when the interest wanes and they get fed up and they just go back to doing kind of what they were before. So. we've put a bit of a framework around this. We've put four parts to this to find out and to help you to put some structure into your New Year planning and the first one was around your culture and your character, wasn't it? And the kind of like the identity for your MSP.
STUART
Yeah, it is. It's like if I was going to create something, I was going to be the creator of the best environment and me to scale my MSP up is how does the environment need to change? What do I need to do to create a better culture? A better a better environment that reflects what I want to achieve because you know what's missing and if you've got people and more than a few people and you're not quite getting what you want out of those people because they don't show up the way you want them, show they don't think how you want to think, then look in the mirror and think, OK, what do I need to create? What do I need to emphasize? What do I need to do differently? And this might not necessarily, right, be clear though, that this create thing isn't about you being a graphic designer and being creative. In terms of what you do, it's actually thinking, OK, what can I emphasize? How can I create more emphasis on something that's important to me? So,, it may be doing more of what you're already doing, but emphasizing it. At Domino's and Pizza, you know, everybody kind of offers a 30-minute delivery, if not quicker, these days. But Domino's are the ones that have always been renowned for that promise. And it's still differentiates themselves in a hugely transactional, commoditized space and they are still making huge profits. Don’t they? And so, what is it that you need to do or emphasize more this year that is going to make a difference to you? And in culture is one thing, maybe you just don't talk about it. Maybe you haven't defined it. Maybe you haven't told your team and people what's important about what makes your environment.
IAN
What are some of the signs that people need to look for that their culture may not be in existence, a bad culture, a toxic culture, A one that they need to focus on? Cause some people will be sitting here listening to this going, what the hell is the culture about? I'm sure everyone's happy at my work, everything is all kind of moving forward, but is it really?
STUART
Yeah, good question. Cause in bigger businesses, it's usually the statistic. You're either, too many people are leaving or you actually haven't got enough people leaving, but when you're smaller, it's usually in your gut. Something's not right. Have you got the right people? And I don't mean necessarily from a skills perspective, attitudinally. And do they show up to what's important to you? If you're there for all your staff, but they're never there for you. There's something missing in what's expected from them, about how they need to show up. And so, you need to lay down the rules around what your culture looks like and communicate it and reinforce it and demand it. And if people don't resonate with that or fit that, they'll leave you or you'll get rid of them. So culturally, I think you'll know. I think you'll know.
IAN
Yeah, you'll know. You’ll just look back, look at it and go, hang on a minute. I know that it's not this.
STUART
They just don't show up the way I need them to show up. And if you're telling them or communicating with them about it and they're not doing it, then you definitely haven't got the right people. Not the fact that you haven't told them.
IAN
Cool. OK, right. So, the next one. Top of the tree on the three pillars on how to grow your MSPs is harnessing your ambition, which is all around strategy, accountability, planning, and kind of getting your head straight on where you want to go with this. So, you know, we did talk about this in a couple of other podcasts where it’s a start. But most MSP business owners have got a fair idea where they want to go. But how can they use that to really, you know, ignite their people, get them excited, get them connected, get them aligned in where you're going. Cause sometimes we hear that this is a great, amazing plan, but it's stuck in your head.
STUART
Yeah, come back to, do you wanna compete or create? And it's like, if you've got a bit of an idea and a bit of a plan, it's like, well, how do you communicate it? So, what do you need to create? Such that you regularly communicate what this plan is and reinforce it. So, do you create regular? One to ones in your diary. Do you need to create a regular monthly management meeting? Do you need to create? Fill in the blanks. What is it that you need to do to bring alive? The strategies that you've got for your technical team, the strategies you've got for account management, the strategies you've got for getting more leads. What is it that you need to do that you're not doing and that's what we're talking about? Because, otherwise, you are just competing with yourself. Like every other MSP out there doing the same things that aren't working.
IAN
Following the sheep. Right. Number three, we talk about this quite a bit, but this is the bit where when you can get a little bit more creative and think outside the box and then have confidence that people are coming into your sales and marketing pipeline because of something that you said or something that you've changed or something that you do in a way that you resonate more. Sales and marketing is 99% of MSPs will compete with each other with the rest of the bottom. Aren't they? Because they either don't have the structure or the plan or the know how, or the support to do something differently. So, this is probably going to be the one that's going to resonate most, isn't it? How do you stop competing and start creating my own lead flow?
STUART
Yeah, it is and also value. Value for the prospect that isn't your client yet, but also value for you in terms of profit and return on investment. You know, so many MSPs spend so much money or energy and time on sales marketing and not getting what they want from it. But when you know what you need to really, really do to get your sales funnel working for you from top of funnel to middle of funnel to bottom funnel, you transform that investment because you aren't guessing anymore. You are the true marketing director of your business, and you can confidently stick to the plan and not hope or that didn't work for 12 weeks, let's try something else. And you can confidently commit 12 to 18 months to a series of strategies, whichever ones are right for you. But how do you create the kind of strategy that is going to differentiate you and give you the confidence to stick to it.
