This SMB's "superpower" is asking great questions - and it's helping him WIN!

Ismael (Izzy) Amado is the Founder and CEO of IT Ninjas and believes in empowering and guiding businesses through technology.

Join host Ian Richardson from Richardson & Richardson Consulting as he sits down with Izzy and talks about WHAT'S IMPORTANT NOW in the world of Managed I.T.

This is an episode you don't want to miss -- Hear how Izzy uses a "superpower" of asking the right questions to the right people to supercharge his business!

To learn more about Richardson & Richardson Consulting visit us on LINKEDIN at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/richardsonandrichardson or head over to our website at: https://randr.consulting

To learn more about IT Ninjas, visit their social profiles:
https://www.facebook.com/itninjas/
https://www.instagram.com/itninjas/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/itninjas/
https://twitter.com/itninjas_/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxJm5lD37aH1t87T7wV3UNg/
https://www.google.com/maps/place//data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x80855f9712c54fa5:0x71718d817266dcbc
or visit their website at https://itninjas.tech

Your hosts:  Ian Richardson, Managing Partner of Richardson & Richardson Consulting (https://randr.consulting) and Carrie Simpson (Carrie Richardson), Founder of Managed Sales Pros - Better Sales Leads for MSPs (https://www.managedsalespros.com)

Richardson & Richardson Consulting specializes in helping entrepreneurs scale and sell their businesses.

Carrie and Ian Richardson host the WIN Podcast - What's Important Now?

Carrie helps businesses improve their sales and marketing teams.

Ian is certified in Eagle Center For Leadership Making A Difference, Paterson StratOp, and LifePlan. Learn more at www.foxcrowgroup.com

Book time with them here: https://randr.consulting/connect

Transcript

Hello and welcome to win. I'm Ian Richardson, your host, and I'm here with Izzy Amato. Izzy. How are you doing today? 

Really good, sir. Thanks for having. 

Hey, glad to have you glad to have you. Izzy is the founder and CEO of it, ninjas it ninjas.tech, and he believes in empowering and guiding business through technology.

He's been in the industry for seven years, holds multiple certifications from compt VMware and other industry leaders. He's got an interesting back. Starting in California's Silicon valley and has been involved with heavy hitters like Facebook, Stanford, apple, and others. It ninjas is focused on business process, outsourcing Izzy.

Tell us about your founder's story. There's a, there's a little bit of interesting background there from your father and his history and your history. Talk to us about that. 

Yeah. Thank, thanks for that, man. So, My dad was a small businessman. He initially started running an auto body shop because that's what he was by trade.

Um, he eventually eventually started running a liver. Close to San Francisco. He had a couple executive clients. Well, why not sit in a car? Drive people, rounding it, paid for it. Right. I noticed that as a one man shop, he had a lot of interesting struggles when it came to technology all the way from like accounting to what PC to buy.

Um, just all these little things start to pile up as, as a business owner. And I, you know, I spent. 15 years of my career in the Silicon valley, working with big enterprises, like you mentioned. And I spent a lot of that time and a lot of time in that space working on developing business teams or it department, right?

So I saw this huge gap between what it was that my father was doing when it came to business versus what these very well refined enterprises were doing. And I saw an opportunity there. I wanted to bridge that gap for small to mid-size business. I. Kind of out to prove that there's really not this need for a massive it budget to have game changing technology that really gives your business an edge.

And I wanted to bring that to market for small, to midsize to give them, you know, a competitive edge against some of these really large enterprises. Awesome. Yeah. That's uh, that, that enterprise knowledge is such a gap. In our space because it it's difficult to tear someone away from the trapping of enterprise, the, the perks, the environment, the, uh, it's a different type of stress over an enterprise than it is in SMB.

My background was in, uh, was in educational it. And so I, I know. There's a different type of stress, but it's mainly red tape and will we get approval? There's never that, oh my God, it's an emergency. We have to get this done now. And now it's another emergency. And now it's another emergency, right? Where there's this constant battle of everything's at crisis.

Enterprise is much more calm speak. It is hurry up. Oh yeah. A hundred percent, a hundred percent. Speaking of waiting and, and calm. One of the. One of the things we focus on, when is, uh, around business challenge and you and I had a really robust discussion around time management. How do you balance all the tasks of running a small business while operating it while growing the business while figuring out processes?

There's just, there's 50 balls in there that you're juggling all at once. And some of those balls have spikes or it'll blow up if you drop 'em. How are you handling the challenge of time management in your organization? Oh man. That's a, so that's a big one. Right? So time management is by far, you know, we have that conversation.

It's our challenge at the moment. And it's because we've been doing really well. Right? So we've been racking up victories and sales and marketing on that side. We're growing. And that all translate to, uh, to there being a lot more tasks that need to be done, or that require my attention and those pile up very, very quickly.

And. The reality of the situation is that there are some things that are gonna have to get rescheduled or left undone throughout your day. Now. You know, just as a personality, as a person, I'm a bit of an idealist. And honestly that bugs the shit out of me, the fact that I can't get to everything that I want to on a daily basis, that I little idealist in me is like, ah, not good enough.

Um, and so, you know, as a business owner, though, you have to be realistic and you have to acknowledge that there's only so many hours in the day. And so. Been the conundrum. Um, I, I mentioned this to your partner, Carrie Richardson, and she did a fantastic, uh, helping me in giving me some advice on identifying seemingly really small habits that have a huge impact on my own personal productivity, uh, throughout my own day.

And look, you know, I've applied those lessons to business as well, and it's, it's been great because we're executing on a far. Uh, basis at a high level. Right. So it's that consistency that was, was kind of missing, like, and, and so. Honestly, man, it doesn't change the fact that I'm an idealist at heart. And I am willing to concede that there are some things that are going to be rescheduled or left undone, but at least with the right habits in place.

And after the conversations I had with you and with Carrie, I know that I've structured my business and my own personal life so that I'm executing at level that I can sleep at night. Right. I know I'm not leaving anything on the table. As much as I can get to is . So, um, and you know, at some point we gotta hire some local talent right out here in Jacksonville, but in the interim, we're staying sharp and focused and we're gonna continue to execute not only for our current customers, uh, but for those who are onboard.

Yeah. That's, uh, you mentioned Carrie and, uh, and, and habit building and she is, uh, if there's a bigger cheerleader, Of James clear and atomic habits. I haven't met it yet. I think she promotes his book more than James does. Um,  but the, the big takeaway that I took from that book and it's a common takeaway is that 1% improvement and Hey, forget 365 days.

There's 270 working days. So if you're on Monday to Friday and you're improving 1% every day during the week, you're 270% better. If you're improving 1% every weekend on something per in your personal life, then you're a hundred percent better by the end of the year. And that's what really resonated with me is, Hey, you can be two and a half X better on your career as well as a hundred percent better, something personal.

If you divide up and conquer and form two different habits over the course of the year, which is just really impactful. And it creates that, uh, That sense of balance in, in, uh, in a world. So, yeah. That's so that balance, it's hard to come by. I mean, we were just talking about, uh, enterprise, like you get a lot of guys in that space who never move beyond that.

Um, or working for someone else who are working for an enterprise that are talented, that could easily run a business. The weekend comes around and they just decompress and they do nothing for their own personal development it's as if they're willing to wake up early in the morning for somebody else to get paid, but they're not willing to do that for themselves, which is kind of just really weird mentality that I've never really understood, or I can't relate to it.

Yeah. The, uh, the risk tolerance of entrepreneurs is one of the most, um, inspiring things. That I've found just that this, the ability to say, you know what, I'm betting on me. I've got this, I know I can do it. And so I'm gonna dive in. There's no safety net. There's no, there's no bungee cord. I'm just leaping off of the cliff.

And let me show you that I can fly that. Uh, That's, that's just super inspiring. Speaking of, uh, of entrepreneurs and, uh, and, and just jumping off of a cliff, you jumped off of a cliff when you went out and around the space and you said, Hey, I'm diving into this. When you founded your business, I'm diving into this.

I don't wanna re. I'm willing to listen. I'm willing to learn. I'm willing to ask the awkward question. And what you found through asking that question is that there's a lot of leaders, peers, colleagues around the space. Who've been willing to share a hundred percent their secret sauce as to what they do in their organizations.

Talk to us about how you went and had those conversations. What was the impact on scaling your business from having. 

Oh, I mean, the impact was huge, man. I mean, I tried, I subscribe to a lot of Bruce Lee's philosophies. People don't know that he was like a philosophy major. I think that was his under study.

And, um, one of the things he says is that you need to live your life like a white belt. Right. You need to ask questions, you need to walk into a room acting like you don't know a whole lot. That's how you would span on what you do know. Um, To that I've really in late 20, 21 and all of 20, 22 so far, we've made a really concerted effort to get out and meet more like-minded people in our space.

Uh, I call of mentors, right. To totally steal something from Tim Ferris. Um, but it's true. Right? So it's weird. The MSP marketplace is competitive. It's really saturated. I'm okay with it personally, I'm a fan of competition. It suits me. I'm okay with that. It's very surprising to me that as competitive as this marketplace is the guys that were running at a high level were very open and honest about the things that they were doing, the challenges they were having tips for growth.

Um, I've had some really brutally honest conversations, like the one you were talking about on, uh, time management that we had the other day, um, with other industry leaders and it's been. Really interesting hearing about their best practices, the trends that they're identifying challenges that they're having.

I personally, I love the tips for growth, right? Cause these guys are where I want to be. And instead of having to puzzle through how to get there, they're just telling me how to build a puzzle they've already put together. Right. So it's really fast track things and help us, uh, grow. Um, it's been a blast actually kind of just keeping in contact, um, with that network.

Ending that network. It's, there's some really.

Um, there's some great channel partners, software vendors, uh, even speakers that are literally just giving advice away or giving their time away. If you're willing to have that open, honest conversation with them. And, and so actually making an effort to get out and make that quality was something that I hadn't been really good with with most like most MSP owners.

I was very focused on the business and so much the industry and I I've been just floored with how much. Getting involved with the industry has actually helped growth. So it's been really good, man. Yeah. That, uh, what, what sticks out it comes up? Um, I even use, and I always hesitate to use this word as a regret that I have, uh, regret I have is that I didn't connect more with local competitors.

Until now after the sale of, uh, of my previous it company, I really, I connected nationwide and, and that was a strategy from 2012 up until 21. So a good nine years, but locally in the space, I didn't start connecting with competitors until the very end and really deepen those connections after the point of sale.

And there's just so many good professionals.  in my local market who like, now that I'm there, I'm like, ah, I've missed out on friendships and colleague relationships. And just guys who I can shoot straight with abouts who are here, who understand it. And so like hearing, hearing that superpower of yours, where you just went out and said, Hey, like, let's talk, let's chat, man.

You're I, I, uh, I only have a spot in the sandbox, but. A lot. I hear a lot more guys like me than guys like you. And like that, that willingness to dive in and have those conversations is, is like I said, a superpower and it's, uh, it's, it's really, really, um, really inspiring to me to hear that you, uh, that you've embraced it as a core strategy.

Thank you. Thinking, thinking about strategies, uh, One of the areas we really like to focus on it. When is around opportunity, what's important now, what are we going after right now? And you and I had a huge conversation around cyber security, cyber, huge topic. Everybody hears about the breaches, whether it's a big one, like the, uh, like the pipeline breach or a more micro one around, Hey, you know, last year there was a bread.

In my local town that had a ransomware attack and it made local news, right? Like the, uh, there there's, there's macro and there's micro when it, when it down to cybersecurity, but it's everyone's problem. And one of the things you mentioned was there is an opportunity around present presenting the need for cybersecurity to small business owners, without pushing that button without tapping into fear, without selling via fear.

Talk to me about that. Talk about this opportunity that you're pursuing around cybersecurity. 

Oh man. I, I can't tell you the number of really talented engineers I've watched over the years, like tech talk their way into getting their way or getting somebody to spend money on something. And I just, you know, having observed that.

It never results in any kind of trust in that relationship. Right. Completely erodes it. Um, and so to what you were saying, I mean, right now, I think every MSP has a really huge opportunity and I would even take that further. There's almost a critical need to educate business leaders and small to mid-size business, uh, leaders on their own personal cybersecurity.

Now, like you mentioned, I mean, this is all. None of this is new. Right? So become a problem for businesses of all size. There's a reason we're all talking about it. And there's still so many businesses, all the mid-size businesses that have done nothing about it or nothing with that knowledge. I mean, we've seen the news, we've seen what a single event can do.

Um, why aren't they being more proactive?  and I, I I've been chewing on that for a while and trying to figure out what that was. And more importantly, you know, how can I get the word out without sounding like I'm trying to scare you into buying a cybersecurity product? And the conclusion I came to, uh, and I'm convinced of is that if I teach business leaders, especially in my local community, in Jacksonville to practice better personal cyber security, It ha it necessarily has to change the way that their organization perceives or handles those cybersecurity events and breaches.

Now the, the vast stuff is just very easily avoided and the cybersecurity basics all businesses should have in place are low to no cost, right? They're not these huge things that are massively expensive. Um, I think there's this perception that really good, or just any cybersecurity. It's a myth that it would be affordable, right?

So affordable  is kind of a myth or that's the perception anyways. And look, I mean, you, you know, it as well as I do spending on these tools or the right tools at the right time is definitely, really gonna help. But I've worked with really large enterprises that make billions of dollars a year that spend millions of dollars on cybersecurity audits and tools and compliance and all kinds of, and they still have breaches.

And on the flip side, I've worked with really small businesses with a tiny shoestring, it budget that prevent and stop breaches effectively on a routine basis. And, and so. It has be, I'm convinced that that's because there are business leaders in those businesses that actually have a cyber security mindset like Scott ONAL likes to, to call it.

And that starts with teaching them about their personal cyber security. But I, it sounds a little tricky. Wanna keep the Jacksonville business community free from extortion data theft and financial ruin from some kind of cyber threat and, and. Possible to ask. I understand that, but if we aim for it, I feel like we're gonna do a lot of good and that that's an opportunity I'm excited about to contribute and give a little something back to a business community.

That's really been great to me and my business. Yeah. The, uh, the B a G, which I, I heard you, you touch on, right? That, uh, that Jim Collins's big, hairy, audacious goal is such a, such a powerful tool when it comes. Vision kidding that, you know, the, um, the B a G for Jim Collins, the 10 year target from, uh, from Geno's book, whatever you want to call it, that, that single sentence on the wall, we are going to prevent financial ruin in the Jacksonville entrepreneurial community via sensible cybersecurity, right?

Like that is the rallying that visionary statement to inspire the team forward. It's powerful. And even if it is impossible or lie or improbable, it's still the, like that, that Bannerman at the front of the charge. Right. That's uh, that's such an inspiring thing. The other big takeaway that I had was that if you sell the fear, never established trust and trust is such a powerful tool.

In a relationship. If you have trust, there's the ability to be vulnerable. And if you're vulnerable, that's where real discovery can happen. And real improvement can happen. The best relationships I had at my it company is when there was the willingness to say, Hey, look, here's what it is. Here's the problem.

Here's what happened. I could be vulnerable if we messed up and the business owner could be vulnerable about, about their goals, about their hopes, about their fear. Tires so that when they say, Hey, man, you know, I'm thinking we had a, we had a, we had a husband, wife care team who they were in their seventies and they were honest, two years beforehand.

They said, Hey, you know, we're, we're gonna be sell. And that, just that conversation. It's like, look, who knows, who doesn't know. And no one knows except for you and us. Well, alright. Look, we're gonna, we're gonna kick stuff down the road because there's no way you're gonna get the return on investment for a new $20,000 server to host your EMR.

And if you sell to anyone remotely bigger than you, they're gonna ditch your EMR anyways. Right. So let's just, let's Rob cheat and steal to keep this thing going. We're gonna buy some parts right now. We're gonna throw 'em in the closet. We'll have, we'll do our own warranty service on we'll just keep this thing going until you get across that sale finish line because it's a four year anyways.

mm-hmm  and, uh, you know, in two years, if, if you sell it'll be six, seven years old, they're not gonna do anything it's appreciated on your books, but let's create a strategy around selling in two years. And that served us well. And that it only came because there was trust. Yeah. It only came because there was trust.

Trusted that, that we would, uh, that we would serve them in the right way and hearing that that's a core strategy, man is like your willingness to be vulnerable and go ask questions as well as create trust. There's like, watch out Jacksonville. It ninjas are coming for you.  yes, we are. No, no, I hear you a hundred percent, man.

It's such a, it's something that comes at such a premium, right? It's so hard to build up to use. That or to kind of abuse it in a way to like sell a product, you know, fear somebody, and then man, what a you're wasting something so valuable on something that's kind of trivial, right? Like it's, it's a couple more bucks on your book.

Like it's not a, it's not a big deal. Yep. Yep. Avoiding, avoiding the shortsighted sale for the long term relationship. That's uh, that's Izzy a motto for you, everyone. Izzy. I wanna thank you for being on win everyone. If you're, uh, if you're interested in learning more about Izzy, you can connect with them on LinkedIn.

You can go to team ninjas.tech to learn more about their company. And, uh, I'm Ian Richardson for win. You can view more about win, learn more about Richardson and Richardson. See our blog, check out our webinars or subscribe to the pro@randr.consulting. The I'd like to say thank you, Izzy for joining us and thank you all for tuning in listening.

This is WIN and Ian Richardson signing off.