Next-Level Growth
How George Burke Doubled His MSP Business with The 20
It started at an IT Nation event. George Burke was one of many MSP owners in attendance. His MSP, The Computing Edge, was doing okay at the time – but George wanted more.
His “a-ha” moment came during a meeting about peer groups. George realized his MSP growth strategy was missing something crucial: a structured accountability group to keep him on the right track.
So he got to work researching different organizations, and was impressed right away by The 20, with its focus on process and commitment to collaboration. George wanted in, but one concern was giving him pause…
From Doubt to Action
Becoming a member of The 20 would mean making significant changes to The Computing Edge’s core business model and operations. With 1000+ endpoints to manage, adopting a whole new approach wouldn’t be easy. But would it be worth it? George looked at what the MSPs in The 20 were accomplishing, and his heart and mind told him the same thing: Go for it!.
Putting his reservations on hold, George moved forward with onboarding. Working closely with The 20’s expert and always-friendly team, George ensured that both his clients and employees experienced a smooth transition. It also didn’t hurt that The 20’s built-out RMM and PSA tools – including light set-up pieces, scripts, and ready-to-use documentation – greatly reduced the learning curve and set up George and his team for a seamless integration.
From Action to Results
Once fully on board, George’s doubts started giving way to results. First, he discovered the true power of marketing. He’d known for some time that his MSP under-utilized marketing, but working with The 20’s world-class team of marketing experts opened his eyes to a whole new avenue for growth.
Second, he made a series of long overdue changes to his business model, some of which were directly inspired by conversations with fellow members; he fixed his pricing to more accurately reflect the true value of his services, he replaced verbal agreements with formal contracts, and he began to leverage Hardware as a Service (HaaS) to drive a 40% revenue increase in just one year. Naturally, George was thrilled:
“We have been providing managed services for well over twenty years now, but joining The 20 has helped us grow in ways we never thought possible.” – George Burke
Finally, George traded in his tech-focused perspective for a strategic business mindset. Inspired by the example of other members and The 20’s leadership team, he went ‘all in’ on his MSP’s growth, even when that meant leaving his comfort zone or changing his established routines. The results?
Working with The 20 helped George grow his MSP’s annual revenue from $1.4 million to $2.7 million in just 1.5 years, effectively doubling his business.
After selling The Computing Edge to The 20 in April of 2023, George is now thriving in his new role as VP of Regional Sales. Looking back on his journey, he’s grateful he found the courage to make big those big operational changes. Turns out they were worth it – and then some!
Grow Your MSP with The 20!
Questions about growing your MSP? Let’s Talk!
3 Takeaways from DattoCon 2024
DattoCon 2024 was fantastic. The 3-day event, which took place last week at the lovely Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida, brought in a record number of attendees. It was the perfect example of what happens when you get a bunch of smart and driven people in the same room to tackle common challenges and share their best ideas – pure magic!
If you’re not already attending shows like DattoCon – at least one or two a year – you’re missing out. Your MSP is missing out. Beyond the content itself, there’s something unbelievably motivating about being around other MSPs. If you’re on the fence about attending a reputable industry event, go for it – and thank us later.
But if you missed out this time round, all is not lost. We’ve got you covered with 3 Key Takeaways – insights too good not to share with the MSP community at large. Enjoy!
Takeaway #1 – There’s still plenty of room for smaller MSPs.
Industry giant and CEO of Kaseya, Fred Voccola, took the stage at DattoCon and delivered an eye-opening presentation on what’s been happening in our industry – as well as things to come. Fred covered a lot of ground, and we’ll just zoom in on one key insight here:
There’s still room (and opportunity) for smaller MSPs – and lots of it!
MSPs worth $1M or less – even less than $500k – are in a position to thrive in the coming years. Of course it will require the right strategy, but the conditions are right, and the opportunities are there.
Consider this: there are, as Fred reported, a lot more MSPs getting started than getting acquired – more than 3x more to be exact. In short, yes, the MSP industry is consolidating – just not nearly as quickly as it’s proliferating. There are multiple reasons why this is so…
First, businesses’ IT needs continue to grow in number and complexity. What were formerly aspects of IT (e.g., compliance, backup, security) are now their own distinct categories, requiring specialized services and focused attention. As a result, most (73%) of the new MSPs on the block are “specialized,” offering expertise and support in one or two key areas.
Second, MSPs are facing a huge and growing TAM, or “Total Addressable Market,” which refers to all the revenue they could generate by serving every potential customer. Simply put, companies need MSP services – and more than ever – meaning there’s plenty of business to go around.
Finally, as Fred shared in his presentation, “small-cap M&A” (EBIDTA < $750k) is exploding, on track to nearly double last year’s number of deals. Smaller MSPs can be attractive acquisition targets, especially for companies seeking to add key expertise or access new markets quickly.
Bottom line: There’s still plenty of room for smaller MSPs, despite what consolidation and the rise of MSP platforms might have you thinking – but success will require playing your cards right, a sound M&A strategy, and a well-defined market niche.
Takeaway #2 – MSP growth is personal growth.
During his talk at DattoCon last week, The 20’s own Tim Conkle (founder & CEO) passed out little mirrors to the MSPs in attendance. He told them: If you want to see the solution to your MSP’s biggest challenges, open your mirror and take a good, hard look.
Tim didn’t mince words, and that’s because he’s speaking from experience. Tim spent almost two decades struggling to grow his MSP business. During that time, his entire focus was on changing his business – tweaking tools and processes till the cows came home. But it wasn’t until he did something far more radical that things took off: change himself.
To get more concrete, Tim changed how he conceptualized his role as leader of his MSP business. He replaced a my-way-or-the-highway mentality with a we’re-stronger-together philosophy. He kicked ego to the curb and began delegating, trusting, and connecting. He started spending less time perfecting his stack, and more time on sales and marketing.
The result? Tim’s MSP took off. His reminder to MSPs last week was a hard truth most business owners need to hear: if you want to take your MSP from surviving to thriving – from good to great – you will likely have to start with the person in the mirror.
Takeaway #3 – This industry is on the brink of something big.
