Network Management Solutions is located in Santa Cruz, California. We serve Santa Cruz, Monterey, San Jose and the greater San Francisco Bay Area. The business was established in 1984 by Greg and Robin Sirakides under the name ‘ComputerLand of Capitola.’ I began working for them in 1998 and offered to purchase the business from them in 2006. I renamed the business in 2009 and began migrating my clients to an all-you-can-eat monthly support model. We enjoy serving our clients and giving back to the community that we live in!

I believe we’re close to 3 years!

We wanted to augment our support staff with a 24/7 service desk that was US-based. Additionally, we were already operating a managed IT department and liked the idea of partnering with like-minded MSPs to extend our breadth and depth of skill and location.

Joining The 20 caused me to focus on the type of deals that were win-wins for both us and the client. This meant that I needed to start saying ‘no’ to opportunities, which was one of the best things I could have ever done. Not all deal are the right deals.

The community. I have been a part of other networking groups, but everyone in this group is conducting business essentially the same way — and it helps when getting and giving advice.

Having a growth mindset. All businesses make mistakes, including myself, including the service desk — it’s what we learn from those mistakes and how we grow from them that make us better and creates a better offering for our clients.

I have had 2 significant challenges to face in the last 4 years. First: finding and keeping good talent. This business is often a platform for younger people to launch there careers. It’s not a bad thing, it’s just that the churn is hard.
The second issue is that in the course of a 2-year period, I lost my 2 biggest clients to circumstances out of my control. It made my business feel stagnant for several years even though we were still growing; the problem was replacing what we once had.

We are making sure to discuss with each of our clients what the current cybersecurity landscape is and ensure that they are as protected as possible.

Make sure to start working on process now. Document the way you do business. Scaling is hard when you’re attempting to reinvent the wheel each time.

I am currently re-reading Traction and implementing more items. I plan on reading The Checklist Manifesto next.

Seth Godin
The Hustle

Carefree Technology was started in California in 2001. In 2014 we moved to Utah to be closer to family, so we now have offices in California and Utah, and thanks to The 20, we have clients in Washington, Oregon, California, Utah and Colorado!

We joined The 20 in November of 2018.

We joined The 20 because it was time to grow our business. In 2001, when I quit the best job I ever had, it was so I could reclaim my time and be an active, present influence in raising our 4 kids. As our company grew, I noticed that the more employees we had, the less time I could spend with my family. Somewhere along the way, I made a conscious decision to have a “lifestyle business” so I could maintain my desired quality of life.

In a space of 4 months in 2018, 2 of our kids got married and another left for college. Now that our kids are leaving, it is time to change our focus from maintaining a lifestyle, to preparing for retirement by building a strong, profitable business and The 20 was perfectly positioned to provide the leverage we desired so we wouldn’t have to build and manage our own internal support desk.

Our biggest change since joining The 20 is largely psychological and emotional. We no longer look at a large opportunity and think, “That’s too big for us.” Now we look at those larger environments with a hopeful expectation that we can provide what others cannot.

It’s a toss-up between the Support Desk and the community. I love reviewing ticket notes and activities provided by the Support Desk that I didn’t have to be involved with. However, The 20’s partner community is really unique. I have developed many close relationships over the years with “friendly competitors,” but the level of camaraderie in The 20’s partner community is truly special.

To be successful, you need to know what has lasting value and importance to you and your family and then work towards that goal every day. As long as you are working towards a meaningful end, you are successful regardless of how long it takes. The moment you identify what is important and move in that direction, you are a success.

With all the demands on our time, our largest challenge is always maintaining a consistent focus on sales and marketing activities.

Working with The 20 has opened the door to much larger clients. Our focus for 2019 is learning how to work with these larger, more complex environments so we can continue to add more of them.

Be honest about your shortcomings and find people or organizations who are strong where you need help. For us, that was joining The 20. It has been an absolute game-changer!

My ADD makes reading quite a challenge; too many shiny things around. However, I love audiobooks on 2x or even 3x speed. This month I have listened to the following titles: The Road Less Stupid: Advice from the Chairman of the Board by Keith J. Cunningham, The Speed of Trust by Stephen M. R. Covey and Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World by Max Lucado.

If I’m not listening to audiobooks, I enjoy listening to comedians like Jim Gaffigan or watching Good Mythical Morning with my daughter.