Joey Pinz Discipline Conversations

#876 Clayton Mouney: 🎯 From IT Fixer to Trusted Advisor

• Joey Pinz • Episode 876

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Clayton Mouney joins Joey Pinz for a powerful conversation on leadership, accountability, entrepreneurship, and where the MSP industry is heading next. 💻🔥

A former Marine Corps sergeant, MSP owner, and founder of MSP Report Card, Clayton shares how discipline, resilience, and strategic thinking helped him build and sell a successful MSP after being told he “wasn’t qualified” for an IT job. Instead of quitting, he turned rejection into fuel. 🚀

Joey Pinz and Clayton dive deep into the evolution of managed services, why MSPs must stop acting like reactive IT vendors, and how becoming strategic business advisors is the future of the industry. They also discuss accountability, delegation, client trust, leadership pressure, and the emotional reality of entrepreneurship.

Clayton opens up about family, motivation, Marine Corps lessons, and the mindset shifts that changed his career and life.

🔥 Top 3 Highlights:

• Why accountability matters more than technical skill

• The future evolution of MSPs and strategic advisory services

• How one rejection launched a successful MSP business

This episode is packed with leadership insights, MSP growth strategies, business lessons, and real-world experience for entrepreneurs, IT professionals, and business owners alike.

#MSP #ManagedServices #Leadership #Entrepreneurship #BusinessGrowth #MSPCommunity #CyberSecurity #ITServices #JoeyPinz #MSPReportCard #SalesLeadership #Accountability #Podcast #BusinessPodcast #GrowthMindset

 

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Discipline. How does it play a role in your life? How does it drive your decisions? Do you have too much or too little? Every profession, hobby, or passion requires a level of discipline. I have used it in weight loss (+130 lbs.), family death, and found a +25 year business. Am I an expert? Absolutely not! Please join me, as I speak to interesting people and find out how discipline affects their career, life, goals, and decisions. Join me as I talk to interesting people in: #Health, #Fitness & #Wellness: #Business, #Technology & #Science: #Art & #Culture: Website: joeypinz.com All social media @TheJoeyPinz Do you wish to Sponsor? Get the prospectus here: www.joeypinz.com/sponsor

 

 

 

 

 

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SPEAKER_03

Clayton Mooney, great conversation with Clayton. Uh fascinating background. He's from the uh New Orleans area, Louisiana area. Had you know a really great childhood, as he described, successful high school and athlete, um, student council, goes into the Marine Corps where he's really taught discipline and what he says is accountability. And uh shortly thereafter, he works, he gets some uh tech experience, works in the industry a little bit, goes to apply for a tech job and thought he nailed it, and they turned around and said, you know, you're not you're underqualified, and really, really kind of reprimanded him. And he used that to create his new company, a managed service provider company, an MSP. Uh, great journey through that, similar to mine. Uh, got to a certain point and then sold it. Now has a great product MSP record card that helps MSPs grow. He's part of the pitch competition and ConnectWise uh in this cohort. But just a great conversation with Clayton. We get to know him really well. His view on discipline is quite unique. A really great conversation with Clayton. I thank you, Clayton, for your time. And I thank you for watching. And listen. Hi, I'm Joey Pins. And here's my 45-second introduction. After starting my business in the 90s, I started developing poor habits of eating in my diet because of working way too much. Before you know it, I found myself 340 pounds. The doctor told me if I don't lose the weight, I'm not gonna see my daughter graduate. Took the next seven months, lost 130 pounds. People think there's some secret. Ask me, how'd you lose that weight? Like there's some secret. There is no secret. How'd I lose the weight? Just one word. Discipline. I've had other successes in life, and I attribute them all to discipline. Now I'm not the king of discipline, but I believe that it can help all of us. Friends, colleagues convinced me to start a podcast. The podcast mission: how do we better ourselves and society? I talked to interesting people in health, fitness, sport, wellness, business, technology, science, art and culture. And I eventually asked them how discipline plays a role in their life. Podcast Vision, growth through learning from others. Talking about patience and how that carries over from hunting and fishing, one of your passions.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, so hunting and fishing, it requires a lot of patience. You know, in business, you need a lot of patience, and it also has a lot of processes. So with hunting, there's a lot of things you have to do before you step into the woods, right? So you have to go through processes, and then once you're there, you have to have patience. Business is very similar, right? You have to have patience to grow in a business when you actually uh run the business. There's a lot that happens that you need to be on top of. Hunting and fishing is very similar. So we can go much farther, I'm sure, with this uh analogy, but I'm sure there's other questions. Uh, but yeah, hunting and fishing, I love it. It gets me out in the woods, um, but it has taught me so much about life. And it's it's definitely something that helps um bring back the nature of you know to the basics as well.

SPEAKER_03

In this fast-paced MSP landscape, how do you stay ahead? Introducing MSP Influencer.com, your ultimate hub for MSP news, insights, and community connection powered by Forza Dash. More than 75,000 MSP subscribed to our MSP Influencer Pulse weekly newsletter. Staying informed and ahead of industry trends. Tune in to emerging podcasts from Joey Pitts and leading MSP voices, offering essential tips, powerful insights, and success stories. Explore our multi-authored blogs, crafted specifically for MSP leaders, delivering fresh perspectives and actionable strategies. Celebrate excellence with the industry leading Forza Dash MSP Influencer Awards, recognizing innovation, leadership, and impacting the MSP community. Join thousands of MSP professionals who trust MSP Influencer.com to grow their business and expand their networks. MSP Influencer.com, where today's MSP leaders connect, collaborate, and conquer, all powered by the Forza Dash platform, helping MSP vendors work effectively with MSPs and helping MSPs grow. I just saw a show, I forget what it was, but they were up in Montana and they were, you know, fly fishing on this on the stream, on the river. Man, that looks so kind of just quiet and zen and and off the grid and just kind of peaceful. Seems wonderful. You've done that as well. What kind of fishing do you do?

