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TRANSCRIPTION WITH SPEAKERS
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[00:00] SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Canada's Entrepreneur, where we talk to the entrepreneurs who are making it happen
[00:05] SPEAKER_00: across Canada and deliver the news, trends, knowledge and opinions from entrepreneurs and business
[00:13] SPEAKER_01: influences across the country. Hello, I'm Mario Taniguchi, managing editor of Canada's Entrepreneur,
[00:21] SPEAKER_01: joining me today on Calgary's podcast is Sean Freeman, who is founder of Impactful MSP.
[00:28] SPEAKER_01: Thanks for joining us today, Sean. Thanks for being on Mario. Good to be here.
[00:33] SPEAKER_01: Okay, let's talk about Impactful MSP, maybe describe what that is and what you do.
[00:40] SPEAKER_02: Sure, yeah, MSP is our IT service providers, and so my history is that I had an MSP
[00:46] SPEAKER_02: and I sold it in January of 2020. And since then, I created a coaching program and a mastermind
[00:53] SPEAKER_02: for other MSPs to really share what I had built and how I'd built it and really helped them
[00:59] SPEAKER_02: up their game in their company. And that's been really fun just helping others learn and
[01:04] SPEAKER_02: level up and really make a difference for their clients. So, how did you get into this field?
[01:11] SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, I've been a tech guy since I was 13, I think my dad gave me my first 386 computer and
[01:19] SPEAKER_02: sparked my love for tech and computers. And so, ever since then, I've built on that,
[01:24] SPEAKER_02: just really enjoy tech and how it can help businesses make their company better, serve their
[01:32] SPEAKER_02: customers and their communities better. And so that's part of the name Impactful MSP is
[01:37] SPEAKER_02: these IT service providers can actually really provide impact to their clients, which in turn helps
[01:43] SPEAKER_01: the community. And let's talk about that, you know, what are some of the key things, I guess, for
[01:50] SPEAKER_01: success when it comes to these companies and what they should be doing? Yeah, yeah, great question.
[01:57] SPEAKER_02: So, it's interesting because there's a few things that play here in the IT service provider space.
[02:02] SPEAKER_02: One is it's not regulated, so there's no rules to get into it. You can graduate high school and
[02:09] SPEAKER_02: open a IT service company day after you graduate high school. So, it's really the quality and
[02:15] SPEAKER_02: what you get is always different. And so that can negatively affect businesses or
[02:19] SPEAKER_02: positively affect them if it's done, right? And then the second thing is that generally speaking,
[02:24] SPEAKER_02: IT service providers are started. These companies are built because somebody's a really good tech
[02:29] SPEAKER_02: and people notice and they're like, oh, you need to help my friend, you need to help my friend.
[02:34] SPEAKER_02: And all of a sudden, now they have a company, right? And they're not, they don't have the business
[02:38] SPEAKER_02: skills, right? So, they don't know how to package things, they don't know how to price things,
[02:42] SPEAKER_02: they don't know how to market themselves, you know, and really they need to learn that skill set
[02:47] SPEAKER_02: if they want to grow their business. And if they want to grow it in a good way that's doing things,
[02:51] SPEAKER_01: right? You know, sometimes you need some help, right? What are some of the key trends you're seeing
[02:59] SPEAKER_02: these days in the industry? Yeah, it's really shifting away from IT providers fixing problems,
[03:06] SPEAKER_02: right? Like my printer's broken or my computer, what turn on those things generally aren't as
[03:11] SPEAKER_02: prevalent nowadays. There's not as many servers around in businesses that are moving to the cloud.
[03:17] SPEAKER_02: And and because of that, the the the job of an MSP is shifting. It's moving more in towards how
[03:24] SPEAKER_02: do we actually use the systems that you're using to make your business better versus how do we keep
[03:29] SPEAKER_02: the lights on? Right? That's what we were doing before COVID. But there's just been a big acceleration.
[03:34] SPEAKER_02: And really now the question everybody's asking is how do I use AI in my company, right?
[03:39] SPEAKER_02: And a lot of MSPs are helping them uncover that. And generally the average answer for for companies
[03:45] SPEAKER_02: is, well, you're not quite ready. You've got a lot of this old technology you need to upgrade first.
