EP075 – How to Increase the Value of Your MSP with Daniel Welling and Ian Luckett

<p>Normally, we’re talking about business growth, but in this episode, we’ll take a different turn and talk about some of the tactical things that MSPs need to do to build their business value so that when they exit, they have got a business that’s worth some money, and all the hard work, pain, and stress will be worth it.</p> <p>To start off, Daniel introduced himself, what he does in The MSP Finance Team, and who they help. Daniel and I will also do two more episodes, one about what to do when you actually sell the business and how does that transaction work, and another one about what to do if you want to buy an MSP.</p> <p>Daniel and I then talked about the vision that people have for their exit. I asked him about his experience in the business owner’s view as he also formerly owned an MSP before and sold it. He thinks that given the volume of the market, you can see pretty much every scenario. It depends on who you talk to.</p> <p>We then talked about why it is important for business owners to have an exit plan even though it might just be a loose idea in their heads. Daniel thinks that it’s going to form a good and healthy business plan. We also talked about how much of the exit plan should the business owner keep in his head and how much should he share with his team.</p> <p>We then continued on to talk about the things that MSP owners need to do to increase the value of their MSP. Daniel answered with a four-method solution. These are:</p> <ol> <li>Annual Recurring Revenue</li> <li>Gross Profit from Annual Recurring Revenue</li> <li>EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization)</li> <li>The Business Plan</li> </ol> <p>He then explained each of the methodologies and why they are relevant.</p> <p>Daniel and I both agree that the most critical way to increase the value of an MSP is to have systems and processes in place so that the business operates easier. The more you can automate or delegate, the better. Daniel also says that a business owner has to be all over their numbers, wh