SPEAKER_00

You know, I I've I have done that. I've gone um out west and fished in the streams, and and I've even gone uh northwest and and fished in Canada, did some salmon fishing, but most of my life, I I grew up and still live in the Gulf Coast. I'm in New Orleans, Louisiana. And so most of my life has been the marshes, the s the uh the Gulf of Mexico or Gulf of America, you have to say. Um, and that fishing is is is a little bit different than than that stream fishing, but it's it's the it's the same. It brings you back to uh nature and and and and it really is that zen, like you mentioned. It gives you that time to reboot and reset your those batteries sometimes. We need just like rebooting your computer. Gotta get a fresh start, right?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, it's like we've had to do today a couple of times. So tell me what you were like, Clayton, before the age of 18, your formative years. What were your what what drove you? What were your passions as a child?

SPEAKER_00

You know, um I I would uh it's interesting you you um asked that question because you know that the old Al Bundy stories of living in living in your high school dreams of living your life, right? I had a very successful uh high school um career. I uh at an early age, I had a um a counselor encourage me to run for student council. So I ran for student council when I was really young in my ninth grade. I was class president, 10th grade. I was also class president for the 10th grade, and then I decided as a junior to become the uh the executive board uh on the student council for the school. And then my senior year, I was the student council president. At the same time, I was very athletic. I I was a part of different sports uh teams in high school. My senior year, I was the captain of my football team. And so I had a lot of awards as well. And so my career in high school was was a fantastic experience. And today I've I've I've I try encouraging my two kids and any any young person that I've uh get around. I encourage and enjoy those high school years. It's the great memories we make, right? And so although Al Bunde might have lived in that one moment, I want people as as I did to live it and to have those memories of high school and do more than just be that seven or eight to three, if you would, the kid that goes to school and leaves. Be a part of it, be involved. And I think when you do that in high school, it definitely transcends the rest of your life, whether it's college, military, or your uh career. Um, so that's why I I enjoy it and have enjoyed it, and I think it's helped me in my own professional life.

SPEAKER_03

What did you care most about as a teenager?

SPEAKER_00

Well, you know, besides the the the clubs and and and and areas that I was um a member of or the the different uh sports teams, honestly, I I was I cared about friends. I cared about having a good time, right? I enjoyed um spending time with friends and family, um, but it was it was about um the experiences. That's that's really what I cared about at a real young at that young age.

SPEAKER_03

And what kind of jobs did you have?

SPEAKER_00

In high school or before high or after high school?

SPEAKER_03

Let's go before and high school.

SPEAKER_00

So high school, I was a grocery uh cashier at a local local grocery store. Um, and and that just kept me busy. I remember a couple of times I had to go um uh what is that, uh mop the floors or not buff the floors or the group get there at 5 30 in the morning and buff the entire grocery store. That taught me a lot of lessons about what decisions to make the night before, right? So the decisions of maybe staying out too late with my friends and then having to be at work for 5.30 to buff the entire uh grocery store, which it was a pretty decent sized store. So it taught me responsibility, right? Um, after high school, I went into the Marine Corps. I served um from 1992 to 1998. Uh, so I extended my active duty uh uh enlistment a year and a half or a duty station that I was privileged to be offered. Again, volunteered for everything, uh, wanted every experience that I could. And then I think that that wounded up being a part of my success in the Marine Corps was volunteering and and doing being the, you know, absolutely doing everything I could. Uh I was promoted uh meritoriously promoted. I was uh I had a personal accommodations, and then I had outstanding fit reps uh once I got into the uh rank of sergeant. Um so I completely enjoyed my time in the Marine Corps from the Marine Corps. Again, a volunteer. I volunteered. This was in the 90s. Computers weren't around, they weren't a big uh part of uh any real work life. I remember my CEO came to me, came to us and said, Hey, I need someone to volunteer to be a part of or learn about computers and to manage the systems here at the unit. And so I raised my hand, I said, Look, I'm getting out in a couple of years when my time's up. I need to do this so I can maybe put a resume together for a job. And that's what I did. I raised my hand, I volunteered, and I learned just enough to put a resume together. And I was fortunate when I got out of the Marine Corps to get my first IT job, and that's how I got into the IT industry.

SPEAKER_03

What did the Marine Corps teach you? I mean, obviously there's discipline there, there's structure, there's methods, there's forms, but beyond that, what did it teach you? Accountability.

SPEAKER_00

That is the I think the hallmark of my experience is accountability. And that really transcends to where where I'm at today in the business that I'm growing and trying to develop for other businesses, is that accountability. I've kept that accountability all throughout my career. Uh, for the last 25 plus years in the industry, I feel like if a client I I work with, whether I was working for another business or when I own my own MSP, I believed in one thing. Do what you say, say what you do. That's a part of accountability, is if I say I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna do it. And you don't have to worry about whether it's gonna get done or not. And I think that's something the Marine Corps has taught us and taught me is you you set out to do it, get it done, no matter what the circumstances are. Just get it done. So accountability is a big part of I think my success. And I and I would say those that that follow the accountability, if if you're going to do something, do it right and do it to the completion, to its end.

