Years ago, I read a sentence in a business book that immediately resonated with me. So I swiftly stole it and added it to my own repertoire:
"Most business owners create a prison of their own design... and then lock themselves inside"
(side note - despite hours and hours of searching, I can't remember what the book was. If you know, please can you drop me a line)
When we start our own business, we're looking for freedom and control. Over:
- Our time
- Our money
- And the activities we perform every day
Oh how ironic.
Because actually most small businesses steal that freedom and control away from the owner.
They end up with:
- No time
- Not enough money (as compensation for the lack of time)
- No choice but to perform activities every day they really don't want to do
This is the prison of your own design. You become locked inside when you end up working for the business... because actually, it should be the other way round.
This situation is caused by chaos in the business And these are the 5 causes of chaos
I read another great book 9 years ago (and this time I remember what it was).
Conquer the Chaos was written by the founders of my favourite CRM, Infusionsoft.
And I think they really nailed the 5 causes of chaos. This applies to any owner operated business, especially an MSP.
The 5 causes of chaos are:
You're wearing all the hats: You might not physically do everything, any more. But the business doesn't thrive without you there much of the time
You don't know how to grow: Anyone can generate more turnover. It's harder to robustly grow net profit
You are growing - the wrong way: Been there, done that. Awful. Not all clients are equal. Not all products and services are desirable to deliver. Growth for the sake of growth is the enemy of having a great life
You're drowning in technology: No comment needed 🙄
You have no central focus: You can't wing it. You need a strong goal and a bloody good plan to get there
If this is your MSP, there are 2 options for you
The first option is to get the book, Conquer the Chaos. It's a great read with a lot of answers.
The second option is to get the book. And then come and do a trial day at my MSP Mastermind. Because conquering the chaos is what we do.
I meet every month with 13 non-competing MSP owners. And we work together to do whatever it takes to generate more net profit, and free up more of the owner's time.
You're entitled to come to one trial day, before we ask you to make a decision about joining the MSP Mastermind. There's no obligation to buy anything, ever, of course.
Click here to see the full details. And whether either of our groups currently have any vacancies
