What Hollywood Gets Wrong About Selling Your Business
In a world where one wrong signature could end everything... one MSP owner must sell his company... before it's too late.Cue the drums. Cut to a rain-streaked window. Somewhere, a…
Cogent Conversations: Why Selling Your MSP Isn’t Just About Money (EP15)
Ask George Sierchio what winning looks like when an MSP owner sells the company, and he won't lead with a number — even though the number matters plenty. A winning…
10 Questions to Ask an MSP Buyer Before You Sign
Most sellers spend months preparing their business for a buyer's scrutiny — clean financials, tidy contracts, a story that holds together under questioning. Fewer spend five minutes preparing their own…
Cogent Conversations: Why MSP Owners Really Sell (EP14)
Ask an MSP owner if they'd consider selling, and the first answer — even from owners who've already hired a broker — is almost always the same: "I'm not really…
Cogent Conversations: Why Most MSPs Leave Money on the Table (EP13)
An MSP owner had the deal essentially done — a strong multiplier, terms in hand — built on the pitch a lot of owners are proud of: no client contracts,…
Should You Sell Your MSP Now or Wait?
Most MSP owners sit with this question for longer than they will admit. It lives in the back of the mind, surfaces occasionally on the drive home after a long…
Cogent Conversations: What Actually Makes Clients Stay (EP12)
himpanzees use sticks to fish termites out of a mound. It's a tool, and it works — but nobody credits the stick. The primate figured out what to do with…
Young Founder: Cash, Rollover, Earnout, or Another Run?
This is Part 3 of Young Founder, Cogent Growth Partners' three-part series for MSP founders selling earlier than most.Read the first two articles in the series:Young Founder: What Buyers Will…
Cogent Conversations: Lose One Person, Lose the Client (EP11)
Across a recent deal, Cogent found something that should make any MSP owner uncomfortable: one technician was the primary contact for the company's top ten customers — spanning multiple divisions…
Young Founder: Who Are You After Selling Your MSP?
This is Part 2 of Young Founder, Cogent Growth Partners' three-part series for MSP founders selling earlier than most.Read the first article in the series: Young Founder: What Buyers Will…
Cogent Conversations: The Silent Churn Killing MSPs (EP10)
Ask a room of 300 IT company owners who gives the best customer service, and every hand in the room goes up. It's a bit one speaker likes to run…
Young Founder: What Buyers Will See in Your First MSP Sale
This is Part 1 of Young Founder, a three-part series from Cogent Growth Partners on what it means to sell an MSP earlier than most — where the fundamentals of…
The Loyalty Lie in MSPs (EP9)
Ask a room full of MSP owners who has the best client relationships, and every hand goes up. Ask them which of those rock-solid, decade-long accounts could walk next quarter,…
Follow Accounting Best Practices to Demonstrate MSP’s Value
If you own an MSP and are thinking about selling, the first thing you should do is review your books. Adhering to best practices will help your buyer see the value of your company, and the more straightforward your financials are, the faster your transaction can close.
Exit Regrets Every MSP Owner Must Avoid (EP8)
Most owners assume the things that go wrong in a sale come from the other side of the table—a sharp buyer, a soft market, a multiple that didn't hold. The…
What Buyers Are Really Asking When They Do Due Diligence
Due diligence has a "reputation". To a lot of sellers it sounds like an audit—a long sequence of document requests, financial reviews, and legal questions. The seller imagines sitting on…
Exit vs. Liquidity: What MSP Owners Get Wrong (EP7)
Ask a roomful of MSP owners about their endgame and you'll hear the same word over and over: exit. It's the word everyone reaches for, the word the brokers trained…
How Long Does It Actually Take to Sell an MSP?
Two or three months. Decide to sell, find a buyer, close. Clean and fast.It's a reasonable-sounding timeline. It's also almost entirely wrong.In a best-case scenario — a prepared seller, a…
You Got the Check. Now the Hard Part Starts.
The deal is done. Signatures, wire transfer, handshakes. You may have celebrated appropriately — a nice dinner, something with a good pour. And then you woke up Monday morning and…
The 5 Things Buyers Look At Before Everything Else
There's a moment early in every acquisition conversation — usually within the first exchange of information — when a buyer has already formed a working opinion. Not a final one,…