Board advisory
An independent voice in your boardroom, every month.
Community shows you what good looks like. A board advisor makes sure you actually get there.
What a board advisor does
Four things, on a rhythm. Advisory, never operational.
01
Monthly board meeting.
I attend or chair it. A proper agenda, the P&L and balance sheet analysed in depth, the big issues worked through, and last month’s actions checked.
02
Quarterly Strategy Day.
I facilitate it so you can take part in it. Vision, priorities for the quarter, the plan – tested by someone who’s done it.
03
Leadership mentoring.
Developing your managers into a leadership team, so the business stops depending on you for every decision.
04
MSP experience on tap.
26 years inside an MSP: tech, operations, sales, finance, M&A and an exit. Use whatever is useful, whenever it’s useful.
Two ways to work together
Monthly board advisory.
The full rhythm: a board meeting every month with strategy built in, leadership mentoring in between, and my experience on tap. This is where the compounding happens.
Quarterly Strategy Day.
A facilitated day each quarter to set the vision, test the plan and agree the priorities. It suits businesses that already run on a quarterly planning rhythm and want an independent voice in the room.
How it works
From first conversation to a board that runs itself
01 Fit conversation.
Mutual. If I don’t think I can add value, I’ll say so – and you’ll know within an hour.
02 Detailed onboarding.
Under mutual NDA. Numbers, people, pipeline, stack, contracts – I read everything before I open my mouth in your boardroom.
03 Find what you don’t know.
Discovery within a scope we agree up front. A fresh, independent view of the business.
04 Prioritise.
Agreed with your board, by urgency and by impact. A short list the business can actually execute, not a 40-point audit.
05 The rhythm.
Regular board meetings that build commitment, accountability and measurable results.
06 Review, refine, renew.
Progress reviewed against your goals, priorities refined, and goals renewed as the business moves on.
Completely agnostic
I fit your frameworks.
I’m not here to replace the way you run the business. I work with what you already have, and I won’t recommend fixing what isn’t broken.
Your peer groups
Your business operating system
Your quality and cyber standards
Any tech stack, no vendor to please
Six areas
Where an outside voice makes the difference
Strategy.
Are the business goals and your personal goals actually the same plan? Core focus, the long-term target, the three-year picture – pressure-tested by an outsider.
People.
The right roles, filled by the right people – including yours. Who owns what, leadership depth, mentoring the next tier.
Numbers.
P&L and balance sheet reporting you can rely on, analysed in depth at every board meeting. Margin by service line, cash, and where the business is really heading.
Process.
Guiding the mindset shift to a truly process-led business, with automation and AI built in from the start – drawing on experience of what works.
Problems.
Finding what you don’t know you don’t know. Then working through it properly, with someone in the room who’s faced similar challenges.
Execution.
Priorities agreed, commitments tracked, progress measured. The accountability that turns a good plan into a different business.
Peer groups
With or without a peer group
Peer groups and a board advisor do different jobs. If you’re in one, I’ll work alongside it.
| Peer group | Board advisor | |
|---|---|---|
| Benchmarks and best practice | ||
| Ideas, tools, vendor leverage | ||
| Share everything, no guardrails – numbers, people, plans | ||
| Someone looking inside the business every month | ||
| Holds you to it: commitments reviewed, not just agreed | ||
| Bespoke to your goals – from a scale-up to a lifestyle business | ||
| Chairs your board meetings, represents you when it matters | ||
| Accountable to you alone, not the group or a vendor |
A peer group shares its attention across a room of businesses. A board advisor gives all of it to one.
Not a generic business coach
Three things you won’t get from a programme
01
Completely bespoke.
No programme, no 12-module course. An agenda we agree, built around your frameworks. Every improvement targeted where it matters most.
02
MSP experience, coaching skills.
26 years inside an MSP, 20 at board level – now backed by certified mentoring and coaching skills through Help to Grow Management and Service Leadership. First-hand experience, passed on properly.
03
Model and stack agnostic.
Any PSA, RMM or security stack. Managed services, projects, cyber, or a mix of all three. I’ve no vendor to please and no favourite tools to promote.
The extras
Things clients didn’t expect to get – and now wouldn’t give up
Your board advisor, in the room when you need one.
As and when the need arises, I’ll represent you as your board advisor with clients, suppliers, lenders, investors or acquisition targets. Not a standing commitment – just there when a conversation needs board-level weight.
Mentoring for your managers.
One-to-one time with the people you’re trying to grow into a leadership team. Certified business mentor; Help to Grow Management mentor.
Leadership team recruitment.
Help shaping the role, reviewing CVs and sitting on the interview panel – a second opinion on the hires that are too expensive to get wrong.
M&A: valuations and due diligence.
11 deals: five implemented for TMB’s former owners, making them work post-deal, and six as owner-director post-MBO. What it’s really worth, what to look for, and what the other side will look for in you.
Owner wealth: investing and tax-efficient planning.
What I’ve learned about structuring, pensions and investing as an MSP owner who has been through an exit. Shared as experience, not advice.*
*Investing and tax-efficiency comments are shared as personal experience and do not constitute financial advice. Always take regulated advice for your own circumstances.
Things I hear
Seven objections – and what I actually say
“We’re too small for a board advisor.”
If you’re ambitious, growing and can fund it, the earlier the better. The habits a board brings are far easier to build now than to retrofit later.
“We’re too big for a board advisor.”
Not at all – the conversation just moves on to succession, M&A, investment and building a board that works without you. That’s the ground where experience at board level and through deals counts most.
“We’re best in class. Retention is great, growth is strong. I don’t need one.”
That’s the best place to start from. The conversation moves to the next level – acquisitions, investment, or staying ahead – without breaking what works.
“A board advisor will push me towards an exit.”
No. Some clients are building to sell; most aren’t. I’m not a broker and I don’t take a success fee – my job is your goals.
“If I don’t agree with the advisor, the relationship will suffer.”
Not at all. We won’t always see things the same way – I may bring a different perspective, experience or opinion – and that’s healthy. I bring a view; you make the call. And a good idea is nothing without good execution, so my advice covers not just what to do, but how to make it work.
“We’re a lifestyle business. I’m not selling for a very long time.”
Great – let’s make it the best lifestyle business it can be. If we can also increase its value without compromising the lifestyle, all the better.
“I’m in a comfort zone and I’m afraid of being pushed out of it.”
The stretch is always tied to your goals. How far I encourage you to expand your comfort zone is grounded in experience of what has actually worked – and you’ll always know why.
No tie-in. No hard feelings.
Four things you can hold me to
Part of your team.
In your boardroom, on your side, focused on your best interests – not on selling you a next phase, a product or an exit.
Honest fit.
If I don’t believe I can add value – before we start or six months in – I’ll tell you before you spend a penny more.
Rolling monthly.
No long contract, no exit fee. 30 days’ notice, either way. Clients stay because it works, not because they’re tied in.
No tie-in.
The discovery call is on me. An hour on your business, your numbers and your goals, and you leave with a short list whatever you decide.
The discovery call is on me
Book your discovery call.
An hour on your business, your numbers and your goals. You’ll leave with a short list, whatever you decide.