Built to Run
Field Notes
Implementation notes, frameworks, and research from MSP owners who decided to stop being the bottleneck. Written for operators.
FeaturedYou'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.
You Never Decided to Build Silos. You Built Them Anyway.
Unintended silos are silently costing your MSP speed and clients. Learn to identify and dismantle the artificial boundaries hindering your growth and team cohesion.
Hunt Groups Are Training Your Team to Miss Calls
Hunt groups teach your team to miss calls. Switch to a rotational system with clear ownership for each ring and watch your answer rate (and client satisfaction) soar.
Your Field Guide Is Not a Shiny Object
Your field guide isn't another shiny object. It's the foundational work every tool needs to deliver on its promise—making your business work better, not harder.
Commission What You Want. You'll Get What You Pay For.
Your commission plan dictates what your team sells. If you want them to sell high-value solutions, compensate them accordingly, or they'll chase easy wins every time.
When Your Client Says You're Too Expensive
When clients question your prices, it's an opportunity to show them your value, not just defend costs. Educate them on what they're truly comparing, service by service.
Stop Running Your Own QBRs. Start Running a Referral Engine.
QBRs are eating your time and generating zero referrals. Stop running them yourself. Systemize the handoff to your team, and turn each QBR into a predictable referral engine.
Drive Knowledge and Competency Throughout Your Organization. Here's What Actually Works
Stop wishful thinking. To build a truly competent MSP team, you need a systematic approach: engineers define processes, then relentlessly train until it sticks.
The One Employee Who Makes Sure Everything Happens. And What Happens When They Leave.
That indispensable employee holds your MSP together. But when they leave, all that operational knowledge walks out the door too. Stop building your business on a single point of failure.
Your Endpoints Are Growing. Your Context Isn't Keeping Up.
Your endpoints grow faster than your context. This isn't a people problem, it's a context problem. Solve it by building a robust context layer.
You Documented the Process. But How Do You Know Anyone Is Following It?
Documenting your processes is only half the battle. Without verification, your SOPs are just filing cabinet entries, not tools for consistency. Learn why a feedback loop is crucial for actual process adherence.
Every System Needs Three Things: An Outcome, a Measurement, and a Feedback Loop
MSPs, stop managing by feel. Every system needs an outcome statement, a measurement, and a feedback loop. Build systems that run without you.
Process vs. System: The Distinction That Changes Everything
A process is a recipe, but a system is the restaurant. What makes your favorite restaurant great? Consistent execution, not just great dishes. Learn how to build that for your MSP.
The Brain Injury Thought Experiment: What Breaks First When You're Gone?
Imagine 90 days out of your business. What breaks first? Most MSP owners can't face that question because they ARE their business's load-bearing wall.
Your Mission Statement Is an Operational Tool, Not a Marketing Slogan
Your mission statement isn't a decoration. It's a critical operational tool that guides your team's decisions and aligns them around a clear purpose.