After attending DattoCon – after 3 days of hearing from some of the channel’s best and brightest – we’re more convinced than ever:
This industry is on the brink of something big – a major leap forward in the way IT support is done, the likes of which we haven’t seen since the move away from break/fix two decades ago.
We’re not just talking about consolidation either. We’re talking about concerted efforts to solve the ‘profitability problem’ that’s been hampering MSPs for decades. We’re talking about radical progress in how we integrate AI and automation into our core business processes. We’re talking revolutionizing service delivery to allow for unprecedented
scalability.
MSPs are evolving – and so are the skills required to run a successful MSP. Don’t get left behind. Schedule your call with The 20 to discuss your MSP’s future.
Join or Sell? Our Advice to MSPs
It’s no secret – M&A activity in the MSP space has once again heated up. After a minor lull following the historic dealmaking in 2021, we’re seeing a near return to the record-setting levels of that watershed year.
This is all to say: if you’re an MSP owner, you might be feeling some pressure to sell – to ‘get in on the action’ while the going’s good. A few months back, we put out an article about whether to sell now or later. Check it out if you haven’t.
In this post, we’re exploring a slightly different question – a question that’s relevant to any MSP thinking about entering the M&A arena, and especially relevant to those who’ve singled out The 20 as a potential buyer:
“Should I sell my MSP to The 20 now or become a member of The 20’s growth platform/peer group and sell my company at a later date?”
Before we get into the nitty-gritty, we want to share our general viewpoint on this matter. The truth is, if your MSP isn’t a member of our growth platform, The 20 MSP Group, you should give some serious thought to joining the group before approaching the table for a deal. Keep reading to find out why.
Join First, Sell Later
Does selling to The 20 right away make sense for some non-member MSPs? Yes! In fact, our most recent acquisition brought such an MSP into our tent. But for the majority of MSPs, it’s a good idea to join our peer group before engaging The 20 as a buyer. Here are eight reasons why…
Reason #1: Your MSP Isn’t Big Enough!
The first reason to become a member of The 20 MSP Group before selling your MSP is straightforward – your MSP isn’t big enough to secure a favorable deal (or any deal at all).
Size isn’t the only thing we’re looking for in an acquisition candidate, but it is an important consideration. MSPs below a certain revenue threshold simply aren’t worth buying, as they haven’t achieved the operational maturity and inherent scalability that larger MSPs possess.
To get concrete, if your MSP is pulling in less than $1 million in annual revenue, chances are, you’re too small to secure a deal with us – and with most prominent buyers for the reasons mentioned above.
The 20 MSP Group was created to help small and medium-sized MSPs grow and scale faster than the competition. So, by becoming a member, you can fast track your MSP’s growth, and achieve ‘sellability’ a heck of a lot faster than you could working alone on an island.
Reason #2: Your MSP Could Be Even Bigger!
Let’s say your MSP does pull in $1M+ in annual revenue. Does that mean it’s a good idea to sell the company to The 20 – or another buyer? Not necessarily.
Everyone’s circumstances are different, and if you’re desperate to exit the MSP game, then who are we to tell you to hang on another couple of years? That said, it’s important to keep in mind that deal size does not increase linearly with MSP size. In other words, if a $1M MSP can expect to secure a $5M offer, that doesn’t mean a $5M MSP can expect to secure the same multiple – i.e., a $25M offer.
As MSPs grow larger, they achieve greater economies of scale, efficiency, and scalability, resulting in exponentially higher valuations (for more details check out our free M&A guide).
To break this all down in plain English: Becoming a member of The 20 MSP Group can help your pretty big MSP get really big, and, as a result, secure a much better deal when you decide to make your exit.
Reason #3: Accelerate Growth with a National Footprint
When you become a member of our group, your small to medium-sized MSP is effectively plugging into the power of a national company. With our 100% US-based, 24/7 live-answer support desk and robust national footprint, we empower our MSP members to take on larger clients with multiple locations. We also support members with branding, marketing, and sales, giving your business the exposure it needs to grow.
In short, if bigger MSPs get better deals, it’s in your best interest to get as big as possible as quickly as possible (unless of course your number one priority is simply getting out). Joining The 20 helps you do exactly that.
Reason #4: Community! Fun! This sh*t is awesome!
Running a business can be a lonely journey, which is why joining The 20 can be such a refreshing experience for MSP owners who’ve gotten used to struggling ‘on an island’ – to the extent that anyone can get used to such a thing!
Newer members are consistently blown away by how much the MSPs in our tent communicate and collaborate. Check out this 2-minute video to hear one of our current members speak about The 20’s unique culture and ‘the power of the people.’
There is of course immense business value in having a large community of likeminded MSP owners who are ready and willing to help you out. But there’s another perk worth mentioning – it’s a lot of fun. Or, as we prefer to say, this sh*t is awesome!
So, if you’re looking to sell because you’re feeling burned out, or just sick of the IT business, know this: joining The 20 can give you a radically different entrepreneurial experience, one defined by less busy work and stress, and more camaraderie and growth.
Reason #5: Derisk the Deal
One of the biggest risks when selling your MSP is a cultural mismatch with the buyer. Did you know research suggests that culture is the cause of 30% of failed integrations?
If you’re considering selling your MSP to The 20, joining our peer group before doing so allows you to experience our model, culture, and processes firsthand. That’s because our members adopt our business model – we need the MSPs we help to be on the same page operationally speaking, as it makes it possible for our support desk to provide excellent service across the board.
Plugging into our system as a member ensures that if you do eventually sell your MSP to us, the integration will be seamless, and you’ll have complete confidence in the decision. With other buyers, like private equity firms, it can be hard to build this level of trust.
But don’t just take our word for it; visit our MSP acquisitions page for video testimonials from folks who sold their MSP businesses to us.
Reason #6: Focus On/Find Out What You Love
We give our MSP members a lot, but perhaps the single most important asset we can give you is more time!
MSP owners are typically bogged down by busy work. But not our members. With our support desk handling up to 90% of your MSP’s tier 1-3 tickets, you and your technical team will have significantly more time to tackle higher-value projects and initiatives.
In this way, joining The 20 gives you an opportunity to figure out what it is you really love doing in the MSP space. This means when you do sell your MSP, you’ll have a better idea of what kind of role you want to step into – if any.