SPEAKER_03

What do you think something's most civilians misunderstand about accountability?

SPEAKER_00

You know, I I think civilians, if you would, um, I've been a um, you know, I've been in the uh civilian world for more time than I was in the military time. But I absolutely think, you know, sometimes civilians think accountability is a checkbox, right? Um, just checking off a checklist. It's it's it's that's maybe that's in in in many eyes you've accomplished it because you've checked off a box. But did you do it in the way that you had set out to do? Right? Oftentimes we plan something, and again, if you just go back to your personal life, you plan things in your head, you have this grand idea of something, but when you actually start working through it, it's such a smaller result because you didn't follow through everything you should have or intended to follow through. Again, a small example, and you're you go to the beach and you say, Oh, I'm gonna build this huge sand castle. I'm you know, I'm with my kids. I want to show show them this massive experience of the beach and and this big old sandcastle. Well, an hour later, it's hot, it's it's you're tired, you're kind of thinking, Man, maybe I was a little too um too ambitious, and then the sandcastle is barely even standing uh by the time you're done. And and again, that happens. And and maybe that's not a great or fair analogy to parents out there, because I've been there, right, in the sands trying to build that sandcastle. It was just an analogy of I think in business that people have these grand ideas, uh, whether it's it's accomplishing a project or a task, they want to get it done, but then when it gets hard, they start backing off, right? They they start stressing or they start pushing back maybe what they're expected to get done because it got hard. And I think what in the Marine Corps, it teaches you mind over matter, right? You you set out, you keep your mind straight. Your mind's the strongest thing that you have, stronger than your body, stronger than your you know, your your muscles. So your mind has to tell you continue to push forward, continue to move forward. So I think that's the big difference, is when a civilian is, and again, uh, this sounds so um despairing by me saying civilians versus military, but I do think in the Marine Corps they teach you what the mind can do. If you set your mind and you focus on it, you can accomplish anything.

SPEAKER_03

So, Clayton, in 2001, you started your managed service provider from your MSP, which is outsourced IT. What were you overly confident about at that time?

SPEAKER_00

You know, not to redig on the uh ambitions that I just mentioned, uh, my overconfidence, I was overly confident to prove that the person that didn't hire me right before I started the business that I was going to be better than he was. Right. So quick story. I went on after I left a company I was with uh in Dallas. 9-11 hit. I decided to move home to be closer to family. I was unemployed, which was fine. I had saved some money up. I went on an interview and I I rocked the interview. I was like, oh, you know, this in fact the job was a little bit lower of a skill set than what I felt I had. And I really thought I blew the interview away. And then I get a phone call from the director of IT and he blasted me, you know, like no leadership, no ability to work on my own, no uh accountability, no, you know, he just listed all the and I was like, Well, hold on, I think he got the wrong guy. Um, you know, this is Clayton Mooney. He said, No, I know who I'm talking about. I would never hire you. I'm like, whoa, never expected that in a response from someone. So I was um talking with a friend of mine who he was he owns his own business as well, and it's completely different industry. And he said, you know what, why why don't you start your own business and show this guy? And I'm like, you know, went through that first set self-doubt, right? And then so um I wind up sleeping over, sleeping on it, and I was like, you know what, I'm gonna do it. And that was kind of my mission. Was in the beginning, it was to prove this guy he didn't know what he was talking about. And and and I think unfortunately, I don't remember who he was, I don't know his name. I wish I did, but I don't. But he motivated me, right? He motivated me to do something that I knew I could do and more than what he in he saw in me.

SPEAKER_03

He actually gave you a gift.

SPEAKER_00

He did, absolutely, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03

And what nearly broke you building the company?

SPEAKER_00

Oh, oftentimes, you know, there's I've had several, you know, IT's a tough uh MSP or outsource IT is a tough business. It is. It's it's um, you have a lot of responsibility. You have responsibility for your employees, your clients, the business, the income, the payroll, you know, and a lot of times MSP owners, guess what? 90 something percent, I think someone said 98%. I don't know the exact percent. We were all technicians, right? Engineers that started a business with probably very little business experience. And so that makes running the business when it becomes an actual business and no longer a subcontractor or just a um, you know, uh a hobby, if you would, when it's a business and you have payroll and you have employees and you have clients and you have responsibility, a lot of times we don't have that business background. We didn't go to college and got a and and received a business degree or any other, you know, um advanced uh experiences in running businesses. So what's almost broke me is a lot of the things just running a business itself, but just um, you know, having having employees that, you know, uh all the time, I always take accountability for 100% or responsibility, you know. And so there's been there was several times that I I thought, this is it, I just want to go cut grass, right? And so the there were times that it was just frustrating or I felt very um at risk. And so I was like, you know what, it it would be easier to go get a lawn route. And so um, not to go into too many specifics unless you want actual specifics, but the business, just running the business, um, being responsible for companies uh livelihoods, you know, I would speak with my employees and and and I would try to tell them, I said, you know, we're responsible for lives, you know, and people would say, Well, wait, what do you mean? Why explain that to me? And I would explain it like this I would say, because because real quick, Joe, IT is so important that I felt it was important to share with my employees over and over and over about the importance of what we do. Because when you're doing something on someone's network, I want them to think about that checkbox or that delete or whatever they're doing, and what is the result of what's going to be the reaction to their work that is so important that I need them to understand regularly the importance of it. And so going back to my story of we are responsible for people's lives is let's say we did something or didn't do something, and that business was compromised. They lost their data, they were hacked, they were whatever it may have been, right? And the reason why we're responsible for lives is what happens when the owner of that business walks in and all their data is missing. How does he recover? How does she recover? So if you have a company with 20 employees and let's say half are married and they have spouses, half of so of that group, half have children. What the you know, we used to have a census of 2.5 kids, so you add that into it, and then most of them may have an animal if you want to add animals, uh pets. Um, but at what point does that owner come in and say, we're gonna need to make a cut? We need to trim down because we lost something, data, information, revenue. I need to start firing or letting go employees. Those people that were let go, we just affected their lives. That's how important what we do is, and that's why it's so important, is because what we do can result in people's lives. And so I want everyone to understand that, and I want everyone to be able to, when they work, be responsible and know the gravity of the type of work we're touching. It we're not just fixing printers, we're not just setting up email, we're affecting their business. Take everything serious, take everything as if it was your business and your information. And so, again, I lived with with those type of meetings with my employees because I wanted them to understand that it's not just a hobby. This is real life, this is real world, and it affects people if we make if we make mistakes.

