Built to Run
Field Notes
Implementation notes, frameworks, and research from MSP owners who decided to stop being the bottleneck. Written for operators.
FeaturedMost PSA Implementations Take a Year. Yours Can Take Thirty Days.
Tired of lengthy PSA rollouts? Our proven method delivers a fully usable PSA in 30 days by focusing on critical functions and strict deadlines.
We Fired Our Best Technician. The Team Got Better the Same Week.
We fired our best technician. The team got better the same week, proving that cultural cost often outweighs technical skill.
Alignment Is An 8-Minute Habit You're Probably Skipping
Stop costly misalignment by replacing quarterly "fixes" with an 8-minute daily check-in between CEO and ops. Catch issues before they become problems, not three months later.
Your Best Tech and Your Best Dispatcher Are Fighting Each Other. Neither One Knows It.
Your best tech and dispatcher unknowingly fight over the same problems, wasting time and canceling each other out. This isn't a people problem, but a system design flaw.
If Nobody on Your Team Can Name the Metric They Own, You Don't Have a Team. You Have a Queue.
If your team can't name the metric they own, you don't have a team. You have a queue. Focus on outcome-driven metrics, assign ownership, and stop just processing work.
Every Client You Have Is Secretly Hiding a List of Your Next Ten Clients.
Stop chasing cold leads. Your clients' vendor lists are a goldmine for your next clients and a critical security blind spot you can turn into new business.
"Trusted Advisor" Is a Cliché You're Tired Of. It's Also Exactly What Your Clients Aren't Getting.
"Trusted Advisor" is a cliché. Stop using labels and start having meaningful conversations that demonstrate real value and help clients understand their risks.
If You Never Tell Clients It Was a Project, They'll Never Know It Wasn't Just a Bad Ticket.
Stop letting real project work disappear into your service desk. Misclassifying projects as tickets leads to unhappy clients and unbilled labor. Learn to define and manage projects correctly.
Your Best Tech Just Told You the New System Doesn't Work. He's Lying, and He Doesn't Know It.
When your best tech says a new system "doesn't work," he's likely mistaking feelings for facts. Learn to probe for actual data instead of accepting vague complaints to scale your MSP.
I Killed My Team's Group Chat. Tickets Got Faster.
I killed our team's group chat and forced a new system. Tickets now get resolved faster and are properly documented, stopping the noise and improving efficiency.
They'll Keep Saying They'll Think About It. Here's What to Do Instead.
Stop asking clients for vague referrals. Instead, flip the script: help them assess their supply chain risks, which organically reveals warm leads that truly need your expertise.
Most Owners Find Out at Month Six. You Can Find Out at Day 30.
Vague evaluations lead to costly, late discoveries about new hires. Define specific expectations for every role and evaluate against them from day one to avoid expensive oversight.
The Version of You That Built This MSP Is Now Its Biggest Ceiling
The version of you that built your MSP by doing everything is now its biggest ceiling. It's time to shift from solving every problem to guiding decisions that shape your business's future.
The Tech You Praise the Most Is Probably Your Worst Ticket Updater
Your fastest techs often neglect documentation because nobody told them ticket ownership matters. A brilliant fix without a clear record is only half the job, leaving your business vulnerable.
You're Paying Four Coaches to Cancel Each Other Out
Paying four coaches at once doesn't multiply your guidance—it divides your focus. You're averaging strategies, not amplifying them, leaving your business stuck in a state of confused inaction.
Your Best Tech Just Wasted Two Hours. He Doesn't Know It Yet.
Is your best tech wasting hours on a single ticket, stuck in a cycle of "just one more thing"? Learn how a strict 20-minute escalation rule can save your MSP time, money, and sanity.
Nobody Made You the Bottleneck. You Volunteered.
You volunteered to be your business's bottleneck. Discover the unconscious habits that keep you at the center of everything, and how to build systems that let you finally step back.
You Told Your Team Five Things Were Priority One. They Believed None of Them.
When everything is "priority one," nothing is. Your team isn't unfocused; they're reacting to mixed signals. Fix your prioritization system to give them clarity and focus.
The Number That Predicts a Bad Client Experience Before Your Client Notices
Discover the 7% threshold: the number of open tickets to endpoints that predicts client unhappiness before they even notice. This leading indicator helps you act proactively to boost satisfaction.
You Think Being Irreplaceable Makes You Valuable. It Makes You Stuck.
Being irreplaceable doesn't make you valuable; it makes you stuck. True value lies in building organizational capability, not hoarding knowledge.
You Said Your Core Values Once. Your Team Forgot Them by Lunch.
Your team forgot your core values by lunch? It's not a memory problem, it's a communication problem. Learn 11 ways to embed your values into the daily fabric of your business.
The Best Salesperson in Your Building Doesn't Know They're a Salesperson
That quiet tech who just fixed a client's crisis? They’re your best salesperson, building trust your sales team can only dream of. Learn how to empower them to capture overlooked opportunities.
Your Worst Client Relationship Has a Reset Button. You Have Never Pushed It.
Are "price-sensitive" legacy clients actually loyal or just inert? Most MSPs never push the reset button on these relationships, but ignoring their unspoken uncertainty is costing you.
Why Your Best Techs Are Losing Clients to Silence
Is silence costing you clients? Learn how to set clear communication standards that empower your top techs, turning
Every Decision Your Team Makes Without You Runs Through Chapter 1
Level up your MSP. Every decision your team makes without you runs through something—either your documented foundation or their best guess. Which one aligns with the business you built?
The Reason You Cannot Take a Real Vacation Has a Name. It Works for You.
The reason you can't take a real vacation isn't your team, it's a specific, unnamed job you're doing: service delivery ownership. Until you delegate this role, real time off stays a fantasy.
Your Core Values List Is Too Long. Cut It in Half.
Your core values list is probably too long. If your team—and you—can't recite them from memory, they're decorations, not decision-making tools.
Systems Run on Numbers. If You Don't Have the Numbers, You Don't Have a System.
Your MSP's systems aren't real without numbers. Learn how to transform your documentation into measurable, outcome-driven systems that actually deliver results.
You Don't Need More Resources to Deliver a Better Client Experience
You don't need expensive tools or more staff to deliver excellent client experience. Define what perfect looks like and design intentional deviations.
Your Polished Report Is Quietly Destroying Client Trust
Your quest for a perfect client report is quietly eroding trust and killing your MSP's growth. Embrace realistic communication over polished fiction to build deeper, more reliable client relationships.