Reason #7: Avoid the Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda…
Before selling your MSP, don’t you want to see just how far you can take your business with the right tools and support? Joining The 20 gives you access to proven processes and growth strategies that maximize profitability. Selling without ever leveraging these resources might leave you wondering, “What if I could have done more?”
Reason #8 – Second Wind for the Win!
Finally, you may find that joining The 20’s growth platform revitalizes your passion for your MSP business. With a better work/life balance, more success, and fewer operational headaches, you may decide you’re not ready to sell after all. Just think – you could enjoy several more years as a business owner, with the added bonus that when you do sell, your MSP will be worth significantly more.
Final Thought
As you can see, there are plenty of reasons to consider becoming a member of The 20 before seeking an M&A deal. But at the end of the day, your ideal exit plan will be just that – yours.
To figure out what the best path forward is for you and your MSP business, we recommend sitting down with Tim Conkle, The 20’s CEO and the visionary behind our M&A strategy. To set up your one-one-one with Tim, fill out this short form with basic info about your MSP business and we’ll get back to you in a jiffy about scheduling up your call.
It’s About Time!
How The 20 Helped Andy Gainor Get More of What Matters
Andy Gainor‘s career in the MSP space started with a bang. As Sales Manager for Integrated Technology Services (ITS), Andy used his sales acumen to propel the Charleston-based MSP to new heights, and within a few years, was rewarded with a promotion to VP.
A Sobering Realization
Inspired by ITS’s early success but nowhere near satisfied, Andy was prepared to do just about anything to help his company remain on a path of rapid growth – or so he thought. Andy did a deep dive into the industry to find out what it would take to get to the next level – to become a truly elite MSP with robust operational maturity, substantial revenue growth, and market-leading profitability. His research led him to a sobering realization…
Taking ITS to the next level would not only take significant financial investment, but years of hard work mastering various tools and perfecting operational details.
Plus, there was the notoriously high turnover rate among MSP employees, which would make managing a support desk a constant struggle.
Andy still wanted great things for ITS, but not if it meant giving up his free time – and maybe even his sanity! He’d seen enough burned-out MSP owners to know that chasing success at all costs was a recipe for disaster. But what were his options?
The 20, The One!
Andy went back to the drawing board to look into a different path to the
top, one defined by partnership and collaboration. He’d heard about peer groups and MSP co-ops, and started his search for ‘the one’ – the organization whose culture, operations, and expertise would help ITS conquer its biggest business challenges and unlock new growth…
In his search for ‘the one,’ Andy came across The 20, a forward-thinking group of MSPs determined to reach – or remain at – the top twenty percent of the MSP industry.
The 20, with its US-based 24/7 help desk and turnkey solution of proven tools and processes, offered its MSP members a way to scale operations rapidly without drowning in busy work.
More Time, More Growth
After becoming a member of The 20, Andy and his team quickly discovered that an MSP’s most valuable resource isn’t its technology, but its time. All the time Andy and his team would have spent on staffing, managing a help desk, and putting out fires now went into strategic growth initiatives. While most MSPs’ growth slows considerably after an initial burst, ITS experienced the opposite:
As a member of The 20, ITS grew top- line revenue 6x in under 6 years, evolving from a competent local MSP to an operationally mature MSP with a robust regional presence.
Behind this dramatic growth was a fundamental shift in mindset. When Andy and the ITS leadership team were going it alone, the focus was on doing more — working harder, not smarter. After joining forces with The 20, it soon became clear that the key to MSP success isn’t doing more, but doing a few things really well – and effectively delegating the rest.
In Andy’s case, this meant refocusing on his passion: sales. With The 20 taking care of operational details, Andy was free to work his magic, maintaining a 33% close rate for all first-time appointments!
Andy’s journey with The 20 underscores a vital lesson many MSP owners never learn: sometimes the cost of achieving a goal on your own can overshadow the benefits. Teaming up with The 20 allowed Andy and the ITS team to achieve dramatic growth without surrendering their sanity to the operational grind.
And The 20 didn’t just help ITS grow; it also provided the MSP with a fruitful exit route when the company’s owners decided it was time to sell the business. Today, Andy is happy in his new role as VP of Regional Sales for The 20 MSP. He’s still working his magic — and this time, it’s on a national stage.
Grow Your MSP with The 20!
Questions about growing your MSP? Let’s Talk!
More Than a Peer Group: How The 20 Helps MSPs Shine
Your MSP can’t survive on an island. Or maybe it can. Maybe, just maybe, you can, without strategic partnerships, without peer groups, without industry events, without any of that, hang in there and eke out a living long-term. Maybe.
But you don’t start a company because you want to be like ninety-nine percent of people, struggling to make ends meet. If you’re like most of the MSP owners we encounter – including the 150+ MSP owners in The 20’s tent – you want to build something great.
We started The 20 because we know most of you small and medium-sized MSPs out there have big dreams – but not necessarily the means to achieve them. But just what is The 20? It’s a “peer group,” yes – or if you like fancy terms, a “business consortium,” but it’s much more than that. So much more…
The Pain Points of the Lone Wolves
MSPs working alone ‘on an island’ face a litany of challenges that can severely limit their growth. Let’s talk about some of the most common pain points plaguing standalone MSPs.
Not-So-Smooth Scaling
MSPs working alone struggle with scale (i.e., the ability to adjust to increasing/decreasing demands effectively). Whether it’s scaling up services to accommodate more/larger clients or scaling down services during a slow period, smaller firms have trouble finding the ‘sweet spot’ between two extremes:
- Fully reactive scaling where you scramble to adjust your services to meet a change in demand.
- Fully proactive scaling (aka the ‘if you build it…’ approach) where you build out capabilities to handle more/larger clients before you’ve even landed them.
These approaches are fundamentally flawed for obvious reasons; fully reactive scaling leads to inefficiencies, stress, and poor service delivery, while fully proactive scaling can easily result in wasted resources. Finding the happy medium between these two ineffective approaches is extremely challenging for a smaller MSP that relies primarily on hiring as a method of scaling.
Sales & Marketing Blues
Sales and marketing have been – and continue to be – weak points for MSPs, especially small and medium-sized firms with limited resources. But from our vantage point, the reason for this has changed somewhat.