SPEAKER_03

Yes, it certainly does. We're just not fixing computers. It's you know, it's the livelihood, it's the you know, the bloodline of the of the business. Were there moments where you thought that this this may fail the MSP, the business?

SPEAKER_00

Oh, yeah, absolutely. Yep. I remember specifically one time I had a a very, you know, they say try not to get that large client that takes a big portion of your revenue. Well, I had a pretty decent sized uh company that I worked very hard to earn, right? I get I I um started doing just basic work with them at first, and then we took over their entire industry. It was a billion dollar business. Um, and we started doing Doing all their IT work. And you know, it happens they happened to hire one of my employees, which I was fine with at the end. But that was it, it is what it is. Um, they they wanted someone on staff to be a higher management level, not really the support help desk. Um, well, a year later, um, that person fired me, you know, farmer employee. I get him this great job with uh a very big, a very uh great company. And then he turns around and and fires me. Well, it was a big portion. It was probably at the time my my largest revenue client um at the time. And so I had to look at the bot balance, I had to look at the bottom line and say, what do I have to do? You know, I just lost this huge income, I have all these employees, it's not adding up. So that's where I quickly um had to reinvent. I had to come up with a a solution, a service, something that I could sell um to my clients quickly that would re that would resolve that gap um in revenue. But when I at that moment, when we lost that agreement, that's when I thought you know the end was near, right? Um, but then I buckled in and I created uh um an offering and then I wound up replacing that revenue in six months. And so I was very um fortunate and and very determined if you would um to be able to put something that like that together. And because I had such great clients, and again, they didn't know, I didn't share with them what was happening on the business side and what losing a client again, that's not something um I would want to share with anyone as far as client goes, but I knew I needed to um re recoup that that missing revenue, and so I created a uh an offering where we were able to respond, sell it, and grow the business and get back to where we were uh within about six month time period.

SPEAKER_03

Wow. Very impressive, Clayton. So what what was the emotional toll on selling your business, on selling the MSP?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah. So I sold the business, um, and and it was one of those um uh what what's the phrase? It's um uh you know, it's it's um you're happy but sad. Uh I'm I'm lacking the term I'm looking for, but uh bittersweet maybe. Um I don't know about that one. I am you know but um but I would go with bittersweet, right? Um I remember so the reason back up a little, I wanted to, I didn't want to sell the business. I had no idea I was going to sell the business. I received a phone call from I met a CEO that I was very um impressed with. He became actually a a mentor of mine a few years prior, and so I met him at a conference. Um, so this kind of leads to sales, right? So um back up a few years prior, I wanted to turn my MSP to a sales organization. A lot of people fought that notion back then. This was in 2010, 2011. Sales was the bad, um, a bad four letter word. Um, everyone was like, no, you can't do that. You're gonna run your service delivery. This isn't a sales business, this is a service business. Um, and so I kind of sat on it for a little bit, met with other business owners, went to conferences. I heard the same thing over and over. Build your support desk, your support offering, uh continue to grow organically, continue to grow through services, but no one was talking about really sales, like becoming a sales organization. Um, and so I went to a conference. He uh the CEO was um was a uh not the keynote speaker, but uh a breakoff speaker. I went and and watched his presentation. There was a couple hundred people in the room. He I was sitting there, I sit sat up in my seat and I was like, wow, I finally met someone. And he wasn't a uh an engineer technician, turned to business owner. He was a hired gun that was brought in that had other successful businesses that he ran that uh that this MSB, national MSB, brought in to run their uh MSP. So he was a dip from a different cloth. So I sat up in my seat and I was like, wow, this is someone I've been wanting to find all my, you know, all in the last you know, several years. After the presentation, I shook his hand, grabbed his card, told him I would get in touch with him. Two weeks later, I sent him an email saying, Hey, I'll pay to go through your sales, um, sales training, sales model, whatever, whatever it takes. I want to learn from you if you if you wouldn't mind. He calls me two minutes after receiving the email and says, Hey, I'm not charging you anything. He said, In fact, of about a hundred and some people that shook my hand, you're the only person that got in touch with me. So I'm gonna work with you, I'll teach you some things and and and get you started. So that's what we did. We worked together. He showed me uh, he didn't give me the his um secret sauce, but he gave me enough to get started. So I got started, I started running, and I turned into a sales or organization. And then um about two years later, I get a phone call saying, Hey, do you know who this is? And I said, Of course I do. He said, Hey, I'm day two on a new job, new company, CEO of a national firm. Uh, we're we want to um, he gave me the book, the plan, right? We're gonna grow, we're gonna buy companies, we're gonna have a 50 to 250. We have uh a lot of money um uh backing us to do make this happen. I want you on the ground floor, I want you uh a part of this. You just have to sell your business to us. That's the only caveat. And I was like, hey, I think this is a great opportunity. My employees, I mean, how many times your employees come to you saying, where's my next stop? Where do I go in the company? How do I grow as a leader? And you know, as a small business, there's not too many places we can send our employees as far as leadership goes inside of a small business. So I thought a great opportunity for employees, great opportunity for me, and a great opportunity for my clients. Better service, bigger service, more service, more security. It's a win for everyone. So um I decided to sell the business and sell the MSP. The day I signed the agreement, I it was amazing because my shoulders lifted at least two inches from the stress and pressure. You that was the original question was what was the emotions of selling? And that was the the moment I sold the release of the pressure and stress that I didn't even know I was under was instantly gone. And so um, so again, uh I don't I don't want to bore you with how I got to this point until you asked those questions, but that's the relief I I I would say in the world.

