Lean MSP: The Core Truth of Lean

The MSP business has changed a lot in the past couple of years. So much of your stack has shifted to the cloud. Security is everything. Consolidation and specialization are both major trends right now. You’re in the business; you know this. So what’s lean got to do with it? Lean is how you thrive in this environment. In this instalment of the Lean MSP series, we get to the core truth of why lean matters.

What Lean Really Is

Yes, lean is about eliminating waste, but what does that really mean for you? To use the horribly obvious analogy, a lean runner is faster and has better stamina than a runner who isn’t so lean. The lean runner not only finishes the race but finishes in a good position. A runner who isn’t lean, well, might not make it all the way to the end.

For an MSP, the end is your exit strategy. Unless you plan to exit this mortal coil at your computer, desperately trying to bang out one last password reset, you need an exit strategy. The only logical exit strategy for someone who starts a business is to sell that business for a handsome profit. Why lean? This is why.

Be Better

Selling your business is a long-run goal, but in the short-run, it’s best to think about lean in terms of day-to-day, continuous improvement. The overarching goal is achieved by mastering lean and building it into your everyday. Once you recognize that you can always be better, no matter how good you are, then eliminating waste and improving efficiency become your oxygen and your water. You need them to live. Every single day is another opportunity to be better.

All the ways waste slows you down – inefficient processes, wasted time, errors, squandered assets – they have the same thing in common. You don’t need them. They do not help you. Eliminating all of these sources of waste helps you serve more customers, serve them better, and do so at higher margins.

Lean is a Positive Feedback Loop

When you commit to the lean methodology, you put yourself in a position to grow because you spend less time doing and more time thinking, listening, and learning. The leaner you get, the more time you have to improve your processes, pursue new opportunities, and strengthen your business relationships. It’s a positive feedback loop. You want to live in a world where you’re not worried about the state of the economy or the arrival of a new competitor? Lean gets you there because your success has been the direct result of making dozens or even hundreds of steps towards waste reduction.

Documentation is just one of the ways you can contribute to this positive feedback loop. When you adopt IT Glue, and a documentation mindset, you start the waste reduction process by streamlining your techs’ work. There’s way more you can do with IT Glue, but just getting this start is going to free your mind for other things, like figuring out the next big wins in waste reduction. Keep your exit strategy in mind, and you’ll never lose sight of why this matters.

To learn more about the becoming a lean MSP, we have a fantastic e-book on the subject that can help you get started.

What thousands of MSPs have come to discover is that IT Glue can act as a central hub for all of the information they need in order to better serve their clients and staff. IT Glue also allows businesses to get the information out of their team’s heads and store it in a place where everyone in the organization can easily access it. We are a proven, best practices-driven IT documentation platform packed with features designed to help you maximize efficiency.