In this episode of The IT Experts Podcast, we focus on one clear outcome, helping you build a practical MSP growth plan for 2026 in the next 30 minutes. Stuart and I recorded this right at the start of the year because this is the moment when MSP owners finally get space to think. Not space to dream or hope, although to decide. The goal of this conversation is simple, to replace short lived motivation with real momentum through structure, clarity, and commitment.
At the start of every new year, it is easy to feel energised. New year, new goals, new intentions. The problem is that motivation fades quickly once the pressure returns. What actually carries you forward is momentum, and momentum only exists when there is substance behind it. A strong MSP growth plan gives that substance. Without it, you risk repeating the same patterns and getting the same results, even when your ambition is higher.
We see this every December. MSP owners tell us they are not doing another year like the last one. They have had time over Christmas to reflect while walking the dog, spending time with family, or stepping away from the noise of the business. That reflection is valuable, although only if it leads somewhere. An MSP growth plan turns reflection into action and gives you a clear direction instead of frustration.
The first step we talk through is getting clear on the destination. We encourage you to define what success really looks like three to five years from now. Not in vague terms, although in practical ones. What role do you want to play in the business. How involved do you want to be day to day. What values do you want the business to stand for as it grows. When this is clear, decisions become easier and distractions lose their pull. Your MSP growth plan needs a destination before it can define a route.
From there, we move into structure. The structure that got you here will not get you where you want to go next. That includes your role, your team, and how accountability works. Many MSP owners stay trapped in technical delivery long after the business needs them elsewhere. A proper MSP growth plan forces you to look honestly at where you add the most value and what needs to change to remove you as the bottleneck.
We also talk about investing ahead of growth. Waiting until things feel comfortable often keeps you stuck. Progress comes from deliberate decisions, not from hoping things will improve. Bringing in the right people, especially experienced technical or leadership hires, creates the space you need to focus on higher value work. This is how growth becomes intentional rather than accidental.
Sales, marketing, and account management play a central role in any MSP growth plan. High performing MSPs understand that trust takes time to build. Consistency matters more than bursts of activity. Getting clear on your target market, showing up regularly, and having proper conversations with existing clients unlocks both new opportunities and hidden value that already exists in your business.
Accountability is the final piece. A plan without measurement will drift. We talk openly in this episode about the need for clear expectations, meaningful numbers, and regular review rhythms. This applies to your team and to you as the owner. External accountability keeps you moving forward when energy dips and distractions creep back in. Momentum is protected when someone is there to challenge you and keep you aligned to the plan.
We close the episode by reminding you that growth should feel energising. When structure replaces chaos, teams become more engaged, confidence increases, and the numbers start to reflect the progress you are making. A well-built MSP growth plan creates sustainable progress that supports the business and the life you want it to fund.
If you want help applying this properly, we are running a live working session on February designed to help you build your MSP growth plan step by step, with clarity you can use immediately. You can register for the session HERE.
Make sure to check out our Ultimate MSP Growth Guide, a free guide that walks you through a proven process to take your MSP from stuck to scalable, without working even more hours. It’s 44 pages rammed with advice, insights and inspiration to help you decide what support is available to you now if you want to grow and scale your business. Click HERE to get your copy.
Connect on LinkedIn HERE with Ian and also with Stuart by clicking this LINK
And when you’re ready to take the next step in growing your MSP, come and take the Scale with Confidence MSP Mastery Quiz. In just three minutes, you’ll get a 360-degree scan of your MSP and identify the one or two tactics that could help you find more time, engage & align your people and generate more leads.
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To join our amazing Facebook Group of over 400 MSPs where we are helping you Scale Up with Confidence, then click HERE
Until next time, look after yourself and I’ll catch up with you soon!
IAN: In this episode of The IT Experts Podcast, we're going to help you build your 2026 growth plan in the next 30 minutes.
INTRO: Welcome to The IT Experts Podcast, the only podcast to help MSPs scale to 1 million, and if already there, get to five and go faster. 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: Happy New Year, everybody. Welcome to the show. Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, wherever you are. It is 2026 New Year. How exciting.
STUART: Amazing. We made it.
IAN: We did make it.
STUART: We made it, New home, New Year.
IAN: New life.
STUART: New life.
IAN: New debts.
STUART: News. Yeah, new debts.