SPEAKER_03

When was this this was 2018? 2018. Wow. So this is uh eight years ago, yeah. Very interesting. And so you had the MSP. Did you start making your your product with when you had the MSP or post? When I had it, yeah. So you have a scorecard. Tell me about it.

SPEAKER_00

The the solution that I I created to to recap. Yeah, so it was something basic, um, but it was something that a lot of my clients didn't have. Um, I created a little thing that's called network in the box. Um, it's it's what we know of today as a has solution, hardware as a service. Um, there were has solutions um out there back, this was 2017, 2016. Um that that was happening, right? But it wasn't being adopted like it may be today. Um, but I created a very simple solution that it could expand based on the sizes of the clients that I sold to. So it was everything a business would need from firewall to switches to access points, all bundled into a rack, a small little rack. And we also included unlimited backup cellular internet. I put it on a monthly fee, um, and then people just bought it like hotcakes. It was, hey, do you want to buy this for anywhere from $12,000 to $20,000 for this box, or do you want to pay a couple of hundred bucks a month? With the backup internet, it became a no-brainer. And so we just had people dying to buy it, and and we sold it, and it was just a great solution, and it really helped. It was amazing how quickly that sold to our clients. And what's also amazing to me is I've worked for a couple of other uh MSBs since selling, um, and no one's adopted it. I've introduced it, I've brought it to them. We talk about it, but it's never been fully adopted. And I and that's the one thing I would say uh to anyone listening today is is consider a a network in a box solution. Um, make it easy for your clients, make it a no-brainer, right? Make it so what we all want as MSPs is that monthly recurrent revenue. So make the solution that it's monthly recurring revenue. Give them the option to buy it uh monthly versus annually. Again, it sounds very simple, um, and it is simple. Um, I I I just have had uh a few people not adopt it.

SPEAKER_03

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SPEAKER_00

Yeah, you're right. Um, so maybe the solution is not for all every business. Anyone that has a brick and mortar or an office, that's a great solution.

SPEAKER_02

Right.

SPEAKER_00

Um, anyone that's 100% remote, well, we gotta be a little bit more creative. Um, you know, I'm sure we can come up. We're we're all in the industry, we're all pretty smart people. I think we need to uh create something that that can help uh those type of businesses. I I was given some advice uh a long time ago. The guy who bought my company, not the CEO, right? The CEO, um it was that's who he was. He ran the business, the operation. The the man who bought my business was listed on the Forbes, you know, richest man in the one of the you know, one billion dollar man, right? Um, he gave advice and I would give it to you and to whomever listening. One thing he said is the problem with small business owners is they think like small business owners. And I think that I said, why didn't you tell me that before I sold the business, right? Because I think just that one term, the belt, the so many things clicked for me. And and now that's been advice I've given to other business owners is think of that. Small business owners think like small business owners. And I think the other thing that really helped me when I worked for this national company was how are we bringing on all these clients, all these new businesses? And this guy who owns the business sleeps at night, right? He doesn't have his hands on everything, he's not touching everything. The CEO is not touching everything, and I think that's the the the thing that a lot of small businesses and MSPs challenge with is they want to touch everything, they want to handle everything, they want to have their their I hate using the word control, but in some cases it's it's control. It's it's and it's not because they're trying to be controlling, it's because they're fearful, they're fearful of risk. And so I also wondered, how did this CEO, how did the owner who was responsible for you know a $50 million MSP uh sleep at night? Because I sure couldn't sleep at night if I didn't have this type uh of control. And it goes back to small business owners act like small business owners. And and what he did was he made sure he had the right protections in place, he set up their business right, and then he empowered his team to do what they were supposed to do. And and and those are very important, I think, for any business to remember. So going back to remote users, creating solutions, again, think outside of being a small business think outside of being a small business owner, think about who you want to be, inspire to be a much bigger business, and how would that, how would your future you as the CEO, you know, you hear that all the time. What would you give your advice to the person, you know, 10 years ago? Well, think of yourself in 10 years, where would your business be? And how big, like what is your goals? What's your growth? And and start start acting like the CEO of that company 10 years from now, act like that person today. So that's when you come up with solutions, make those solutions based on the company you're inspiring to be.