In the early days, MSPs’ sales and marketing efforts were lackluster for two reasons. One, the initial ‘gold rush’ in managed IT services meant that MSPs could achieve a burst of growth on the back of demand alone, without needing to sell and market their services in a savvy manner. Second, many MSPs are run by technical-minded individuals who often overlook the value of sales and marketing, resulting in minimal time and effort devoted to these areas.
But times have changed. As our industry became more competitive, even the more stubborn and marketing-averse MSPs came to accept the necessity of both sales and marketing. So, why are MSPs still underperforming on these fronts?
The new answer to this question is that MSPs – especially small and medium-sized ones operating on an island – simply don’t have the time or resources to sell and market effectively.
This all ties back to scale. When your operations lack scalability, keeping pace with client needs is a full-time job – and then some! MSPs operating in isolation are typically drowning in day-to-day work; there simply aren’t enough hours in the day to keep up with end client requests and sell/market services effectively.
Trial-and-Error (Emphasis on Error!)
We see this all the time: MSPs that come to us for help are stuck in the ‘experimentation phase.’ To be clear, experimentation isn’t a bad thing per se, as growing a successful company, regardless of industry, takes risk-taking, experimentation, innovation, etc. However, it’s a question of degree.
The truth is, the one thing that sabotages an MSP’s growth more than anything else is endless tinkering. Tinkering with tools. Tinkering with processes. Tinkering with team make-up. The tinkering isn’t the problem, but the amount of tinkering certainly is. Perhaps it’s a product of a ‘technical’ vs. a ‘business’ mindset. Or maybe it’s more of a matter of not knowing the alternative. But the bottom line is clear:
MSP executives often undermine their company’s growth by experimenting endlessly with different combinations or tools and processes.
This endless quest for ‘the perfect stack’ comes from a good place – the desire to be excellent – but that doesn’t make it any less detrimental to growth. Why? Because it’s a gigantic time-suck!
The 20 to the Rescue!
The 20’s business model is built around helping small and medium-sized MSPs overcome their primary pain points. We’re not the only peer group/growth platform around, but we are unique in several respects. And what makes us different makes all the difference…
Scaling Made Easy
When you become a member of The 20, your scaling problems quickly become a thing of the past. How do we help your MSP become more scalable? Two ways:
First, we give you standardized – and well-documented – processes. These processes are efficient, clear, and repeatable, all key ingredients for scalability. If you’re intent on doing things your way, The 20 isn’t right for you. The strength of our group comes directly from the strength of our individual members’ buy-in. We need everyone under a single operational umbrella and service delivery model for our Support Desk to do what it does, which is deliver speedy and stellar support to all our members’ end clients.
The second way we make your MSP more scalable is by giving your clients unlimited access to our acclaimed, 100% US-based, 24/7/365 Support Desk and Network Operations Center (NOC). With our large team of experts at your back – answering the phone and resolving your clients’ issues swiftly and efficiently – you can confidently expand your client base without the headaches of hiring and training additional staff. It’s a beautiful thing.
Moreover, you can take on bigger clients with full confidence that you have the bandwidth to support them. One of our current members, Mark Adair of Adair Technology, recently spoke about this particular benefit of membership, and its relationship to sales:
“Being a member of The 20 has helped us operate bigger than we are really. Coming from a small team where we handled every issue, it created problems for us when it came time to scale. We’d do sales and then be afraid that we couldn’t support the sale…With The 20, we’ve been able to utilize the help desk. We can sell and know that we can service it after the sale.”
This is music to our ears, as our primary goal is to allow MSPs to be ‘bigger than they are.’ While standalone MSPs can’t take on larger clients without having to worry about scaling services accordingly, our members can approach companies with hundreds of endpoints and say: We’ve got you!
But what makes Mark so confident that The 20 will take great care of his clients and preserve his MSP’s pristine reputation? Let’s talk about that!
Not Outsourced – Extended.
When you become a member of The 20, you are, in a very basic sense, choosing to outsource a significant portion of your ticket load to our 24/7, US-based Support Desk. In fact, we can take on 90% of your tickets, freeing you and your team up to tackle higher-value projects.
But ‘outsourcing’ can imply handing over your business to some distant third-party that doesn’t really understand your team, your clients, or your MSP business. It can also be associated with underwhelming service.
That’s why we prefer to call ourselves an extension of your team, as we believe that better captures the role we play for our MSP members. For one, we get to know you and your MSP business through in-person events like Propel and VISION, close collaboration, and dedicated account managers.
Second, our MSP members are operationally aligned, and so, even though we take time to learn how your MSP works, this learning curve is greatly reduced by the simple fact that we largely standardize our members’ operations. MSPs that belong to The 20 are singing from the same sheet of music, which means our Support Desk doesn’t have to juggle a bunch of disparate workflows.
Finally, we have a robust national footprint with boots on the ground in nearly every state (soon to be every). That means we can provide onsite assistance to our MSP members’ end clients, just like – that’s right – an extension of your own team.
Many Heads > One
This one is huge. Simply put, MSPs in The 20 tend to be smarter, faster, and more adaptive than standalone MSPs. Why? Because they have each other!
When Tim Conkle founded The 20, he had a hunch that a bunch of competitors could become each other’s greatest resource. Turns out they can – and then some. We are time and again amazed by how much our members talk and help each other out. In an industry as big and fast-moving as ours, having a group of people who are…
- Trying to do what you’re trying to do (grow a successful MSP business)
- Approaching things in a similar way (using the same service delivery model)
- Willing to share what they know
…isn’t just a nice thing to have; it’s a game-changer! One of our current members, Seana Fippin, shared how much this community’s commitment to collaboration has helped her MSP, Red Box Business Solutions, reach new heights:
“We’ve been a 20 partner for about six years now, and have grown with the organization significantly. We think that the community here is really remarkable – there’s something magic about that collaboration and strength in numbers, both from working with vendors, with partners, working on best practices and strategies.”
Well said, Seana!
The Whole Kit and Kaboodle
While the competition continues to ‘tinker,’ our MSP members hit the ground running with a battle-tested stack and business model. After our recent acquisition of Collabrance, we can now support MSPs on either a Kaseya or a ConnectWise tool stack, but here’s the key: whatever tools you use, we will bring your operations into alignment with our single service delivery model.
