About This Episode

Another addition to our conversations with MSP owners, Travis Barker of EZ IT Solutions joins us to talk about the somewhat crazy and not-so-apparent road that led him and his company to where they are today.

Starting with a great origin story and ending with our best cliffhanger to date, this is a must-listen for any MSP owner.

1:21 – Travis shares the winding path that brought him to the MSP industry, starting with his childhood when he learned HTML and Javascript in order to make his own video games and studied programming every day after high school.

5:31 – Brian and Robb point out that most people they encounter in the industry have fallen into the MSP space, remarking that sometimes the mistakes in life end up being the best things that ever happened.

7:06 – Travis goes in depth on why and how he started EZ IT, despite early discouragement from family. He shares how it grew from a side hustle, and how a frank conversation with a former employer landed him his first managed services contract.

14:01 – Robb asks Travis how they navigated switching their clients from the break/fix model into managed service contracts. Along with a very intelligent approach to bringing companies onboard, Travis shares his insight and strategies for rightsizing your tools at the beginning. He also shares the advice he gives other business owners as they start to grow.

20:33 – Robb asks Travis about their sales structure during their early days. Travis shares how word-of-mouth was the name of the game in their small town until they hit a wall in their community, and goes into the highs and lows on their journey to expansion. 

25:12 – In closing, Travis shares many nuggets of wisdom about business development, personal growth, and balance, reminding MSP owners to take better care of themselves.