SPEAKER_03

I work with a lot of uh MSPs and small businesses, Clayton, and delegation is one of the biggest roadblocks for them to overcome, you know. And yeah, I I remember this one who he even had to order the pizza on Friday. You know, I was like, you can hand that off, you know. They just want to kind of let the baby go, and they're not gonna grow unless they get over that. Same thing with becoming a sales organization. You're not gonna grow if you don't do sales, it's just yeah, that's that's the way it works. So you joined the Pitch It program at ConnectWise, and your product there is oh, excuse me.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, so I've created a company called MSP Report Guard. MSP Report Card is uh covers a lot of the things we're talking about today. It's accountability, right? So all the years I've been in IT, client relationships have always been my hallmark. You know, I believe in meeting, talking, and communicating. And oftentimes, uh the old saying, you know, um, good news needs to spread, uh bad news needs to spread fast, good news needs to spread even faster. And I think sometimes we don't spread good news, right? Sometimes we just accept or keep the good news to ourselves, but MSPs, for the most part, do great work, they do great service, but no one knows about it, right? No one sees it because most MSPs, and and I know this to be true because my years in selling against MSPs is they're not talking to their clients, they're not meeting with them. And I think that's one of the biggest challenges is when I go when and if I'm going to sell MSP services, and I ask the business owner when's the last time you met with your MSP when something's not broken, or they're not trying to sell you something, the answer is usually never. And I just think that's a disservice to you and your own business, to your clients. And so I also think that oftentimes it's the challenge of having a system, a process of having those conversations, and so that's why I created MSP Report Card is to allow or give a tool to MSPs that they can use to go show their value back to their clients and stay accountable to them, stay accountable to your clients. Again, we talked about the lives that you're affecting. Well, show them, right? Show them what you're doing, and then in turn, it gives you the opportunity to assess your client's business while you're doing everything that you say you should be doing or charging them to do. You know, um, oftentimes I I get the phone call. Man, Clayton, I wish I would have met with you. I I just had um a data breach or a date, I lost a hard drive on my server, and now all my data's gone. And my MSP told me everything was being backed up and it wasn't being backed up. They thought they were backing it up, I thought they were backing it up, but when I needed to restore, I couldn't restore. And so again, it's it's it's it's not just the accountability back to your clients, which is for the most part, again, most MSPs are doing a fantastic job, but it's also the opportunity for you as the MSP to validate everything you're doing. So that's why I created MSP report card is to give the MSPs the opportunity to show the value that you're doing on a daily basis.

SPEAKER_03

You know, the same thing I've found, Clayton, keeping MSPs up at night have been pretty consistent last six, seven years. And I found that these three, one, cybersecurity. They're worried about their clients getting attacked. If they get attacked, they're gonna, you know, have to allocate resources, lose money, they might even get fired. Hell, they might even get sued. Uh, two, is just human capital, how they're gonna keep their people happy, how they're gonna get more engineers, you know, keeping the team together, keeping them fired up and going. And then lastly, you know, uh just growth. We talked about sales. PE is port in hundreds of millions of dollars. How are they gonna grow? How does your product, your platform help them in these areas?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, so I I think that's a fantastic question. And I just I'm gonna take a little bit of liberty to explain um the what I where I believe the MSP uh industry is heading, right? And and where we're where we're at, where we where we're at today and where we were just a few years ago. Evolution, you know, life evolves. The MSP industry has evolved, right? A few years ago, 10 years ago, or however many years it may have been, um, people were selling uh MSP services, right? If you walked into someone that had a break fix, uh um IT provider, you show up as the MSP, it was an easy sale. I got all these tools I can update, I can patch, I got your security or your endpoint security, uh patching, I can do all these things for you at one price, right? At a monthly price. Those were easy sales. That was that was 10 years ago. Five years ago, and again, don't I could be off a couple of years, but five years ago, that that product or that solution, uh, the the industry evolved to the security stacks, right? The compliance MSPs that walked in that said, hey, yeah, I do all of that. Plus, I have all these security products and solutions that help you with your compliance. I add all these additional protections. So those were easy to sell, right? Because now I'm I'm I'm competing again against the the break fix, the MSP that provides um a good service, but they don't have the same level of security. I'm getting more business, right? Well, where we're at today, the evolution, and you've heard this, MSPs in the industry have heard it. Everyone's providing the same service, the same products, the same security, different brands, different names, different tools, but it's very similar, right? And it and but so how are you gonna defend uh how are you gonna be different? How are you gonna be different in the market space um at this point? Well, the the the industry's shifting. The the breakfix, or not the breakfix, the the um fix it guy, the support, call my help desk, I open a ticket, you we resolve your issue pretty quickly, we have good response time, we provide the security. All that is is happening today where we're shifting. Is are you also gonna be the strategic advisor? Are you gonna advise your clients on their business? Are you gonna provide roadmaps? Are you gonna align technology with their business? Are you gonna meet with them? Are you gonna talk to them about AI? Are you gonna talk to them about how improving processes, how to improve your their procedures, and how to manage their expenses? Are you gonna be that consultant, if you would, going back maybe 20 years? But the word consultant may be not something we use in our industry today, but really is are you the business advisor that's a business strategic advisor that that can help your clients through their technology? That's the next evolution of IT and MSP and And so that those are that's how your business is going to grow and continue to expand is doing everything we do today as an MSP, but adding on that strategic advisor. AI, big change, as we all know, is going to be doing a lot of interruptions, gonna make your business as an MSP more efficient, more run processes. But we got to help our clients um be more engaged and strategic. And that's that's where we're heading. That's the new evolution. And that's the MSP report card. Helping your our clients with the engagements, helping them with the roadmaps, the planning. Again, no business owner wants to be surprised. No one today wants their IT provider showing up with a proposal. You hadn't seen them in six months, you hadn't seen them in a while, and you show up and you tell them, hey, let's meet. And you meet with them, and all you have is a proposal to replace, fix, or upgrade a new technology. Well, they weren't aware of it, they didn't know about it, and and and there was no planning for it. And you give it to them, and you basically most proposals say, hey, this price is good for 30 days. I think the shift has to be, hey, today we're in May of 2026. In six months, here's some things we think you should be doing. In a year from now, here's some things we think you your technology should be rolling or be implementing. But we also should be asking the client what's important to them. What do they want? How do they want to uh operate, right? MSPs are so involved in this is how we operate, this is our systems, this is our process, this is what we want. But we never ask them. And so that's a part of that. My platform is to engage with the client and ask them, you know, shouldn't we know what our clients' uh three main business goals are for this year? Yeah, we we should. Should we know what their expansion goals are? Yes, we should. Those are the questions you get to ask and get your clients to answer through through my platform. Because you put in a proposal knowing nothing about what the business is planning to do in the next six months, 12 months, or 36 months, and you're putting a proposal in place, and that and the client unfortunately doesn't know any better, and they're probably approving it. And then in six months or 12 months or 30, whatever time frame it may be, maybe not 36 months, they come to you and say, Hey, we just bought three businesses. Well, that proposal was only good for the business that I knew about. So it's so important that you have these meetings and you understand and you let the business tell you what's important, right? Here's another thing that I think we as as an industry as simple as how do you want to be supported? What are the hours you need my support? Right? Wouldn't that be important to be different, be a little bit more agile, to ask your clients, you know, yes, we're the IT guy, we're the we're the business providing the service, but wouldn't it be important to know that your client stays open to 7 p.m.? But your service ends at 5? And look, I know not everyone can adjust to every everyone's needs, but at least if you knew they stayed open to 7, you could have a contingency plan or something laid out for them. And wouldn't that provide some stickiness with your client when they know that you're you've put into their account their their operation hours? You know, I think that's so important, but you can only do that when you communicate and talk to your clients and meet with them.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, and you're kind of being reactive, yeah. Uh you want to share in your companies and your pri and your client's success. If we go back like 10 years ago, Clayton, is there something you firmly believe then that you no longer believe now?

SPEAKER_00

Um yeah, I mean, I I think I think that the the reality of what do I believe 10 years ago that I don't believe today? When it comes to business, um, you know, I I definitely think um, you know, I had something that I wanted to say, and I don't know why I just lost it on the top of my head.

SPEAKER_03

Um I think firmly believed 10 years ago that you no longer believe now.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Um I I you know, I'll go back to you know, knowing what what I learned from working for larger companies. What I firmly believed back then is that I I needed to um to be involved, right? I needed to see everything. I needed to to um even though I felt like I was a great delegator, I I felt like I was still worried uh about growth and worried about um you know every little nuance of of the business. And I think that's what I've learned today is really you gotta you gotta delegate and and you have to be able to be agile and and and adjust. You know, I think sometimes we start with a system, we start with a process that we've taken up time to to develop and put through. Well, by the time we we got it perfect, well, it things have other circumstances may have changed. So I think making sure that you don't you don't it doesn't have to be perfect as a process, it doesn't have to be perfect, you gotta just get it, right? I I think I've heard some very wise people offering that advice is you know making making something perfect that never gets launched is is zero versus making something that that is good enough that you can start with is all you is what you need, right? You need to start the business. So you need to start your process. If if you were developing a process for something, get it out there and start working it. And it doesn't have to be perfect.

SPEAKER_03

Is there a question, Clayton, you wish more people asked you?

SPEAKER_00

Um in in business, yeah. I mean, I wish people would would ask, I wish people would ask me, you know, um what you know, like um as far as the MSP industry and and selling my business. Ask if you're looking to sell or if you're in that market, I wish people would reach out and ask me, what was my experience? Why did I sell and would I sell it again? Would I do it all over again? And I think I would give a fair pros and cons, things that people may want to think about um before selling their business. And and I think sometimes um people sell because of what I told you, you know, maybe you're under a lot of stress and on the pressure that you're not sure of the next step. And so I wish people would ask me before they sold their business, how do I get to that next step? And I think uh I would take some advice I was given by another mentor in business that had nothing to do with the IT industry, that was just a business mentor. And those are probably something that I would probably tell you is if you have self-doubt and that's why you're selling, because you're thinking you just want to go back to being a technician, but you grew a decent business, you've already grown a decent business. Maybe you should ask someone in business that's been there, how do I how do I get to that next leap? Or how do I pro continue to progress? Because selling your business is is a big deal. It's a lot bigger than just a payout or a new job. It changed it will change your life. Um, and and maybe you should have those conversations with someone that's done it uh once.

