Category: TruMethods Blog

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If Your MRR Isn’t Increasing, You’re Fired!

Posted on | Author Gary Pica

If you’re a CEO, I have a question: Are you consistently adding new logo MRR at a rate appropriate for your scale?

If your answer is no, then you’re fired!

As a CEO, you’re accountable for your company’s go-to-market results, so you’re also fired if you’ve had a goose egg in recent quarters. These outcomes don’t happen to successful CEOs; if you think otherwise, you’re lying to yourself to keep your job.

The truth is, you’re not a CEO. While this may sting, I won’t apologize for telling you the truth. You can only hold the highest executive title in a business if you’re performing the primary function of that role. If you were the CEO or president of a company you didn’t own and failed to deliver, you’d be fired.

Although I may sound harsh, here’s the good news: Everyone in our industry has the potential to be a rainmaker. We’re fortunate to be in a business that doesn’t require a massive go-to-market function or tons of leads — just a few leads that you can actually close. Most MSP leaders make go-to-market far more complicated than it needs to be. But don’t worry; you can easily pivot in a step in the right direction.

If you want to become the CEO you know you can be, it’s time to adjust your job description to reflect what it should be. See yourself as an actual CEO or president whose top responsibility is to grow revenue and profits. Make it your first thought in the morning and your last thought at night. Be one hundred percent accountable for results and decide what you can tolerate.

It all starts with the right mindset.

Ask Yourself as an MSP Leader: What Do You Want?

Posted on | Author Gary Pica

I like to reflect after TruMethods Peer meetings. Analyzing the numbers gives me a deeper insight into what’s really happening and how I can better support MSPs on a larger scale in the future.

After our most recent meeting, I noticed that the group’s average growth and profitability are on the rise, outpacing the industry — this is, of course, something I’m thrilled about! However, I also pay close attention to distribution. It’s encouraging to see the new logo growth percentage increase, but I’m equally concerned with the MSPs that had no new sales for the quarter. To me, this is an even more critical metric.

My approach to coaching, mentoring, and leading peer groups has evolved over the years, in line with how my views on business, success, leadership, and life have also shifted. In recent years, as the weight of owning businesses for over two decades has been lifted, I see the effects of that weight differently in people. Some people rise above it, while others get stuck.

The most important thing is having a clear vision of what you want. What do you want your life to look like in five years? More importantly, what if it looked the same as it does today, in terms of your business, your finances, and your day-to-day work? Many people assume the future will be better, despite their current results not supporting that expectation. This is why we ask our peer members to focus on developing life AND business plans, not just a business plan.

With that in mind, I’d like to pose a few questions for you to consider:

  1. What do you really want? (Take some time on this one!)
  2. What are you willing to do to get there? Are you prepared to change your priorities and be more accountable for those changes? Are you willing to set limits on what you will tolerate in terms of results? This willingness to change and set boundaries is a key differentiating factor in people’s progress.

Having a clear goal and understanding where you want to be, along with what you’re willing to do—and most importantly, sacrifice — are key factors differentiating those who succeed from those who don’t.

If It Was Easy

Posted on | Author Gary Pica

Recently, I did something I don’t usually do. I scrolled Reddit for posts about TruMethods. Eventually, I stumbled upon a post by FisherMBA2024 that made me laugh.

Here is what they said about TruMethods:

“Watch 20 minutes of YouTube videos; you’ll get most of it.”

While I appreciate this user’s utmost confidence in my ability to simplify complex business issues, I can’t pack decades of experience into a tiny space. I’m not a genie with a magic lamp.

But I have always tried to view any business I’ve been involved with through a simple lens or framework. This approach, which I’ve employed for many years, has helped train my brain to simplify complex issues.

For example, this approach led me to the MSP framework you now know as Picanomics. From my experience, the more complex the business, the more critical it is to simplify things.

If you need help simplifying your business, here’s what you should consider doing. Always step back and try to simplify things when looking at a problem.

Ask yourself these questions:

• What are the key outcomes you’re looking for?
• What are the variables?
• What are the highest-level levers that you can control?

Then, work down one level at a time until you find the intersection of what you can control and influence and the result you want.

Simplifying complex business issues takes practice. The more you do it, the better you’ll get at it. And that’s something watching 20 minutes of YouTube videos can’t help you with.

Why Every Company Needs a Business Impact Analysis

Posted on | Author Gary Pica

When discussing business disruption among MSPs, business impact analysis (BIA) doesn’t receive enough attention. By focusing on BIA, MSPs can better prepare for and mitigate the effects of potential disruptions.

BIA is a process that helps organizations predict and prepare for the potential consequences of a business disruption. The goal of the BIA is to ensure operational resilience and continuity during and after a disruption. At its core, it’s a way for you and your team to understand how each customer views the relative importance of assets such as apps, data, and resources. I consider it a first step.

You can’t have a disaster (DR) recovery plan without a BIA. I spoke to a friend who’s in the incident response (IR) world, and he said that in most cases, when they get involved (and it’s always “Right of Boom”), the company and the IT team or MSP are trying to figure things out in real-time, and every function thinks their asset should be prioritized.

I often discuss helping customers with software utilization, but I think BIAs are the first step. Our customers’ technical landscape is changing, and we have to change with it. Having a deeper understanding of their assets, business priorities, and the outcomes they expect is more critical than ever.

Take a look at your customer base. How many of them do you have a regular BIA process for? If it’s not part of your process, you will not have a usable disaster recovery plan and will be unable to manage your customers’ expectations.

But most importantly, you’re not a strategic resource for your customers the way you could or should be, and that’s the most significant risk an MSP can have today.

Self-Discipline is Not Unlimited

Posted on | Author Gary Pica

During my keynote at Schnizzfest earlier this year, I discussed the goal-setting process and self-image. I’ve frequently shared my thoughts on both throughout my career. 

While goals hold us accountable, we need self-discipline to take action. Over the years, I’ve learned and observed that we all have a finite amount of self-discipline. Everyone’s limit is different. You can increase your capacity when you have goals you are passionate about, but that doesn’t necessarily mean your self-discipline becomes unlimited. You need to choose your priorities wisely.

People often say, “I’m going to exercise more this year,” and “I’m going to improve my golf game.” But my response is often, “No, you’re not. If you had the self-discipline to do all those things at once, you would have done them already.”

Write down your priorities and arrange them in order of importance. Then, hold yourself accountable by creating aggressive but realistic expectations for your goals. 

Have you met people who have unlimited self-discipline? I have found they typically fall into two categories:

  1. Those who appear disciplined but have hidden issues that impact their lives. 
  2. More efficient people, such as business owners, who delegate and have command, so they can carve out an hour to work out and leave at a planned time each day. 

You need to recognize that self-discipline is limited. Set priorities, then use goals to expand your capacity and be more efficient with your time to get more mileage from your self-discipline capacity.

Misaligning Priorities with Aspirations

Posted on | Author Gary Pica

One of the main reasons MSPs don’t grow is that they mistake aspirations for priorities.

Most MSP leaders want to grow their businesses, and they aspire to have new MRR at the right price. However, many do not achieve this. In our TruMethods Peer groups, we see MSP leaders who have been in business for many years and have gone entire quarters without a new customer. This is a symptom of something bigger.

If this scenario sounds familiar, then sales and marketing are not a priority to you. You aspire to have more MRR, but your priorities probably lie elsewhere. Think of it this way: if you’ve been in business for five, seven, or ten years and you’re stuck at a certain revenue level, it means that the things you prioritize are not getting you unstuck. Your days are filled with tasks that, in your mind, make the business better, but the months and years go by without fulfilling your potential.

Your priorities do not match your goals and aspirations!

Growing a business is like anything else. You have to put the right priorities in place and have enough accountability to execute them. Get a better understanding of your sales plan and track your activities for a few weeks to shine a light on what your priorities really are.

I know this is not easy. Habits are hard to break. The first step is to be honest with yourself: Are sales and marketing a priority or just an aspiration?

The Difference Between Skill and Logic

Posted on | Author Gary Pica

I want to discuss the power of logic. I was recently working on a big project. It was complex and involved a team of people, and it reminded me of many of the complex IT projects we faced when I operated my MSPs.

Many times, people would simply dive in and get to work. These were smart, well-intended people with extensive domain knowledge, but they missed planning and logic. This would slow down what we were doing and cause unwanted client problems.

I’d see this with problem-solving as well. For instance, I remember working with our technical team when I owned my MSPs. When working on technical issues, sometimes, the team would get stuck. I’m not a technical person, but I would ask questions, apply logic, and end up with a troubleshooting plan that achieved the right results. Many times, logic is more important than technical knowledge.

It’s crucial to ask yourself: Am I teaching my leaders and team members to prioritize logic, planning, and then action? Don’t assume that people understand this. It’s not instinctive; it’s a skill you teach.

Rather than providing solutions outright, teach them the logic so that they can develop that skill.

Thanks, Zig

Posted on | Author Gary Pica

If you have yet to hear of Zig Ziglar, he was a motivational and sales speaker and success coach. If you Google “Zig Ziglar quotes,” you’ll find over 100 amazing pieces of insight. He helped improve millions of people’s lives, including yours truly.

As a young salesperson, I listened to Zig all the time. He was the king of quotes, and one that has stuck with me over the years is: “You can get whatever you want out of life if you just help enough other people get what they want.” I love this quote, and I have found it to be so true throughout my career.

At Schnizzfest, I spoke about “linchpins” — people you meet who are the right people at the right time. Linchpins make all the difference in our lives and careers. The problem is that you rarely know whether someone will become a linchpin, so you must treat every person as a linchpin. I think this is what Zig was getting at — seek first to help those around you get wherever they want to go and ask nothing in return.

As employers, we are responsible for helping each team member grow in value, even if that means eventually leaving. We are responsible for creating opportunities to keep good people, but we must prioritize their needs.

It’s Never Just One Thing

Posted on | Author Gary Pica

MSPs often tell me, “We’re good — we just need to (fill in the blank).”

“We just need more sales.”
“We just need more leads.”
“We just need more project work from our base.”
“We just need to improve our support efficiency.”

It’s almost never just one thing in the MSP business. That’s why fixing “the one thing” almost never moves the business forward meaningfully.

If you have a sales problem, it starts with your delivery and packaging. If your net recurring revenue (NRR) is low, your ticket noise is also usually high, and your seat price is probably low. The lack of NRR is a symptom of a less than strategic relationship with your customers.

This is why we developed SMART numbers benchmarking for our TruMethods Peer members. It provides them with a comprehensive view of the business, enabling them to pinpoint the key factors that truly drive growth and profitability.

So, are there things you need to fix to change your results? If so, look at them and ask if they are symptoms or root causes.

Also, ask, if we fix this one thing 100 percent, would it change the business meaningfully?

Navigating Relationships: Recognizing Red, Green, and Brown Apples in Your Life

Posted on | Author TruMethods

Consider life as a bowl of apples, with each type of apple in the bowl symbolizing the different types of people we meet. Understanding the variety among these individuals is crucial.

Let’s start with the red apple. To me, a red apple symbolizes someone we have a close, positive relationship with. Red apples are people you speak with several times a week. They know a lot about you and are trustworthy. You can rely on them for honest feedback. They’re there for you when you need them. Everyone is after the red apple, but there are fewer of them.

Then there are green apples. They’re also delicious and represent positive people in our lives. While they know much about you, you don’t have the same deep relationship with them as you do with the red apples. You talk less and catch up when you can. You’re also supportive of one another but less likely to be vulnerable. You probably have more green apples in your life than red ones.

Finally, there are the brown apples. If you know anything about fruit, when there is one bad apple, it spoils the red apples around it. Unfortunately, we all have brown apples in our lives. These are people who drain us of our emotional energy. We try to avoid them, or at least we should, but we can eliminate them. They could be family, co-workers, or people inside our social circles. Removing the brown apples when possible and managing our relationship with those we can’t avoid is important.

Focus on filling your bowl with red and green apples for a more fulfilling, meaningful, and stress-free life.