IAN: All those things. You've got to find a way to maintain your moats now around Warwick, Warwick Towers. Anyway, happy New Year to everybody, to all the listeners. Hopefully you had an amazing time with your friends and family over the Christmas break. Back to business. Let's start thinking about this. What does 2026 mean to us, in this show, Stuart's only just found out about this a couple of minutes ago. We are going to build your 2026 growth plan in this show. So that's exactly what we're going to do. And there's no, that's it, that's all we're going to do. Talk to me, Stuart, about what normally happens at the beginning of the year, and particularly I want you to kind of lean into what's the difference between motivation, where we all get rah rah, new year, new me, new Dar and all this. And then there's a thing called momentum that keeps us going, isn't there?
STUART: Yeah, there is. And the difference between motivation and momentum is massive because momentum has substance behind it, because it can't keep going if it hasn't got anything with it, and motivation is fleeting, we can get motivated and excited about something in a moment and we could be sad and depressed in the next moment. So, you know, we all know the classic old New Year promises, and by the end of January, you know, the gyms are now half full. They were full at the beginning of January. You know, it's a real cliche that everybody rolls their eyes with and everyone falls into the same track with all of your like new Year wishes. But I think when you're a business owner, yes, it's a calendar new year fresh start, which is really refreshing, but at the same time, there is, you have got something of substance. And so if you don't put structure around the substance of your business and your ambition, you're going to get the same results in the last year. And what I mean by structure is by having really clear plans, not these whimsical desires. And structure that then sits around, how do I keep that going? So, if you went to the gym in the first week of January, but you've got a coach that you'd paid for six months upfront, for example, and it was once a week. You were going to com- you've committed as opposed to hoping that you can be strong enough to maintain going to the gym for the next 26 weeks. Just by turning up every day, because the snow's going to come, the ice is going to come and you're not going to want to get out of bed. But if you've paid for it, you're going to turn up. And I think this is the same about starting 2026 from an MSP business owner's point of view is how are you going to commit to the, to this year's success and also your future six beyond that, by doing something that's got structure and resilience, to maintain that momentum.
IAN: Just to let everybody know I will be doing a podcast on whimsical desires, because I just thought that was hilarious. I was just about to crack up and put you off your flow then. So Whimsical desires version one coming real soon. It's really funny isn't it? Because, Yes, okay, it's the end of the year and you know, we've had the Christmas parties and people have been like rolling down at Christmas and then they kind of roll up just after New Year and everything like this. But I think the thing for me is that this time of year. The reason why it's so, can be so refreshing and people start to look at different things is because they've actually had time to think they've had time in them, and out walking the dog, watching the kids at a dance show or whatever it might be doing over the Christmas period to sit there and go, what is it that I should be doing? It was just what a prospect said.
STUART: Isn't it, isn't it the time of year when the most divorces are initiated?
IAN: I'm not sure.
STUART: And that after coming back from summer holidays. Because they've had the time to think, or they've had too much close company for two weeks over Christmas, they said, I'm not doing that again. But again, you're right, you've had enough time over Christmas to realise, actually I want...
IAN: I want to get divorced and now I want grow the business. Oh, Michael, we've got structure for this show. If you're on video, you can see it in front of you. But Stuart just seems to be just making his up on his own little way, which is wonderful. But anyway, let's try and pull this one back. Let's try and pull this back into some sort of normality.
STUART: It is, it's true, you're right. I'm just, I'm reinforcing your point is when you've had time to think and reflect and get space, and we recommend this all the time from a strategy point of view, strategy is about getting perspective and seeing the road ahead, not the road in front of you. And so that takes time, elevate yourself, top of the ship, looking ahead out the bridge 36,000 feet in the airplane, all, all those analogies. And I think that's what Christmas does. Summer holidays do that as well? Yeah. You know, in the summer holiday period. And I think coming into it with renewed vigor passion but also if you just do what you've always done, which is launch yourself on the 5th of January into the same stuff, you're just going to get the same result and that's frustrating because if you are ambitious to really grow your MSP and transform it into something that really works for you, then the lifestyle approach that perhaps most people who are listening to this have had up till now, i.e., it revolves around them or it rounds, revolves around the couple of directors that are in the business. If you want to actually be valuable enough to exit on a good multiple, if you do, and let's be honest, everyone will one day, whether it be 15-20 years in the time, in the future, but for many, it's probably five to 10 years away as an aspiration. Then now's the time to get serious about that structural transformation of the business so that it properly delivers value for you and whoever buys it in the future.
IAN: Absolutely. And it's just bizarre that, you know, December for us was just bonkers month because people are on the phone saying, I'm not doing that again, I'm not running another year like that. Hoping, waiting, wishing with your whimsical desires.
STUART: And how many people this year have we come across who, who haven't stepped into what they should have done and go...
IAN: Oh yeah.
STUART: Oh, I've just lost my biggest client.
IAN: Yes. Yes. Oh my gosh.
STUART: How many times have we heard this?
IAN: That's frightening.
STUART: And they've gone from absolutely frightening. Like, oh, I've got a nice business too, oh my God, my reserve's only going to last six months.
IAN: Yeah I think just on that point, I'm going to press pause on the subject and just go if any of you're out there and you've got big clients and they're not on contracts, turn this podcast off now and do it because we've just seen some amazing businesses just like suffer through. And they didn't need to because they just have not got the agreements in place. That's my rant. We might do, should we do rant of the day? Anyway, , let's get into the nuts and the points.
STUART: Even a whimsical.
IAN: A whimsical. We don't do whimsical rant. We're not doing that. What's the steps that we need to go to? Let's just run through these steps that we can start to build that plan. You can start to hold yourself accountable too and give you some direction in 20 minutes time.
STUART: First of all, you've got to reaffirm the end destination. What does success look like for you three to five years? That vision, what the business stands for? The values, if you haven't really got it clear, because we're talking about not standing still. So if we are going to scale up, we've got to anchor in what we stand for as a business, what we stand for with our current employees so that they can then leverage that, replicate that as more people join, as the organisation gets bigger. Because it's going to, if you are ambitious to grow it. So first point is clarify the end result, 3, 5, 10 years time. 10 years is too far away, to be honest, you know, probably three years is probably tangible enough. Reaffirm I think for many, if not, you know, do it for the first time. What that vision of values really, really looks like and what the end result is. Is it getting out the business? Is it being outside of the business but still connected to the business? Or is it working full-time in the business, you know, in the area that you like with the day-to-day being run by someone else? That clarity is imperative, and I know everybody kind of tunes it out, but it's imperative as the first point.
IAN: Can I just add to that, with regards to the value and what that success looks like. I'm going to, blend in some call to actions here. I want you to go back and listen to some podcasts. We did three podcasts with a good friend of the Growth Hub, a guy called Ken Olston, who is a M&A expert. And I want you to listen about how the actions that you take and the things that you do from the subjects we talk about on this podcast will help build transferable value into your MSP absolute given. Point two, Stuart.
STUART: Point two look at your structure. Because the structure today isn't the structure you need in the future. And most likely, the team you've got today isn't the team you need in the future. And take a good hard look at them and a good hard look at yourself. Are you optimised in the role that you're playing? You know, if you're too technical and you shouldn't be technical because you should be leading the sales or the marketing or the account management, then get into that role and get out of the other role and put the right people in the roles around you. Because again, if you just hope that the team will expand and absorb the future growth of the business, you're wrong because you've got to be doing something different. And so are you in the right role? Have you got the right people in the other roles? Are they A players? Are they B players? Are they C players? Most people are probably carrying one or two people that probably, they're going to go, nah, they're not going to be with me in a year's time. Then do something about it.
IAN: And this is where you're then looking at, you know, your structure today and then what does that structure need to look like next year and the year after. And it needs to be scalable so that you can just plug and play people into it, rather than you having to be that bottleneck.
STUART: And linked to that is being, is having the confidence to invest ahead of the curve. So going, do you know what? I do need more technical resource to replace me, so I'm going to have to spend maybe 50 grand a year on a more experienced technician to come in and do that level three stuff, so I don't have to do it. That takes confidence, that takes deliberateness and it doesn't just think I'm going to spend, yeah, you know, four grand a month on that person. Whimsically.
IAN: Yeah.
STUART: We are going to do it deliberately because we know that, that is going to offer a return because you can then focus on what you always say is those thousand, 10,000 pound tasks instead of the a hundred pound tasks.
IAN: Absolutely. And, recently just did a podcast again with Julie, our incredible leadership coach on finding those future leaders, how to find the right people within your business because just because you've got a good tech who's been with you for a long time, and add value doesn't mean to say they're going to be a great business leader. So there was a really good podcast we did on the, with Julie all around that finding those future leaders, which is, you know, which is core part of the, of the Growth Hub now.
STUART: And so when we, we get tight on the plan, which was talked about, we are clear on the people. This really flicks over into your little love affair area...
IAN: Sales and market...
STUART: Sales and marketing.
IAN: Oh, love it, love it, love it.
STUART: And account management.
