The Power of Belief
If you’re going to get your MSP business where you want it to be, you’re going to have to set a goal for yourself and strive to achieve that goal. While there’s definitely something to be said for designing goals that you can hit, you don’t want to limit yourself by pragmatism. The truth is, the heights any business can attain are more likely to be limited by a lack of imagination than by actual extant circumstances. When you believe you can do what you set out to do, you’re more likely to do it. It’s kind of a “self-fulfilling prophecy” sort of thinking.
Don’t Be Casual
People have the ability to see the goals they set for themselves achieved. The disconnect occurs in getting from point A to point B, obviously! You want to climb that peak, but you encounter setbacks. Overcoming the setbacks is what makes your business the valuable commodity that it ultimately ends up becoming. So you can’t be casual about it. Being casual is a great way to be ineffective. The majority of companies are casual. So the majority of companies are ineffective. They never attain the goals they set for themselves.
Hypothetical Approaches
Say you’ve got an MSP business worth $5 million and you want to see it hit $40 million within the next eight years. That means an extra $5 million in annual growth. Well, you’re going to need to take a step back and seriously consider what is necessary to hit that goal. One thing you’ll likely need to do is attain more customers. Sure, you could work on securing a handful of exceptionally well-endowed customers, but this isn’t the best strategy because you can’t bank on selling the customers you’d like. A better approach would be aiming to obtain the greatest selection of clientele possible and emphasizing service delivery on those clients who purchase the most service. Prioritize the good clients and they’ll grow. But don’t let the others fall by the wayside in the process—remember, your likeliest customers are going to be those who come from a “word-of-mouth” campaign of some variety.
To believe what you claim pertaining to goals, you must work at actually realizing them in a material sense. This means you look at your clients, see who is expanding and who isn’t. You explore the market, looking where startups that may need your services are developing. Plan strategies for arranging alliances between new and established companies. Keep your finger on the pulse of business. Attend conventions. Keep up on the latest business and tech news pertaining to your market. If you really believe you can hit your goals, then you’re going to do everything possible to hit them, and you will hit them.
Get the Tools You Need For the Job
If you casually say you’re interested in climbing a mountain peak, and then just start off in a stroll with your sneakers up the hillside, you’re probably going to stop well before you hit the peak because you don’t have the right equipment. But if you set your sights on that goal, then go purchase the nylon ropes, grappling hooks, portable tents, and transportable rations, you’re much more likely to scale that summit. So look yourself in the mirror. Admit that you really believe you can meet your goals. Admit it, and build your plans accordingly with this belief as a psychological predicate. That peak’s going to be difficult—what do you really need to scale it?
Find Inspiration from Other Successful Companies
Look at other companies, other summit climbers out there. What have they done? How did they grow their startup from a garage operation to a $40 million success? Nobody starts out at the top, and those who do have some financial wings supporting them from the beginning may never learn to do anything but maintain one altitude. They may only tread water.
As your MSP business learns to set goals and prepare to achieve them, as it learns to believe in itself, you’ll find that you can scale the peaks you aim for, and even higher ones you couldn’t have imagined climbing before.
