The Real Reason Most MSPs Never Break $10M

aaronsherrill10
Nov 21, 2025
3 min read

If your MSP has sat between $2.5M and $9M for years, it’s easy to assume something is wrong with your market, your team, or your sales motion. But in most cases, the issue isn’t external—it’s structural.

Plenty of MSPs have strong people, great reputations, healthy pipelines, and solid technical capabilities… yet they can’t break through the next revenue ceiling.

And here’s the uncomfortable truth:

Most MSPs aren’t stuck because of talent or demand. They’re stuck because their business isn’t built to scale.

Some companies stay in the mid-stage for decades. Others leapfrog that stage in 24–36 months. The difference is almost always the same: systems.

Not tools. Not tactics. Not talent.

Systems.

Why Mid-Stage MSPs Stay Stuck

Growing from $1M to $3M is about hustle. Growing from $3M to $8M is about people. Growing from $9M and beyond is about systems.

Every MSP hits that final wall. Most never get through it.

Not because they’re bad companies. Not because leaders lack vision. Not because clients aren’t there.

They’re stuck because:

nothing is truly standardized
data isn’t driving decisions
processes live in someone’s head
accountability is inconsistent
capacity planning is reactive
customer insight is anecdotal, not measured
sales motions aren’t repeatable
operations aren’t built for volume
leadership is still doing heroics instead of directing systems

You can’t scale chaos. You can scale systems.

The MSPs that break the eight-figure barrier are the ones that operationalize consistency at every layer of the business.

Let me give you an example.

The MSP That Jumped From Stagnation to Eight Figures

A few years ago, I spoke with an MSP that had hit a wall. Good techs. Good brand. Good pipeline. But the numbers never moved. Year after year, they hovered in the same range.

When we first met, they weren’t ready financially to invest in coaching. Margins were thin. Leadership was overextended. They couldn’t afford the guidance they needed.

But the owners were hungry, and we had dinner that night. In that conversation, one concept stood out—the same one that unlocks every MSP I’ve ever helped scale:

“Show me your systems, and I’ll show you your ceiling.”

Within a year, those owners implemented what we talked about. Within another year, they qualified for deeper advisory work. Today, that MSP is well on its way to $20M.

The turning point wasn’t a new PSA, or new marketing, or new sales scripts.

It was the realization that their company wasn’t designed to handle growth.

The System That Created Their Breakthrough

One of the simplest—but most transformative—things that MSP did was begin gathering structured, consistent feedback from clients.

Not a QBR. Not generic satisfaction scores. Not what the service desk “thinks” clients feel.

Structured, real-world feedback:

what’s working
what’s not
what needs to be improved
what clients value enough to pay more for
what risks and frustrations are emerging
what gaps the MSP doesn’t see from inside the business

This insight revealed the choke points that had been throttling growth for years.

They adjusted, standardized, documented, and operationalized those insights. Margins increased. Customer retention improved. Upsell opportunities grew naturally.

Leadership finally gained visibility into what mattered.

And because the feedback loop became a system—not an event—every quarter got better.

Small hinge. Massive door.

The Truth Behind MSP Growth Plateaus

Most MSPs don’t fail to grow because they lack potential. They fail to grow because they lack predictable, measurable, repeatable systems for:

sales
service
finance
client experience
leadership
decision-making
prioritization
execution
communication
innovation

Without these systems, your business can only scale to the point where heroic effort can carry it.

Past that point, you need architecture.

Systems are the architecture.

The Path Forward for MSPs Ready to Break Through

If you’re stuck in the mid-stage plateau, you don’t need more hustle. You don’t need a better PSA or a new marketing campaign. You don’t need the next shiny idea.

You need to build a company capable of handling the growth you’re asking for.

That requires: