How do you explain an MSP business with slow to no growth and poor profitability right now?
Member after member is sharing with me how they can barely keep up with the new projects and MRR coming in. Hiring to fulfill the work is the bottleneck now, NOT demand. Last year’s Better Your Best finalists added $1.1 million on average, and this past quarter sales for our Producers Club members is up over 20%.
But there are some who are still struggling, not making money. Who do they blame? THE economy, THEIR market, THEIR city, THEIR niche. They conveniently blame a “rigged” game afoot, designed to keep them broke, the evil 1%ers of the industry taking all the “good” clients. Do they believe people ARE getting rich right now? Sure…but with a big BUT, insisting there’s some advantage those people have, some secret to their success that is unavailable to the ones not making money.
They do what anyone chronically failing at something does –- they develop a convenient story that logically explains their situation, then go in search of sympathizers to their plight. Smart marketers are tuned into this. You’re not fat because you eat too much and take no exercise – you’re fat because the food industry conspires against you….your hormones are out of whack…you’re genetically predisposed to gaining weight…you’re a busy, overworked mom and shouldn’t be expected to be thin.
ALL excuses have a vein of truth, but if you allow yourself to make them a permanent anchor for staying where you are, how you are, no progress is made.
As the Batman episode is so aptly titled, “If you’re so smart, why aren’t you rich?”
In the MSP business, I hear, “I’m too busy to do marketing.” Or, “I don’t have the money.” And of course, “I don’t know what to do,” even spoken by people who have enrolled in our program that details step-by-step EXACTLY what to do, with examples, with templates and with support, to get questions answered. One of my clients sent me another industry survey detailing that over two-thirds of MSPs have NO marketing plans, systems or campaigns in place. Is it any wonder they’re not growing?
Candidly, the REAL reason is not that they’re dumb OR lazy (well, most aren’t).
They’re shackled in an unprofitable, no-growth business because they choose to be shackled.
They do NOT wake up every day thinking about growth, sales and profits. In some cases, they’re riddled with guilt over the idea of raising their prices and charging more. Some lack the self-confidence.
But many have sheer disdain for the idea of “making a lot of money.” I often hear, “I don’t NEED an expensive car or big house.” They’ll say they feel honor bound to do “the right thing” for their clients by NOT selling them anything, NOT charging “too much,” NOT trying to “scare” them into buying something. They are a financial martyr who is unappreciated by society and unfairly punished for their integrity and honesty.
What this really is: a loser’s exercise to justify their failure – and anyone who’s selling you on the idea of “Don’t be owned by your things” or that it’s a bad idea to strive to become wealthy ought to be looked at a little closer to see what they’re selling you. Unless they are living like Mother Teresa with just the clothes on their back and an extremely humble lifestyle, they should be ignored for the con artists they are.
