For all the talk in the IT industry about strategic growth, owners of small IT firms can be too busy for much strategy. They’re meeting key clients, reading contracts, managing staff, signing deals, dealing with marketing, stepping in to deal with occasional customer problems and more.
Still, more than a few MSP owners have been focusing on the value of their business lately, observed ConnectWise associate evangelism director Nick Moran.
“Private equity is here from North America in a big way and creating a bit of a frenzy,” Moran said to CRN Australia. “The numbers we are seeing over in the States are just getting higher and with money over there getting more expensive, these firms are now coming here well aware the market is a little bit smaller but the cost of doing business is ultimately going to be less.”
“It doesn't necessarily mean that every MSP is looking at exiting, but many are now very deliberate about building value within their business on an ongoing basis for that possible future event”
Moran knows how difficult it can be for MSPs to find time for this kind of work. He’ll join a discussion about it when he takes part in a panel about "Leading Under Pressure: Being a More Productive Leader in 2024" at CRN Pipeline on August 15.
“For 29 years we did this work [at MSP Evolve IT and then Powernet IT Solutions] and then we sold and were able to sort of tick all the boxes from that perspective,” Moran said. “But behind the scenes, running an MSP is hard. I’d argue that it is probably one of the hardest businesses to actually own and operate, and business owners need to give themselves a little bit of credit for what they're doing.”
And it’s been getting harder for some. “It's hard to be deliberate about those strategies when you've got chaos that's happening over here. You’ve got financial and economic pressures and it's crazy,” Moran commented. “For me, joining IT Nation Evolve Peer Groups was a key part in building that business discipline and for my peer group to keep me accountable for executing on it”
Nevertheless, he’s encouraging MSP owners to get out from the daily grind more regularly, not only when private equity firms show up.
“Have a look at the companies over the years that have disappeared; at the end of the day, they've been complacent at times. If you're really profitable and you're doing a really good job, it's very easy to get complacent about what you're doing,” he said.
“That exit, or that end, may come at a time that they're not prepared for. Opportunities to exit sometimes appear unexpectedly so being deliberate about building ongoing value in your MSP throughout your journey can place you in a really great position.
Which comes back to that age-old workload problem. This will be a topic of discussion on stage at CRN Pipeline on August 15.
Nick Moran will take part in the session “Leading Under Pressure: Being a More Productive Leader in 2024” at CRN Pipeline on August 15. Send your question for the discussion panel to the CRN Australia editorial team. See the Pipeline agenda and register your interest in attending.