[03:50] SPEAKER_02: And so helping businesses along that path is really the job of MSPs.
[03:56] SPEAKER_01: And you know, when you mentioned AI, it's not a little bit about that. Like what impact is that
[04:03] SPEAKER_01: going to have on on businesses in general as we move forward? Yeah, it's funny. I'm
[04:09] SPEAKER_02: been asking this question, you know, for the last decade is as a business owner, he really
[04:14] SPEAKER_02: need to always be asking yourself, what's the technology that's going to replace my business?
[04:19] SPEAKER_02: Like what's the uber of my industry, right? You know, when you talk to people about that and you
[04:24] SPEAKER_02: explain like, you know, Uber came out with an app and boom, taxis are super affected. Like
[04:32] SPEAKER_02: leaders of businesses, we need to try to figure that out. We need to be ahead of that, right?
[04:37] SPEAKER_02: And I think AI has made that even more prevalent now that that's kind of gone mainstream.
[04:42] SPEAKER_01: So, yeah. Have you noticed any difference in industries and their use of technology?
[04:51] SPEAKER_01: And what's one's are more obviously the tech industry would be, but other industries that
[04:57] SPEAKER_01: which ones are more, I guess, willing to engage in new technology and the investment of technology?
[05:08] SPEAKER_02: Yeah, interesting. I'm not really seeing industry trends. What I do see though is just life cycles
[05:14] SPEAKER_02: of businesses. So, you've got companies that are fairly new, they're started by younger people,
[05:19] SPEAKER_02: they're all in on tech, they're like, how do I use it to automate things and streamline?
[05:24] SPEAKER_02: So, I don't have to hire. I can hire the right people to do the right things instead of
[05:30] SPEAKER_02: having been work, right? And then you've got people that are kind of in the middle where they're
[05:33] SPEAKER_02: still growing and they've got 10 or 20 years left in their career and they're generally wanting
[05:38] SPEAKER_02: to adopt, but maybe a little slower because their company might be a bit bigger. And then you've
[05:43] SPEAKER_02: got the businesses that everybody's talking about it. People are a couple years from retirement,
[05:48] SPEAKER_02: four, five, six, maybe, you know, under 10 years from retirement. And those people are quite less,
[05:55] SPEAKER_02: they're less willing to look into the tech. They kind of just want to hope it just blows over and
[06:02] SPEAKER_02: they can kind of get out without having to worry about it. I think that AI is really showing us that
[06:09] SPEAKER_02: the timeline is really short, right? Things that took hundreds of thousands of dollars last year
[06:15] SPEAKER_02: now can take tens, tens of thousands of dollars this year and next year it'll be even less,
[06:21] SPEAKER_02: right? So, technology's coming out and really replacing a lot of things. And so, what I tell those
[06:26] SPEAKER_02: leaders that maybe don't have, you know, they don't have the willingness or the appetite to look
[06:33] SPEAKER_02: into these things is you need to bring somebody on your team, right? You need to get somebody in
[06:37] SPEAKER_02: that can bring that fresh perspective and they can implement these systems for you. They can
[06:42] SPEAKER_02: teach your team. You know, you can't stop learning, right? As soon as you stop evolving,
[06:48] SPEAKER_02: you know, your next competitor is going to come out and it might not be an app,
[06:51] SPEAKER_02: might be another business, but they're going to come out and they're going to have an advantage for
[06:55] SPEAKER_01: you, right? Yeah, exactly. Now, you know, Sean, you deal with a lot of different businesses and
[07:02] SPEAKER_01: business owners out there in this company and another topic that we'll get into later on the
[07:09] SPEAKER_01: charitable side of things. But what's your sense of the mood of the business community and
[07:15] SPEAKER_02: Calgary these days? Yeah, I think it's optimistic. I think honestly, people are looking at AI and,
[07:21] SPEAKER_02: you know, try not to be too afraid, but also like looking at as a tool, how do we use it to be able
[07:27] SPEAKER_02: to focus on the things we enjoy doing, right? Like the human-homing connection, meeting with people,
[07:32] SPEAKER_02: solving problems for other businesses and AI can do this stuff we don't like to do, right? So,
[07:37] SPEAKER_02: those are the conversations that MSP owners are having with their clients is, you know,
[07:42] SPEAKER_02: there's parts of your day that are repetitive and tedious and that you don't love to do.
