MSP CONSULTING
MSP consulting from someone who spent 24 years running one.
I co-founded an MSP in 1999, ran it for 24 years, and sold it in 2023. Payroll, pricing, technicians, difficult clients, vendor contracts, datacenter infrastructure, security incidents, margins — I dealt with all of it as the owner. That is the perspective you get on a call.
No sales script. Bring me the problem that's driving you crazy.
I also build and sell software, and some of it is commercial. Consulting and product are separate conversations — what I recommend does not depend on you buying any of it, including when the right tool is one I did not write.
WHO IT'S FOR
Owners, mostly.
This is for the person who signs the agreements and carries the risk. Owners, founders, and the occasional operations lead who has been handed a mess and told to fix it.
- You're still the final escalation for everything.
- Revenue grew but your workload didn't get easier.
- You don't have a clear picture of which clients are worth keeping.
- Your technology stack keeps getting bigger.
- You know your pricing needs work.
- Your technicians are constantly reactive.
- You have too many client-specific exceptions.
- You're thinking about buying or selling an MSP.
- You're considering a major vendor or technology decision.
- You want advice from someone who isn't being paid by a vendor.
Probably not for you if…
- You want a magic growth hack.
- You want another tool instead of fixing the process.
- You want someone to tell you everything is fine.
- You're unwilling to change anything.
- You're looking for guaranteed financial results.
WHAT WE COVER
The parts of the business that actually decide whether it works.
Not every engagement touches all of this. Most start with one thing and find two more underneath it.
Operations
Ticket flow, escalation paths, standards, and the difference between a managed service and a help desk on retainer.
Pricing
What you charge, why, and whether the agreements you signed years ago still make sense.
Client profitability
Which clients earn their keep, which ones quietly cost you, and what to do about the second group.
Service delivery
Standardising the work so delivery stops depending on which technician picked up the ticket.
Help desk
Queue design, triage, response expectations, and reducing the interruptions that break everyone's day.
Staffing
Who you need, when to hire, what to stop doing yourself, and how to keep good technicians.
Vendor selection
Evaluating vendors without the demo theatre, from someone who is not on anyone's commission plan.
Technology stack
What you actually need, what you are paying for twice, and what to retire.
Agreements
Scope, exclusions, terms, and the exceptions that quietly became your standard offering.
Security
A stack that matches your clients and your liability, not a checklist bought from a webinar.
Growth
Whether you are ready to grow, and what breaks first if you do.
Owner dependency
Getting sales, escalations, purchasing and major relationships to stop routing through you.
Acquisition
What to look at before buying an MSP, and what the numbers do not tell you.
Exit strategy
What buyers care about, what they discount, and what to fix before you go to market.
HOW IT WORKS
No 87-page transformation plan. Fix the important stuff first.
1
Diagnose
Figure out what is actually broken instead of treating symptoms.
2
Prioritize
Identify the problems costing the most time, money, complexity, or sanity.
3
Fix
Change the process, pricing, tooling, agreement, responsibility, or behavior causing the problem.
4
Measure
See whether the business actually improved.
ENGAGEMENT OPTIONS
Three ways to work together.
If you're not sure which one fits, book the free hour. We'll work it out on the call and I'll tell you if the answer is none of them.
Focused MSP Diagnostic
$150/hour
A specific problem or decision you want a second set of eyes on.
BEST FOR
One thing that is genuinely bothering you right now.
WHAT HAPPENS
- We talk for an hour on a video call.
- You describe the problem. I ask the questions that usually matter.
- You leave with a direction, not a proposal.
- Follow-up notes afterwards, plus my cell number.
TYPICAL TOPICS
MSP Business Reboot
Custom
For MSPs where several problems turn out to be the same problem.
BEST FOR
Multiple connected issues across pricing, delivery and operations.
WHAT HAPPENS
- A deep look at how the business actually runs day to day.
- A review of the numbers with you, not a generic benchmark.
- We agree what gets fixed first and in what order.
- Implementation support while the changes actually land.
TYPICAL TOPICS
Not a 90-page consulting deck. Let's figure out what's actually broken and start fixing it.
Discuss a Reboot →Ongoing MSP Advisor
$500/month
An experienced operator on call when you need an outside read.
BEST FOR
Owners who mostly need someone to think out loud with before deciding.
WHAT HAPPENS
- Four hours a month, scheduled around you.
- Email access between calls.
- Process reviews and tool evaluations when you need them.
- A straight answer, including when the answer is "leave it alone".
TYPICAL TOPICS
EXPERIENCE
What I bring to the table.
I don't have a wall of client logos to show you, and I'm not going to borrow anyone else's. What I have is 24 years of running the business you're running.
Running the business
- Owning and operating an MSP for 24 years
- Pricing and agreement structure
- Client profitability and segmentation
- Vendor negotiation and vendor management
- Hiring, staffing and technician management
- Building an MSP and eventually selling it
Running the service
- Help desk and technical support operations
- Service delivery and escalation design
- Documentation and process standardisation
- Operational metrics that actually mean something
- Client relationships, including the difficult ones
Running the technology
- Datacenter design and operations
- Networking, fiber and carrier infrastructure
- Cybersecurity strategy and stack selection
- Backup and disaster recovery
- Hosting and virtualization
- Software development and automation
QUESTIONS
Reasonable things to ask before booking.
What actually happens on the free hour?
You describe the problem. I ask the questions that usually matter. We spend the hour on your business rather than my services. If I can point you somewhere useful in that hour, I will, and that might be the end of it.
Are you going to try to sell me software?
No. I build software, and some of it is commercial, but consulting and product are separate conversations. If a tool genuinely fits your problem I will say so — including when the right tool is one I did not write.
Why isn't there a calculator that tells me what I should be earning?
Because it would be guessing. Your labour cost, client mix, service scope, market and overhead are not the same as anyone else's. A form with six fields cannot diagnose a business, and pretending otherwise would be the sort of thing this site exists to avoid.
Do you guarantee results?
No, and be careful of anyone who does. Too much depends on decisions you make after we talk. What I can tell you is what I would do, why, and what I got wrong when I faced the same thing.
How big does my MSP need to be?
There is no minimum. Some of the most useful conversations are with owners who are still small enough to change direction easily. If you are large enough that the problem is genuinely outside my experience, I will tell you that too.
Do you work with MSPs that compete with your old business?
The business was sold in 2023 and I moved on. There is no book of clients I am protecting and no vendor paying me to steer you.
Bring me the MSP problem you keep putting off.
Pricing. Clients. Staffing. Tools. Tickets. Margins. Security. Growth. Exit planning. Whatever it is, we'll spend an hour looking at the actual problem instead of pitching you another platform.
If I'm not the right person to help, I'll tell you.