#129 - Selling Your MSP - My Price, Your Terms | FROM THE TRENCHES

An MSP owner finds a buyer, signs a letter of intent and starts thinking about the number. Hartland Ross has watched hundreds of those deals from the middle, and he argues the number is only half of what a seller agrees to. The terms decide what you are actually paid, and how long you stay. Hartland is Founder and Managing Partner of The Host Broker, a brokerage for MSPs and IT services businesses based in Vancouver, British Columbia. In this conversation with Josh Peterson he walks through LOI break fees and exclusivity, how to choose a buyer on fit, how long sellers really stay after the close, and why earnouts exist. Josh brings two deals he saw up close: a $200,000 break fee paid when a buyer walked away, and a seller who realized days before closing that the buyer would inherit his $100,000 hardware investment. \---------- What We Cover in This Episode \- Unpack a $200K LOI break fee, and why most never survive \- Explain how exclusivity works once an LOI is signed \- Decide whose LOI to work first when there is no asking price \- Turn the tables and interview the buyer \- Rank offers on fit before money \- Handle a seller who becomes the problem after the close \- Set realistic expectations for how long a seller stays \- Weigh price against terms in an earnout \- Spot a buyer who needs the earnout to finance the deal \- Settle hardware as a service equipment before closing \---------- Guest Links Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hartlandross/ Company Website: https://www.thehostbroker.com/ \---------- Subscribe & Follow BMK Vision YouTube (Video Podcast): https://www.youtube.com/@beringmckinleyvision?sub\_confirmation=1 Learn More About the Vision Platform: https://beringmckinley.com/vision Apply to Be a Guest: https://beringmckinley.com/blog#speaker-form \---------- SEO Keywords \- selling an MSP \- MSP earnout \- letter of intent \- LOI exclusivity \- seller transition period \- MSP acquisition \- MSP exit strategy \- MSP valuation \- The Host Broker \- managed service providers \---------- Credits Host: Josh Peterson Guest: Hartland Ross, The Host Broker Producer: Bering McKinley Episode: #129 - Selling Your MSP - My Price, Your Terms