This means you and your end clients can expect a seamless, integrated experience across all essential services like RMM, cybersecurity, backup and disaster recovery, and more. No more trial-and-error – just smooth sailing and smooth scaling!
Additionally, with our network’s size, we can get your MSP access to the best pricing through economies of scale, while also taking on the responsibility of managing vendor relationships. One of our members, Chris Engler of Engler IT, commented on how much joining The 20 has helped him with vendor management:
“There’s always technology providers knocking at my door…It’s a whole full-time job to try to sort through these guys, so that you can find good technologies – you have to vet them, make sure they’re going to do what they say they’re going to do…The 20 helps us do that very efficiently.”
That’s the name of the game, folks – efficiency. When you join The 20, your MSP gets a fully integrated and optimized business model: everything you need, all in one place. This prevents major operational hiccups while allowing you to sidestep the decade (or more) of trial-and-error most MSPs have to endure before achieving operational maturity.
Time to Shine
All of the above brings us to our last – and arguably most important – benefit of becoming a member of The 20: you get your time back!
As previously mentioned, most MSPs are severely hampered by a lack of time. They’re bogged down by everyday tasks, and as a result, don’t engage in those high-impact and strategic initiatives which really drive new growth. Yes, we’re talking about sales and marketing, but we’re also talking about enhancing operational efficiency, strengthening client relationships, and investing in new technology.
In essence, we lift MSP owners up from the ‘muck’ of the daily grind, so they can view their businesses more clearly as a whole. Just ask Greg Padgett, a current member and CEO of Eagle’s Wings Technologies:
“When I met him [Tim Conkle, CEO of The 20], I had determined I was tired of just making myself a job; I wanted a business. Joining The 20 helped me to get out of that hole that I had built for myself, and be able to stand up above the company and look into it and see what needed to change, and make those hard decisions to make those changes.”
That’s the long and the short of it right there: getting away from working in your MSP so you can start working on it – and start growing it.
Stronger Together
Our motto here at The 20 is “stronger together,” because that’s exactly what we are. Compared to the competition, the MSPs in our group can do more with less, scale faster, and grow bigger.
We’re a peer group, sure. But we’re also a community, a growth engine, a winning and scalable business model, a knowledge factory, and your MSP’s ticket to the next level.
Get in touch today to learn more about our approach and to see if your MSP meets our requirements for membership.
MSP Acquisition Spotlight – Kevin Peterson
Discover firsthand experiences from Kevin Peterson, a former MSP owner, on adjusting to life within a larger organization, finding the right buyer, and embracing a new work-life balance after selling his business to The 20 MSP.
1. What’s it like not being your own boss anymore? Did that take some getting used to?
It took a while to learn that I didn’t need to or get to make all the decisions. It’s been freeing knowing that I respect my boss, Ken Pecot, and knowing that he is doing what is right for The 20. He help keeps me accountable and moving in the right direction.
For the first time in my life, I have a team of peers that I am learning from and growing with. We have some reallllly smart people that I love working with.
2. Selling your MSP is a big decision. Where did you go for guidance and advice?
My wife and I talked and prayed about the decision to sell. I also talked to a few close advisors that understood the M&A process intimately. I looked at the goals we had in life and for our company and realized that it was time to make a big decision to sell and go in a different direction.
3. How difficult was it to find the right buyer? What made you choose The 20 MSP in the end?
I had a few other companies inquire about purchasing my MSP but they weren’t the right fit. I had very close relationships with Tim, Ken, and other companies that were rolling up at the same time. We were able to talk together about the benefits of rolling up and doing something amazing together. Being in business with people I know and trust is very important to me.
4. How did you approach sharing your M&A plans with your team and clients? Were you surprised by any of their reactions?
We shared with our team about a month before the acquisition. We shared with all of our clients day 1 of acquisition. They were very supportive after explaining the reasons for our rollup and the extra benefits to them.
5. What’s changed the most in your life since selling your MSP?
My wife, Barb, and I travel a lot more.
6. Since selling your MSP, is there something – inside or outside of work – that you’ve been able to focus on more?
I’m able to focus on enabling the National Project Team to execute on projects for our clients. I don’t have to deal with constant interruptions and changing priorities. The ability to focus makes our team and me much more effective.
7.What do you miss most about running your own business?
The sleepless nights, wondering if a major client would leave and drop our revenue by 20%, being afraid of a key employee leaving and taking other staff and clients with him, and thinking I had to do it all.
Wait, did you say what I miss or what I don’t miss???
8. What’s your best advice for someone thinking about selling their MSP?
Figure out your medium and long term goals in life, for your company, & your family. Then see if your current company and direction will get you there. If not, make a change.
9. Can you talk about your current role? How has your day-to-day changed since selling your company?
As VP of the National Project Team my job is to set priorities, drive metrics, and hold the team accountable for our results. This is done by working with our team members, making sure they have the resources to succeed, and helping them to focus and prioritize. My days are about my team and what they need. Our job on the NPT is to execute on our projects right the first time, communicate well with our clients (both internal and external), and deliver a great client experience.
10. In your opinion, what’s the most important quality for success?
The ability to juggle 12 running chainsaws at the same time for 3 minutes straight. It’s either that or perseverance.
11. What’s something most people don’t know about you?
I was a Top 40 radio DJ right out of high school and I tried a radio name of “Kevin Thunder.” That ,and I am the “Eye Candy” of The 20…
12. Describe your dream vacation in 3 words…
Barb, a cruise, food
Ready to explore more about M&A? Visit our M&A tips page for valuable insights and guidance!
The 80/20 Rule: What’s in Our Name
We are The 20! When you tell someone that, they tend to look around for the other nineteen. But the truth is, our name doesn’t refer to our number.
We have more than twenty employees. We have more than twenty MSPs in our membership-based growth platform and peer group, The 20 MSP Group (at the time of this writing, more than 150). These MSPs serve A LOT more than twenty clients, and let’s not even get into the number of endpoints our national network looks after!
So, what does our name mean? Why twenty? The answer might surprise you…
The 80/20 Rule
Consider the following statements. What do they have in common?
