#38 – From the Trenches: Early MSP Days & Growth Mindset (Tim Taylor)

In this episode of From the Trenches on the BMK Vision Podcast, Josh Peterson sits down with Tim Taylor—founder of TaylorWorks and a longtime MSP operator—to talk about the part of MSP growth most owners avoid: the uncomfortable economics hiding underneath “busy.”

This is not a conversation about chasing the next stack change or adopting a new operating buzzword. It’s a grounded look at how early MSPs actually survived—and why many modern MSPs quietly leak margin today. Tim walks through the real progression: break-fix chaos, the first “managed” contracts, the hard-earned confidence to raise rates, and the discipline to treat utilization, pipeline, and the monthly P&L as non-negotiables. The throughline is simple: if you don’t know what your time costs, what your agreements yield, and what your staff capacity is doing, your growth is a story—not a system. If you want a structured way to build that system, explore Vision.

If you are an MSP owner who still feels like the business depends on heroics—late nights, exceptions, and “just one more tool” to fix execution—this episode will feel familiar. Tim makes the case that most growth ceilings aren’t technical. They’re leadership ceilings: pricing fear, lack of focus, and the tendency for technical owners to hide from sales by staying busy with internal tinkering. The result is predictable: tool churn, mispriced agreements, underutilized labor, and a pipeline that dries up the moment the owner goes heads-down. Tim’s perspective is old-school in the best way: charge appropriately, keep the funnel full, measure what matters, and stop feeding vendor chaos unless there’s an overwhelming operational reason.

What actually drives MSP growth in the real world?

Short answer: MSP growth is rarely blocked by capability—it’s blocked by discipline.

Tim’s story is a reminder that “managed services” didn’t magically solve profitability. What solved profitability was pricing confidence, operational clarity, and leadership maturity: measuring utilization, keeping sales activity consistent, and treating the monthly P&L review as a management habit, not an accounting chore.

This episode reframes growth as an execution system—not a marketing event.

• Pricing confidence compounds faster than technical excellence alone
• Utilization and pipeline are leadership metrics, not admin metrics
• Tool churn is often avoidance disguised as optimization

The MSP problem this episode solves

Many MSPs look busy and even “successful” on the surface, but internally they’re fragile: margins are unclear, labor efficiency is unknown, and sales becomes optional whenever operations flare up.

This episode addresses three common growth traps:

• Underpricing (or apologizing for pricing) and then trying to “work harder” to compensate
• Operating without real visibility into utilization, agreement performance, and monthly financial health
• Shiny-object tool changes that consume weeks while the funnel quietly empties

Tim’s point is direct: if you don’t run your MSP like a business—with numbers, cadence, and standards—growth stays accidental.

Hourly vs. recurring is not the debate people think it is

The false debate: “Hourly is bad, recurring is good.”

The real question: “Do you know what’s profitable and why?”

Tim and Josh unpack the uncomfortable reality: many MSPs moved away from hourly without building the operational maturity needed to price recurring work correctly, enforce time discipline, and understand agreement performance. The form of billing matters less than the discipline behind it.

• Recurring revenue doesn’t guarantee margin
• Time capture and workflow discipline still matter—even in managed models
• Financial visibility is what makes a pricing model sustainable

Copier dealers as a “blue-ocean” lead source

One of the most practical takeaways is Tim’s long-term view on partnerships—especially with independent copier dealers who are not trying to become an MSP themselves.

The logic is simple: copier dealers sit inside the same customer base, already have relationships, and can become a consistent referral loop if the relationship is structured with intention (and trust). Meanwhile, the episode also highlights the growing competitive reality: well-run copier organizations keep getting better at MSP delivery.

• Independent copier partners can become reliable lead sources
• Mutual referral loops work when expectations are clear
• Copier-to-MSP competition is rising—execution standards matter more than ever

The “big three” KPIs Tim would watch as an MSP owner

If you only measured a few things consistently, this episode points to a tight set of owner-level indicators:

• Monthly P&L discipline (know where you make money and where you don’t)
• Utilization and capacity (know if you’re overstaffed, understaffed, or just unmanaged)
• Sales funnel health (appointments, proposals out, and a cadence you can sustain)

This is the same posture Bering McKinley reinforces: execution cadence, financial visibility, and standards that keep growth from showing up as chaos. For more context, read BMK Vision: Real Impact, Real Growth.

Episode highlights

• Tim’s leap into entrepreneurship at age 40—and what that pressure teaches you about focus
• The real progression from low hourly rates to confident, sustainable pricing
• Why “shiny object syndrome” quietly kills sales momentum and operational stability
• How copier partnerships can produce consistent referrals (and why copier MSP competition is real)
• The three KPI categories that matter most: P&L, utilization, and pipeline

About the guest: Tim Taylor

Tim Taylor is the founder of TaylorWorks, a Central Florida MSP he built from early break-fix roots into a mature managed services organization. He also leads Tim Taylor Consulting Group, where he helps MSP owners strengthen pricing, sales discipline, and profitability through practical, experience-backed guidance.

Connect with Tim Taylor on LinkedIn →

Frequently asked questions

Is hourly billing bad for MSPs?
Hourly isn’t inherently bad. The real risk is operating without pricing discipline, time visibility, and agreement-level profitability tracking—regardless of billing model.

What KPIs should an MSP owner track first?
Start with monthly P&L discipline, utilization/capacity visibility, and funnel health (appointments and proposals). Those three categories drive most operational outcomes.

How do MSPs raise prices without losing clients?
By pricing with confidence, communicating value clearly, and accepting that misaligned clients will churn. Underpricing creates long-term operational damage that is harder to recover from.

Why do MSPs keep switching PSA/RMM tools?
Often it’s “shiny object syndrome”: technical owners default to tool optimization instead of execution discipline, sales cadence, and financial management. Tool changes should require an overwhelming operational reason.

Are copier dealers a threat to MSPs?
They can be. Many copier organizations have capital, structure, and customer relationships—and they’re learning MSP delivery quickly. Independent copier dealers can also be strong referral partners when aligned.

How do I keep sales consistent while running operations?
Treat sales as a non-negotiable owner responsibility and set a weekly cadence (meetings, first appointments, proposals). If sales disappears when you get busy, the business will plateau.

Related resources from Bering McKinley

• Explore Vision: an operating system for MSP execution
• Return to the BMK blog →

Want to continue the conversation?

If you’re building an MSP that runs on discipline—not heroics—and you want help creating clarity, cadence, and measurable execution, explore Vision or apply to be a guest on the podcast.

👉 Apply to be on the BMK Vision Podcast
👉 Learn more about Vision