SPEAKER_03

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SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I discipline is extremely important. Uh, and I think we all, um, even my years, even though I was spent all those years in Marine Corps learning discipline, accountability, and uh esprit de corps. Um, discipline is something that I think we we we can all struggle at different points in different areas, right? Going back to the same experiences you had, focused on business, focused on growth, um, running the business, have had some some a lot of business distractions. So your personal health, your your personal lives kind of take it that second seat, that back seat. And so um I would love to sit here and and and and tell you I'm the Tony Robbins of MSP, and I have a hundred percent discipline and uh powerful life, and and I've never wavered once because that would not be true at all. I've I've set my goals and and oftentimes I've set them, and I didn't make every goal I've set out to have. Health, weight, you know, I I battle those as well. Um uh but when it comes to discipline, uh again, it it it's it's something that we have to look at. What what is it that we're trying to do? What's our goals? And and have in the old saying, write the goals down, right? And and reiterate them every day. Look at them and and focus on them. You know, affirmations are super important, uh, in my belief. I believe, you know, you say something, you're gonna believe it. That goes back to discipline. But again, discipline is very important um as a business owner, as an as an employee, as a leader, and as a family member, a a husband, a father. Um, there's so many different aspects in life that goes back to how disciplined are you. And when I've seen the most success in my life, whether it was weight loss or or health exercising or business growth or personal growth, is when I was at the most disciplined in those areas that I was focused on. When I was really looking at um having the most success, is when I was the most disciplined. When when my success maybe have gone down or my weight has gone up, is when I wasn't as disciplined. So now I'm not a perfect man, I'm not a perfect person. So I've wavered in my discipline, but I can tell you when I was disciplined, just like you in those six months, and obviously you've maintained that weight loss. So you've been extremely disciplined throughout that journey, a period of time. And I can just tell you when you just make a decision and and your mind is set, you're going to make it happen, and that's a part of your discipline. I don't know if I answered it, but I think I gave some uh examples. No wrong answer.

SPEAKER_03

No wrong answer at all, Clayton. What motivates you?

SPEAKER_00

You know, that's that's to me the easy thing to move that says what motivates me is I I think my my my family. My I have a um I have a son and I have a daughter, and I'm married to a wonderful wife, Christy. Uh my daughter is is 13 years old, heading into high school next year. My son's a freshman and finishing, they both finishing the school year as we speak. Um, but they they discipline, I mean, they motivate me. Those are the things that I live for, right? I live for my family, and I didn't know what that meant. I remember someone telling me, my life is my children's lives. And I didn't know that when I was a young man uh without children because I saw other people leave, you know, ball games, ballparks, you know, dance recitals. Uh their entire life was driving their children from A to B and going one place to the other. And I and I didn't understand that. I was I was like, wow, that's interesting. Uh no judgment, but I didn't understand it. I had children and instantly knew what they meant and knew what it was. And so that's what motivates me is I want my children to have a better life than I ever had. I want my children to be more successful than I ever was and or will be. And so that's my motivation is my children and their success. I want them to have everything, not given, but I want them to be able to be the I want my son and my daughter in when they're 50 years old or 50 something years old. Um, I want them to be sitting in an area or a spot that I was never able to be because their success is so widely gained.

SPEAKER_03

So given your motivation of family of legacy, how do you measure success, Clayton?

SPEAKER_00

When it comes to success with my family, uh that's that's you know, that's I I wish I could say, hey, you know, for both my children, success would be they both went to Ivy League, they would both go to Ivy League colleges, they would both have executive positions or own a widely successful business. You know, those are very great goals, and and and I think uh a lot of people have that for their children. My success for my children is is simply to be um again, I want all the the financial, I want everything for them. But my measurement is are they good people? Right? Are they people that other people want to be with and around? How do they make um their friends feel when they're with them? That's success to me. All the other stuff, I want for them, I dream for them, but at the end, it's are they a good Catholic? Are they a good Catholic, good Christian? Do they believe in God? Do they have a relationship with God? And are they good people? Do they do their friends and family members enjoy being with them? And do they make their friends and fam other family members better for being with them?

SPEAKER_03

Absolute pleasure talking with you today, Clayton. I really, really appreciate it. Uh, those who are watching and listening, how can they get in touch with you?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, it's real simple. Uh, I have a website, it's mspreportcard.com. You can one go down, contact me through the site. I'm also on LinkedIn, Clayton Mooney. I don't I don't know the actual handle right off my head, but uh you can search for me. And there's not too many Moonies, M O U, N E Y. Feel free to reach out to me on the website. There's a phone number, there's a contact me form. Uh love to talk to anyone. Um, and I really appreciate it, Joe, for you having me on today. Uh, this was a great experience, great opportunities. And the questions, wow, uh, what what amazing questions you asked today. I wasn't anticipating um most of them. And uh so you had me on my on my uh feet today, uh, really thinking back to things that I hadn't thought about in many, many years. Uh so uh once again, it's been a pleasure. Um, I hope to maybe continue to chat with you uh in future weeks, months, and hopefully I'll see you on stage at the Pitch It uh IT um conference.

SPEAKER_03

Most certainly. Instagram, your MSP Report Card, MSPReport Card.com, uh LinkedIn, it is Clayton Mooney. Uh, just your name. I'll make sure to put it in the show notes. Clayton, you be well. Look forward to uh finally meeting you face to face and I don't know, having a cup of tea or something.

SPEAKER_00

Sounds good. Thank you so much, Joe.

SPEAKER_03

Thank you for listening andor viewing Joey Pins Discipline Conversations. Please share this episode with one or two of your friends who you think may benefit from the episode. Our website, www.joeepins.com. There you find lots of resources, and you could join our mailing list. Please follow us on all our social media Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Podcast information, the video version of our podcast is on YouTube. Please subscribe. Audio is on all major podcasting platforms. Please follow them. And if you like it, please consider giving five star ratings. We'd really appreciate that. Thank you again for listening or watching Joey Pin's Discipline Conversation.