IAN: Oh my God, right? If I could shake every MSP not necessarily by the throat, but at least by the shoulders into, you know, sales and marketing takes a long time. We know it. You get bored, you don't trust it. It's not your happy place. We get all of that stuff. However, the high performing, high valuable MSPs have got their sales and marketing working, and the reason that they've got it working is because of the C word. Consistency because they started off...
STUART: I was worried then.
IAN: And they, well, you really, you should have been.
STUART: I was worried then.
IAN: It's been a long day of recording and anything's going to happen right now. Just get started with it. You know, go and pick up some of Paul Green stuff. Go and get into the tech tribe and start getting your head around it and get some people to start operating the, don't think that you're just going to put a blog out and then you're going to sign up a load of clients. It doesn't work like that. You've got to build the trust, know, like, and trust you. It's a professional services business, but you know, it is the oak tree analogy. You know, when should I have started? 10 years ago, you know, and you won't get it right and you will muck it up and you will look silly and people will go, what you're doing this for and what you're doing that for. But, you know, you can, you can make a really, really nice blend around, around getting that marketing up and running. And then as you build that traction and the algorithm start to love you, and you build in confidence of standing up in front of a boardroom of people talking about cyber essentials or whatever it might be, the, you know, the security side of things.
The number one thing is get really, really clear for crying out loud on your target market, on who they are. If you know, if I hear, you know, if I had a pound, I should do this next year, actually probably, be a millionaire at the end of it. You know, I, we just serve everybody because everybody needs what we do. No. Go deep. Again, we've done loads of content around this. But if you're struggling with that, just message me on LinkedIn. Let's have a chat and I'll kind of point you in the right direction because we've got loads of recordings and events that we've done before to help you with this. But get started, you know, with your marketing, I think is my punch in the guts on that one.
STUART: Totally. And linked to that, if you, taking your shaking analogy, if you grabbed every MSP business, if you could by the ankles and turned it upside down...
IAN: Yeah.
STUART: And shook it, at least 50 to a hundred grand would fall out of its pockets, wouldn't it?
IAN: Easily. Easily.
STUART: And that is the low hanging fruit that lives consistently every year in every MSP, if they followed up regularly with their existing clients, I don't think we need to say any more that.
IAN: We don't need to say any more than that.
STUART: Turn your clients upside down. Give them a shake. And out will come opportunity that you should be hoovering up with their goodwill, with their goodwill, with their blessing. Yeah. Because they need it.
IAN: It's frightening.
STUART: You are not going around and talking to him. Yeah.
IAN: And if you want to know how to do that, you can message Stuart, because he likes talking about that sort of stuff. Which is all good fun. Right. Let's talk a little bit about accountability, because we've got a plan, we've got the right people, the right roles, we've got the direction, we know where we're going. But this is all very well and good and all a bit fluffy if we don't nail it down and start to measure what matters. Isn't it?
STUART: Whimsical, even.
IAN: Whimsical.
STUART: Fluffy, whimsical, very similar.
IAN: Hoping, wishing.
STUART: Yeah.
IAN: Praying.
STUART: Wishful.
IAN: Trying. All of those lovely words. Don't ever mention any of those words to us. Please. How do we keep on track, right? Because there's just so many shiny balls out there. Should I go to this event? Should I sign up with this PSA or this RMM? Oh, look, I've got this new thing. Should do it. Can I, should I do this...
STUART: Ian, there's two elements to it. One is accountability of your team to you and your plan. And so if you don't hold your team accountable to where we started, number one. You know, the vision mission, accountability, obviously wrapped around that is expectations. There's turn that into KPIs. Key performance indicators, goals, you are setting those for the business. You need to be setting them for your team, and you need to be checking in with the team. What does that mean? Not just weekly or daily huddles on the operational desk, it means monthly review meetings. It means monthly team meetings, but not just chatting, reviewing where they are against the plan, against the objective. Second point, who's doing it for you?
IAN: Ooh.
STUART: On your own, you will give up. Like all the gym people, we will all give up if we don't have something that we are committed to where we've got skin in the game. Where you've got a report in. And perhaps be embarrassed or, well, if you're not embarrassed and you're spending money on it, then you know you are a fool.
IAN: Oh dear. Sounds like you've all just been told off there's a mic drop moment if ever. I heard one. Let's keep going.
STUART: Well, yeah, right. Bloody, yeah, come on.
IAN: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.