- 80% of health problems stem from 20% of lifestyle choices
- 80% of the time people wear only 20% of their wardrobe
- 80% of traffic accidents are caused by 20% of drivers
Besides all being plausible (even if the exact percentages are a little off), these statements are all illustrations of the Pareto principle or “80/20 rule.”
Over a century ago, Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto observed that 20% of his garden’s pea pods produced 80% of the peas, and that 20% of Italy’s population owned 80% of the land. Later, in the 1940s, Joseph Juran applied Pareto’s ideas to quality control, finding that roughly 80% of defects stem from a 20% of production factors.
Others followed Juran’s lead, and it wasn’t long before the “80/20 rule” was recognized as a powerful principle across various fields. OK, but what does any of this have to do with us – or the managed services industry more generally?
The Vital Few
The most obvious and important application of the 80/20 rule to the MSP world pertains to the distribution of market share.
We don’t have the data to say that exactly 20% of MSPs – the top 20% – control 80% of the MSP market. But there is plenty of data pointing to a marked disparity between top-tier MSPs and everyone else – between ‘the best’ and ‘the rest.’ We’re talking about less of a smooth and linear gradation from the bottom to the top, and more of a sharp divide.
One study of IT providers’ performance in Q1 of 2023 found that best-in-class MSPs averaged 23% profit, while an alarming 31% of MSPs lost money. Another study from Service Leadership something similar: 28% of MSPs aren’t profitable.
Putting exact figures aside, this much is obvious to anyone with eyes on our industry: The MSP space is dominated by a relatively small portion of MSPs. Borrowing a term from Juran, we’ll these top-performing MSPs: the vital few.
Why are we called The 20? Because we want to help your MSP get to the top! We believe there’s at least one well-defined path toward industry dominance, and we’ve built a business model around it to help MSPs join the vital few.
Our way might not be the only way to launch an MSP into the highest echelon – but it is one way, and we have a full stable of thriving MSP members as a testament to our model’s effectiveness. Now, for the really fun part: the how.
How The 20 Powers MSP Growth
How does The 20 help your MSP grow? Let us count the ways – well, some of the ways; we’d need a whole book to go over every single thing we do to help our MSP community get ahead!
Systematicity
Is that a real word? Doesn’t matter. What matters is that The 20 helps small and medium-sized MSPs become systematic. This is one of the biggest adjustments our newer members have to make: trading in a trial-and-error, seat-of-the-pants approach for a process-driven approach enshrined in impeccable documentation. The difference this makes for an MSP struggling to break $1M in ARR can be enormous.
Scalability
An MSP can grow and grow until…things start to break. Your breaking point is largely determined by the scalability of your processes, or more simply, how well they adjust to changes in workload. Scaling up is taking on more work, and scaling down is dealing with less. A truly elite MSP can scale up without breaking, and scale down without incurring unnecessary costs.
We help our MSP members become masters of scale through our acclaimed 24/7, US-based support desk and suite of battle-tested business processes.
Great Operations
Your MSP’s operations might be good, but are they great? Do you have a brilliant COO dedicated to relentlessly improving your service delivery model? Does that COO draw on Japanese business philosophy to make things as lean and mean as possible? Is your support desk 24/7? Even on Christmas? Does your support model reflect the ongoing efforts of hundreds of MSPs, all collaborating and working towards one goal: raising the bar for MSP excellence?
Here at The 20, our answer to each of these questions is a resounding yes! Operational excellence is often what separates a great MSP from a merely good one, and we wouldn’t be called The 20 if our goal wasn’t to help you achieve greatness. Your business is built on your client relationships, and our operations are designed to make sure that we don’t just keep your clients happy, but blow them away with our excellent service.
Time to Shine
Most MSPs owners are bogged down by busy work. This is a sad state of affairs, since there are intelligent ways to delegate tasks and carve our more time to work on your business instead of just in it. Becoming a member of The 20 is one such way. We can take on up to 90% of your MSP’s tickets, allowing both you and your technical team to focus on higher-value projects.
Another way we give you more time is by streamlining your processes, bringing us back to the first benefit listed – greater systematicity. When tasks are standardized and repeatable, you can spend less time on keeping day-to-day operations on track, and more time on corporate strategy, sales & marketing, and other high-impact, profit-driving activities.
Stronger Together
Finally, we want to shine a light on the community aspect of being a member of The 20 because, make no mistake, our member MSPs are exactly that – a bona fide community. They hang out in person. They reach out to each other out of the blue. They trade jokes on Teams. They celebrate each other’s wins. They share knowledge, resources, even labor. We might not be the only MSP peer group around, but we challenge you to find another with our level of camaraderie.
So, in an industry as fast-paced as ours, what’s it like being able to plug into the collective knowledge of hundreds of MSPs to solve any problem you encounter? We’ll let one of our current members tell you…
“We’ve been a 20 partner for about six years now, and have grown with the organization significantly. We think that the community here is really remarkable – there’s something magic about that collaboration and strength in numbers…I think what really sets The 20 apart versus others is the authenticity and the transparency and that dedication to collaboration…Everybody is real approachable, real down-to-earth, and dedicated to that growth and improvement.” – Seana Fippin, Red Box Business Solutions
Authenticity and transparency – that right there tells you what you need to know about how we do business.
Final Thought
This industry is tough. Most MSPs don’t make it to the top, and some simply don’t make it. There’s a temptation to keep grinding – to keep doing things the same way, the way you’re used to. But the truth is, the path to the top isn’t linear. MSPs that grow into elite companies have to make big changes to overcome the major barriers to growth. They have to reimagine their operations, realign their priorities, restructure their teams.
Change is scary – but it doesn’t have to be chaotic. If you want a trusted partner to help your MSP make the jump from good to great, from surviving to thriving, schedule a call to find out if your MSP business meets our requirements for membership.
MSP Acquisition Spotlight – Michael Vu
Discover firsthand experiences from Michael Vu, a former MSP owner, on adjusting to life within a larger organization, finding the right buyer, and embracing a new work-life balance after selling his business to The 20 MSP.
1. What’s it like not being your own boss anymore? Did that take some getting used to?
Yes, it totally did. As with any larger organization, things go much slower and through more process. No more are the days of just whipping out your credit card to “get it done”. That’s just a fact that is going to have to be accepted.
