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Greg Kroeker established his first MSP, Genesis Networks, in 2002 with the goal of providing his clients with quality, business I.T. support and service. He was a pioneer in the provision of rural wireless technology, and one of the first broadband Internet Service Providers to bring wireless service to homes and businesses. In 2007, Greg moved I.T. Services from Genesis to Stream Networks, Inc. And finally, in 2008 merged with two other companies to form the MSP he runs now, Shield Networks.
“Most business owners started their company because they wanted more freedom—to work on their schedules, make the kind of money they deserve, and eventually retire on the fruits of their labor.
Unfortunately, most owners find that stepping out of the picture is tough because their business relies too heavily on their personal involvement. Without them, their company—no matter how big or profitable—is virtually worthless.
But the good news is that entrepreneurs can take concrete steps—no matter what stage business is in—to create a valuable, sellable company. Warrillow shows exactly what is required to build a stable business that can thrive long into the future.”
Greg and his partners wanted to spend more time pursuing other challenges and turn the hands-on running of Shield Networks over to their capable employees. But what they found was that there were areas where their employees just couldn’t replace them.
I hear this time and time again from our MSP clients. They want to know:
How Can I Create a Business That Can Run Without Me?
If you couldn’t sell your business because there’s too much of you in it, then something needs to change.
Ask yourself these questions:
Map out your products/services on an X/Y axis, where X is teachable, and Y is how valuable they are to your customers. Review the graph with your executive team. You may just have one product or service that is worth teaching to your employees. Narrowing your focus will help you with your decision making.
After going through the first two steps, Greg and his partners decided that cyber security was at the core of their practice. They partner with good, reliable platforms and have great success. All three owners have technical backgrounds and love networking (in a digital sense). They are distressed to see so much hacking occurring. They believe that Data Backup and Recovery Solutions are the new frontiers to fight against this threat. Plus, they knew their customers needed proactive solutions to prevent cyber threats.
Greg and his partners are currently working on the final steps. (Note: It’s important that you identify and narrow down your target market before you take on the next steps.)
(One last note, if you are the sole owner of your MSP, find a mentor who has done this before. It doesn’t have to be someone in your field. But, unless you have partners that you can run ideas by, you need a trusted and experienced individual who you can talk to.)
We know this is a big challenge. Stuart at Ulistic has direct experience with this himself. He’s the perfect mentor for those of you who would like to move on to bigger and better things!
Stuart Crawford serves as Creative Director and CEO with Sebring, FL and Fort Erie, ON-based Ulistic, a specialty MSP Marketing firm focused on information technology marketing and business development. He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience pertaining to how technology business owners and IT firms can use marketing as a vehicle to obtain success.
