What’s My MSP Worth?
Why valuation is the wrong place to start.
Last week I was talking to a founder.
Good business. Solid clients. Everything working.
He asked me a simple question:
“What do you think this is worth?”
It’s a normal question.
But something about it felt off.
Because what he was really asking was:
“If I keep going like this…
what will someone else pay me for it someday?”
That’s the game most people fall into.
Not intentionally.
Just… over time.
You start out trying to make a living.
Then you start thinking about growth.
Then somewhere along the way, the question becomes:
“What’s this thing worth?”
And from that point on, the scoreboard changes.
You start thinking about:
multiples
EBITDA
what buyers look for
how to make the business “sellable”
None of that is wrong.
But it pulls you into a very specific game.
A game where the outcome depends on:
market conditions
timing
the right buyer showing up
and someone else agreeing with your number
That’s a lot of variables you don’t control.
So I asked him a different question:
“How much cash does this thing generate?”
He paused.
Because that’s not how most people think about it.
But it’s the more important question.
Because cash doesn’t require permission.
It doesn’t depend on a buyer.
It doesn’t show up “someday.”
It shows up now.
And more importantly…
cash gives you options.
You can reinvest it.
You can take it off the table.
You can slow down.
You can double down.
You can make decisions from a position of control.
Valuation doesn’t give you that.
At least not until the deal is done.
And even then…
you traded the business to get it.
This is where I think a lot of MSP owners get sideways.
They’re running a business that:
depends on them heavily
is operationally messy
generates decent money… but not great money
And at the same time, they’re thinking:
“I need to build this so I can sell it.”
So now you have two competing forces:
A business that behaves like a job
and a goal that requires it to behave like an asset
And that gap creates… pressure.
So what do most people do?
They chase growth.
Add more clients.
Add more services.
Add more tools.
Because that’s what they think increases value.
But now the business gets heavier.
More complex.
More dependent on you, not less.
And ironically…
less attractive to a buyer.
So you end up stuck in the middle.
Working harder.
Making okay money.
Hoping it turns into something later.
That’s the trap.
It’s not that valuation is bad.
It’s just not a great place to start.
If you go back to the question from the first article:
What am I actually trying to build?
There are really two different paths hiding inside that:
One says:
“I want to build something valuable.”
The other says:
“I want to build something that pays me well.”
In a perfect world, you’d have both.
And you can.
But not by accident.
It starts with getting the engine right.
A business that consistently generates cash:
forces you to simplify
forces you to price correctly
forces you to deliver something people actually value
And here’s the interesting part:
That’s also what makes a business attractive.
Not the pitch deck.
Not the story.
The fundamentals.
So instead of asking:
“What’s this worth?”
A better place to start is:
“How do I build something that generates more cash than it consumes… consistently?”
Not someday.
Not after scale.
Not after an acquisition.
Now.
Because once that’s true…
you’re not stuck.
You can keep it.
You can grow it.
You can sell it.
But you’re deciding from a position of strength.
Not hope.
And that’s a very different place to operate from.
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