2. Selling your MSP is a big decision. Where did you go for guidance and advice?
We talk about it all the time within our peer groups. But in the end for me, it was “In Tim we trust.”
3. How difficult was it to find the right buyer? What made you choose The 20 MSP in the end?
I wanted to sell to someone I could fully trust. In this industry, I only had two people that I felt that way about: Tim and Ken P.
4. What’s changed the most in your life since selling your MSP?
Life quality is much better now. I actually work harder but on things that are much more enjoyable.
5. Since selling your MSP, is there something – inside or outside of work – that you’ve been able to focus on more?
Being a part of The 20 now affords me to be the primary home care provider for our family.
6. What do you miss most about running your own business?
Expensing everything…
7. What’s your best advice for someone thinking about selling their MSP?
If you want to set up your family for success, platform MSP is the way to go. Unless you can reach 5 million in 3 years, you will have much more stability and gains for your family along with taking a lot of risk off the table.
8. Can you talk about your current role? How has your day-to-day changed since selling your company?
Day to day is much more flexible. Knowing we have a full team for any situation and that you don’t have to be in the middle of it all to make sure nothing gets screwed up – that’s the best feeling of all!
9. In your opinion, what’s the most important quality for success?
The best quality for success is being able to 100% define what success looks/feel/smells like for you. It’s not the same for everyone. Ego must 100% be set aside and bask in the glory of working with the larger team!
10. What’s something most people don’t know about you?
I like to farm and garden.
11. Describe your dream vacation in 3 words…
Japan, hiking, sushi.
Ready to explore more about M&A? Visit our M&A tips page for valuable insights and guidance!
VISION ’24 Awards: Honoring Excellence in the MSP Community
Last week was VISION ’24, our annual conference for growth-minded MSPs and their teams. The event exceeded even our wildly high expectations – and it’s because this MSP community is unlike anything else in the channel. Truly.
This was on full display on Thursday at the VISION ’24 Awards Ceremony. When Tim Conkle founded The 20, the million-dollar question was: Can a bunch of competitors become collaborators? Turns out they can; MSPs can work together – and not only as collaborators, but as friends.
You could certainly feel the love on Thursday – in the thunderous applause, in the big smiles, in the way MSPs celebrated each other’s wins as if they were their own. At the VISION ’24 Awards Ceremony, we recognized top-performing MSPs and channel vendors for their outstanding achievements and bold innovation over the past year (list of winners below). Our CEO, Tim Conkle, shared his thoughts:
“The love and camaraderie that exists between our MSP members was palpable on Thursday evening. When I started this whole thing, I had a hunch that collaboration was a massively underrated and largely untapped resource in our industry. I was lucky enough to be right about this, and I’ll never grow tired of recognizing the achievements of our members, whose tireless efforts and commitment to the dream are what keep this motor running. I personally congratulate not only the winners, but every MSP in our group: the fact that you’re part of The 20 is an achievement in itself, and a testament to your commitment to doing things the right way!”
We couldn’t agree more. Now, without further ado, presenting the winners of the VISION ’24 Awards …
Congratulations, everybody! Your accomplishments are an inspiration to us all.
Finally, we want to say a Texas-sized THANK YOU to everyone who participated in VISION ’24 – MSP owners and industry pros, speakers and sponsors, hotel staff – y’all were incredible, and you helped the ‘vision of VISION’ become a reality. We’re already looking forward to the next one!
VISION ’24 Recap: A Golden Success!
The show’s over, folks. But the memories, the lessons, the energy – in short, that “VISION Magic” remains.
VISION ’24 was your MSP’s path to the gold standard, and we hope you’re excited about the road ahead – about your MSP’s growth and the challenges you’ve resolved to overcome. But it can’t hurt to take a moment to look back at an unforgettable couple of days.
So, we warmly invite you to join us as celebrate the highlights and relive some of the magical moments that defined VISION ’24…
Tuesday – It’s Time!
You could feel the electricity in the room as MSPs from all over the country rolled in and got registered. The Renaissance Hotel provided a beautiful backdrop for the MSP event of the year, and everywhere you looked, there was something or someone to inspire you.
At 5 pm, the Hotel Expo Area filled with attendees as the VISION ’24 Kickoff Party got under way. An electric violinist roamed, the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders shone, and first-time VISION attendees got to see for themselves why the unofficial VISION slogan is: This sh*t is awesome!
Wednesday – Let the Games Begin!
Day 1 of VISION started with a bang as Tim Conkle, The 20’s founder and CEO, took the stage for a presentation that entertained, enlightened, and lit a fire under our collective butts. Want Gold? Start Digging. delivered hard-earned insights on what it takes to make it big in this industry.
Tim delved into three key differentiators – pipeline, pitch, and scaling at parity – and shared some hard truths that every MSP out there would benefit from hearing. Judging by the many nodding heads in the room, he got through to a lot of MSPs during those fifty minutes.
After Tim, it was one great session after another, starting with Full Speed Ahead, a special keynote address from author, speaker, and Olympian, Vince Poscente. We knew it was on when Vince started his presentation standing up on a chair and talking faster than an auctioneer after six espresso shots.
Thank you, Vince, for the amazing insights, the gripping stories, and the big laughs. Check out Vince’s book, The Ant and the Elephant, to learn more about his groundbreaking approach to doing the near-impossible.
Rounding out Day 1 were a host of awesome sessions, including…
The Pulse of the Channel – An unfiltered conversation between two industry legends: Tim Conkle of The 20 and Rob Rae of Pax8. One key takeaway: AI is here, and it’s about to start pervading everything. For MSPs, the goal is clear: make sure it’s us managing this new and exciting technology.
Shout-out to Rob for giving us two sessions in one day!
Private Equity POV: Increasing Your MSP’s Value – Barrett Kingsriter of Pinecrest Capital took us on a deep dive into why PE firms love investing in MSPs, what types of MSPs they love the most, and what’s on the horizon as far as industry consolidation and maturation. We learned that the age of MSP platforms is upon us, and that we can expect deals to only get bigger as the big players begin to purchase MSP platforms from each other.
Check out Rich Freeman’s detailed breakdown to catch up on all the M&A insights from VISION.