IAN
Bang on, Stuart. Absolutely love that part. Right. Last but not the least. Leverage people, building teams, connecting teams, aligning teams. Probably one of the most exciting parts of growing your MSP is getting out of the technical day-to-day, getting out, getting trusting people, leveraging people. Some of the biggest results we've heard in the growth hub have been when people, when owners of, have let go of that branch and started to share with their team so they can go faster. Building the Dream Team in 2024. Recruitment is hard. Finding right candidates, asking candidates the right question, working out where they go in the structure is all these complications around building a great team. Isn't there? And It's just can be a bit of a quagmire, can't it? And I'm knowing where to start with this one,
STUART
Yeah. What do you need to do to create your dream team? And again, it's a bit of a cliche, dream team. You know, it sounds like a Hollywood movie. But it's relevant. And if you're looking to scale your MSP, you do need to build the dream team around you. What are those key people that are going to be the foundations that underpin you letting go confidently. Because when you've got the dream team behind you, you can step away from the detail with confidence and step into those areas that you know you need to do more of that are going to transform your results this year. It might be sales marketing, it might be account management, it might be deciding to onboard a new PSA cause you want to leave that piece, because you know putting that piece into your team will make them more efficient, more effective, better KPIs. You can work with them better. They can work with themselves better. Whatever it is. You know that there is something that needs to be created to make your team better than it is today. And I think, if you analyze that, or just follow your instinct in your gut about, do you know what? I've got a couple of people here that don't actually make this the dream team. What is it I need to do with them to either to get them to step up into their potential, or is it that actually we've outgrown them or they've outgrown us? And I think that thinking into that particular question because it gives us leverage, scaling your MSP is about gaining leverage so that you can step away. The more you can step away, the more you get more time, profit, and freedom from your business and your business is an asset. Now it's absolutely fine to treat your business as a lifestyle business. It's just a business that serves your lifestyle. But actually, if you want to build a business to sell one day or certainly such that it works for you and not you for it, we've got to get leverage and you've got to work out whether you've got the right team, your dream team onboard.
IAN
And at the time of recording, which is, this is coming out on New Year's Day on 2024. Keep an eye out on our website because in January we are going to be running a master class on how to build your own dream team. So, check out the website. If you passed that date, go and check the recordings on the events state section and we'll help you specifically build your dream team in 2024. Stuart, great show, nice and structured for the beginning of 2024.
STUART
It is, Ian. And I think the important thing is, Happy New Year, everybody! You know, wishing you a great calendar year ahead, but I think, don't get overwhelmed. You know, there's lots of things you ought to think you ought to be doing, but there's usually just one or two key things and whatever they are, don't ignore them. Step into them. And if you don't know where to start, reach out to people. It could be anybody. It could be somebody in your family. Could be somebody in the MSP community. It could be a coach. It could be a mentor. It could be a vendor. It doesn't matter. But do something about it. Get some help and take the first step and enjoy it. Have some fun. We had a bloody amazing year last year. We had a load of laughs, not enough boardrooms on the golf course. Boardroom meetings, I should say, on the golf course.
IAN
But is that? Cause I kept beating you and you got upset about it?
STUART
Oh, well, there's that scorecard that you deny exists.
IAN
But missing. Just because you're tall doesn't mean to say you're allowed to keep the scorecards all the time. But no more. Well, that's obviously dependent on the weather or we could just go to Portugal and play in Portugal.
STUART
Oh, we could, could we?
IAN
Slight digression on the subject.
STUART
Well, that's a food for thought.
IAN
Anyway, that's another business expense to get looked into. So, look, we are super excited about 2024. All the people we are going to meet, all the people we're going to help. All the people who are out there.
STUART
And more sock offs.
IAN
Yes, more sock offs. So, we're gonna do some more sock offs, more vendor merch reviews. So. it's just going to be crazy. The things we've got planned this year are super simple, super focused. But they're going to help many, many, many more MSPs, and we're really excited about what it brings for us and for you, the listeners, as well. So, thank you again for your support listening to this podcast over the last 160 odd shows. And here's to the next 160. And by the way, if you want us to do a podcast on any particular topic, just shoot us an e-mail or LinkedIn message and we'll quite happily to dedicate it out to you as a special little New Year gift. Right. That's it from me.
STUART
That's it from me.
IAN
Have a great new year. Happy New Year to you all and look forward to connecting over the course of the next 12 months.
STUART
Yes, thanks, Ian. Happy New year.
IAN
See you soon.
OUTRO
So, I hope you enjoyed the show. If you did, I'd love it if you could leave a rating and review on your favorite podcast platform. If you want to learn more about how to take your MSP to a million, or if you're already there, go faster, then come and join Stuart Warwick and myself in the Scale with Confidence Facebook group, the link is in the show notes. You can enjoy the rest of your day and I look forward to connecting with you soon.
The MSP Growth Hub is designed specifically for IT & MSP Business Owners who want to build a profitable IT & MSP business.
The MSP Growth Hub
Suite 215
Jansel House
648 Hitchin Road,
Luton, Beds
LU2 7XH
OUR TRUSTED FRIENDS OF THE GROWTH HUB