STUART: Because and we need to kick up the bum. You know, we need to be held accountable to the things that are important to us. Yeah. And so how do we keep you on the train straight and narrow? How do we do it with our clients? It's like every week there is an opportunity if you come and show up in the process to ask a great question, to get some help, to get a kick up the bum, to get your mojo reinforced to so that we keep you not drifting too far. And if you drift too far, we track you down. And we pull you back and find out why and what's going on and what you're hiding from. And if you are on your own doing this, we go back to the beginning. Motivation only asks, lasts so long. It lasts for a month, six weeks tops, 12 if you're lucky. After that, you give up so your marketing stops that will get on your nerves. You won't get the consistency of leads your team will see. You're not toning up for those monthly meetings that you promised to do. And what happens? You just drop down to that average level of performance, which is what you did last year.
IAN: Yeah. So there's your steps. What's the benefits of doing this? I mean, you're going to get a confident start to 2026. You're going to know where you're going. You can start to kind of like, break down, you know, the quarters, the months, whatever it wants you to do. But you kind of go in, as we sort of say with that north star, with that direction on, where you're working. Your team's going to be more accountable. So that's going to be...
STUART: More engaged.
IAN: More engaged, more aligned.
STUART: Yeah.
IAN: More, you know, more, more energised.
STUART: And you create momentum. You create momentum that is sustainable. And also good fun.
IAN: Yeah.
STUART: You know, we want to be winning, don't we come?
IAN: Yeah. Jeez. Let's come to work and have some fun. Right? Rather than be drudging by, be...
STUART: And the amazing thing is it shows up in your numbers, you know, at the end of the year, it's like, Hey, my reserves have gone up by 20%. Hey, we've paid down some more debt off the balance sheet. Hey, I bought myself a new car. I know you'd like that one.
IAN: I can't buy any more cars. It's getting a bit on health. It's getting a bit on health. They all needed services.
STUART: I mean, new driveway...
IAN: I need, well, and that's another story. But yeah, it, it's that consistency getting started, you know, that's what's going to bring in some of those leads. You're going to have more of an opportunity to get that marketing working with that. Which is, you know, which is pretty much towards the end of the show now.
STUART: It is.
IAN: However...
STUART: Happy New Year.
IAN: Happy new Year. If you do need a bit of a hand with this. As if by magic and like a cauldron. We are running an event on the 4th of February to help you build your MSP.
STUART: If this resonates, you should be there.
IAN: If this resonates with you, you need to be there. It's not just a webinar. Sit there, watch, eat your lunch with your camera off. While you're making a few notes. You're making a few notes, notes. It's a two hour session where I will work with you to build your plan and you will walk away.
STUART: It's packed with value.
IAN: With that plan you will yes. No, I, I'd rather think so too. Thanks to you Stuart. So the link for that is going to be in the show notes if you need a hand to build your 2026 growth plan. We wish every single one of our listeners the most success this year.
STUART: We do.
IAN: Pull your socks off.
Put yourself outside your comfort zone. Do it. Let's just get on with it.
STUART: You heard it? Pull your socks off.
IAN: Pull your socks up. Did I say off? No. Don't start getting undressed. Not on the podcast. Pull your socks off, up. Oh, kill me now.
STUART: What a great start to the new year.
IAN: Brilliant start.
STUART: But yeah, get, pull your socks.
IAN: Do something with your socks and failing that, raise your standards.
STUART: But yeah, I love the new year period because of all the reasons we just talked about just now. Because it is a fresh new start. Yeah. And we've had a few weeks off and I wish everybody utmost successes this year because there's a lot to be done.
IAN: Hundred percent, hundred percent.
STUART: A lot of fun to be had too.
IAN: And if you're having a huff and a puff moment. And you need some help, go and find some help. Just go and get some help. There's loads of help out there.
STUART: There's loads of help out there.
IAN: Yeah, there is great stuff. Lovely. Thanks Stuart. I'll catch up with you in the next one.
STUART: You will.
IAN: See you soon.
STUART: See you soon. Bye.
OUTRO: Hang on a minute. Just before you go, and if you're curious about how this episode links with the ability to scale your MSP to a million or, or if you are already there, accelerate to five, then we want to invite you to come and take the MSP Mastery quiz. And in just three minutes, you're going to get a 360 degrees scan of your business where you can identify the one or two tactics that can help you find more time, engage in, align your people and help generate more leads in your MSP. It's really simple. Just click on the link in the show notes and if you have enjoyed this episode, we'd love to get some feedback from you by means of a rating review on Spotify or iTunes, or your podcast platform of choice. We really appreciate every single one of them. Now, you can go and enjoy the rest of your day and we look forward to catching up and connecting with you soon. All the best day.
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