Inside the Exit: Tales from the Other Side – This panel rocked. Expertly moderated by The 20’s own Crystal Conkle (CMO), Inside the Exit gave attendees an intimate look at the selling experiences of five different MSPs. The stories shared were packed with detailed advice rooted in real-life experience.
A big shout-out to all five panelists – Caleb Brown, Mark Elliott, Bob Falco, Lance Keltner, and Wayne Klug. Y’all were so generous with your knowledge and wonderfully articulate in your responses.
On Day 1, attendees also learned the ins and outs of Kaseya’s game-changing platform, IT Complete, saw the power of AI in action, and heard from three stellar companies and VISION ’24 Gold Sponsors: N-able, Cytracom, and Phin Security.
After a full day of sessions, it was time for a Happy Hour event just down the road at Legacy Hall. Drinks were drunk, connections made, and a great time had by all. Night owls and party animals kept the ball rollin’ at a special Platinum After Party hosted by Chris Wiser of 7 Figure MSP™. No one parties like The 20!
Thursday – A Day to Remember
Day 2 of VISION was PACKED. We were honored to be joined by retired US Army Colonel and entrepreneur, Jeff Ragland, who delivered a terrific keynote address, Leadership and Comparison: Military Perspective. Jeff’s firsthand accounts of his multiple deployments were powerful, and his advice for entrepreneurs invaluable. Thank you, Jeff, for your service, and for helping us all become better leaders.
Tough Choices Unpacked
Day 2 saw multiple speakers tackle tough questions at the very heart of what we as MSPs do…
Tim Conkle kicked things off with Riches or Royalty? The Million Dollar Question, sharing how he learned to put ego aside for his business’s success. From believing he “had to be involved if it was going to be great” to embracing a “right people in the right seats” mentality, Tim’s journey serves as a powerful illustration of the importance of ‘letting go’ to level up.
Tim also participated in a joint Thursday session with Fred Voccola, CEO of Kaseya. When you get Tim and Fred together, it’s ‘all bets are off,’ and The $15 Billion Perspective did not disappoint. The two CEOs broke down why MSP profit margins lag behind industries like law and offered actionable solutions. The bottom line is that MSPs deserve more, because, as Tim put it, “Without us, the world stops turning.”
Tim and Fred were also forced to make some really tough choices in real time, including Cat or Dog? and the perennial pineapples-on-pizza debate. Shout-out to Tim for joining Team Cat!
Will Slappey’s talk, Be Right or Get What You Want?, was chock-full of wisdom for MSP leaders. He reminded us that “there’s no award for ‘best stack,’ ” and he urged MSP executives to reward those who challenge them and to normalize mistakes. Great stuff, Will – and awesome hat!
After lunch it was time for an epic showdown: Titans of Industry: The Ultimate Sales Debate, Rd. 2 between Tim Conkle and Chris Wiser. The hype was real, and the session delivered! We’ll share two of many key takeaways here: (1) In the MSP world. it’s still the case that whoever owns marketing and lead gen owns the space. (2) Focus on what you’re bad at as an MSP instead of endlessly refining what you’re good at already.
Thanks for an excellent discussion, guys. And thank you, Chris, for being a good sport – you owned that Barbie Girl walk-out!
Tough choices might be tough, but you’ve got to make them if you want to get to the top of the MSP industry and join the likes of the panelists featured in 24k Moments in 2024. Moderated by The 20’s CXO, Ciera Cole, 24k Moments featured Eric Kehmeier, Seana Fippin, Scott Meeler, and Eric Emerson – four MSP professionals with a lot of wisdom to share. The discussion wasn’t just a celebration of wins, but a deep dive into the whys and hows. Really awesome, y’all!
Celebrate Good Times!
Capping off Day 2 were two celebratory events: The VISION ’24 Awards and the end-of-conference Golden Bash.
Here at The 20, we’re incredibly proud of everything our community has accomplished this past year, and it was so freakin’ special to publicly recognize specific individuals and MSPs for their outstanding work. Check out the full VISION Awards blog post (forthcoming) to find out who took home prizes. Congratulations to the winners – these awards were well-deserved to say the very least.
The Golden Bash. What can we say? If you were there, you already know – that sh*t was awesome!!! We had walking disco balls, a living statue, a physics-defying acrobat, a red carpet, a live band, and golden decorations up the wazoo. But do you know the best part?
The love! As one of our MSP members pointed out on Members-Only Day (Friday), it is SO cool to want to party till two in the morning with the folks you work with. Thanks for showing out, everyone – and for the pitch-perfect rendition of Happy Birthday for our own Misty Kaufman, without whom VISION would not be VISION.
Stay tuned for pics of the dazzling, gold-themed event…
Friday – “Just Us Chickens”
Friday was a special half-day for MSP members of The 20, or to use Tim Conkle’s preferred phrase, just us chickens. Our MSP community received crucial updates and actionable guidance from The 20’s core leadership team, and had an opportunity to ask their questions during a Q&A session.
We won’t get into the nuts and bolts of what was discussed – that’s just for us chickens – but we will share a very special moment. During the Q&A, one of our members, Brett Fippin of Red Box Business Solutions, caught the mic (yep, we had a throwable mic), and chose not to ask a question, but instead, to simply express his gratitude for The 20. Addressing The 20 leadership directly, he said, “Everybody up here has had an incredible impact on the lives of everyone here.”
Brett’s kind words not only moved us; they also shone a light on what The 20 is really all about. Sure, it’s about helping MSPs conquer their primary pain points to unlock new growth. But that’s not the ultimate goal. The ultimate goal is helping the people behind these MSPs – MSP owners and their teams. It’s about giving people their time back, their work/life balance back, a sense of control back. It’s about making entrepreneurs’ lives better. It’s this project that keeps us going, and it’s incredibly gratifying to hear directly from a member that we’re making a real difference.
A Texas-sized shout-out to every single member of The 20. Y’all are the lifeblood of this organization, and we couldn’t ask for a better community to take our plans and ideas and make them a reality.
Finally, THANK YOU to everyone who participated at VISION ’24: speakers, sponsors, hotel staff – y’all brought the magic and then some.
Until next time, stay golden, y’all!
