My brother and I just started an MSP about 3 months ago. So far we have had 2 clients. I have been following Tech Tribe, posting on LinkedIn, google ads, and sending emails. We also got a list to start cold calling. All the prospects we are getting are from people we know, not from marketing… I’m just looking for advice on how to find more clients so we can get off the ground.
Welcome to the forums!
Start local and meet the bosses/proprietors for lunch or something. Email and calls are too impersonal and feels lacking in personable sincerity of a face to face encounter.
Sometimes people dont realize that they’ve grown enough to need an MSP. Find a way to pitch it in during the lunch.
Attending local events to meet people is also good for business networking.
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I run an MSP on the side. The best business is usually word of mouth and in-person meets. Cold calling over the phone and emails is basically a waste of time imo. Get a good looking website up, have a testimonial section, ask your previous clients to send you a reference/testimonial you can post on your website.
Go to business/industrial parks and go knock on doors in person. Idk what your experience is but don’t be afraid to take on projects early that are outside your comfort zone or you might make little money on. Can’t be picky when you are trying to grow. Just make sure you are honest with clients about $$$$ stuff and treat people right. I have had lots of repeat and referral business just because I did the job right and didn’t rip off the customer.
Ideally you find a niche that you are good at and that few other people do and you can zero in on that and market yourself.
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This is especially important if you are in a small town. Why be scammed by the local guy if you can be scammed by a more famous big city MSP a few municipalities away that has more technical experience than you.
You are literally your company so how you present and conduct yourself in business matters a lot. How your truck looks as it drives to park - is it clean? Does it look professional, with a logo on the side? and so on…
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Having been through this, you will need to identify a business operating system to properly define roles. Traction/ EOS is a good one to look at, but once you have a healthy structure in your MSP, then you can begin working with customers and their needs. The biggest issue comes down to properly managing your customers’ expectations while maintaining industry/ compliance requirements. Getting all the basics like RMM, helpdesk, and what not are pretty standard. Actually managing your customers expectations is where most MSP fail. Besides an operating system, I would recommend looking at IT specific project management techniques.
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You might also like to check out Lawrence Systems who works in the MSP space and does a lot of content around MSP work.
Also r/msp would be worth asking around in for tips and ideas.