[07:47] SPEAKER_02: How about we automate those and bring AI in to solve those problems for you and then you can focus
[07:51] SPEAKER_02: on higher value work, right? You know, I think that's the conversation and really focusing back on
[07:58] SPEAKER_02: the people, right? It's a tool. It's not going to replace us, but we can use it to help just
[08:04] SPEAKER_01: just another hammer in the toolbox, right? Yeah, and being a business owner in the city and
[08:11] SPEAKER_01: this province, what advantages do you think are there of setting up shop here? Yeah, yeah, there's a
[08:20] SPEAKER_02: ton of advantages, the Albert advantage is great. Like people just, they're willing to help other
[08:25] SPEAKER_02: business owners. There's not a lot of these clicks. Like if a new person, somebody wants to start a
[08:30] SPEAKER_02: company, they'll have a ton of support if they ask for it. You know, I think that's a big part
[08:35] SPEAKER_02: of Alberta. I think there's a lot of capital. There's a lot of smart people here. We've really done
[08:40] SPEAKER_02: a great job at getting tech into our economy and using it for our other industries to help them along,
[08:46] SPEAKER_02: right? There's tons of different stories about that and there's been lots of successes. So,
[08:51] SPEAKER_02: it's a really good, you know, really good growing ground for businesses to start off. There's a
[09:00] SPEAKER_02: lot of things that are important. Yeah, yeah, and investment comes here. Obviously, we have
[09:03] SPEAKER_01: really favorable tax for investors. Yeah, when you started off as an entrepreneur, what was your
[09:13] SPEAKER_02: biggest challenge? Yeah, good question. The one of the things that I faced is like, when do I hire
[09:19] SPEAKER_02: that first person, right? Like, you know, like, because you start your business and you get all this
[09:24] SPEAKER_02: revenue and you can finally pay yourself a good salary and maybe, maybe a bit more than you were
[09:28] SPEAKER_02: making your last job and then you're like, well, I'm going to hire somebody. That means I
[09:33] SPEAKER_02: got to take a pay cut. Yeah, yeah. So, getting over that hump and, you know, the solution for me was
[09:40] SPEAKER_02: just to really have that that seals and the marketing piece in place so that I could forecast. Like,
[09:46] SPEAKER_02: okay, I think I'm going to add a few new clients and so therefore that's going to support this new
[09:50] SPEAKER_02: person coming in. And then, you know, just right time, right place, luck has a lot to do with business.
[09:58] SPEAKER_02: You know, business owners go through a lot, a lot of good and a lot of bad. But, you know,
[10:03] SPEAKER_02: nobody ever sees the bad, right? So a lot of luck plays into it. I got really lucky in a lot of
[10:09] SPEAKER_02: things. But yeah, just be as prepared as you can figure out, figure out what you don't know and then
[10:15] SPEAKER_01: learn it, right? Yeah, exactly. And if you were giving advice to an aspiring entrepreneur, what would
[10:24] SPEAKER_02: you tell them? Yeah. Yeah. As you're getting into businesses, you're going to run into things that
[10:29] SPEAKER_02: you don't quite understand or don't make sense. Ask as many questions as you can, even if they sound
[10:34] SPEAKER_02: kind of silly, you know, or even if the person's like, oh, that's easy, you know, just keep asking,
[10:39] SPEAKER_02: right? Because you didn't know, we've all learned somehow, right? And just getting around people that
[10:44] SPEAKER_02: you can get mentorship from. And really, that's why I built in Backflow MSP because there are people
[10:50] SPEAKER_02: going out there and starting IT provider companies because it's easy until they realize they don't
[10:55] SPEAKER_02: know the business side. And a lot of those things really matter, right? Cash flow can sink or swim
[11:00] SPEAKER_02: you. It doesn't matter how good it tech you are. And so get out there and ask that's why I created
[11:05] SPEAKER_02: that community and that coaching offer. And it's really approachable on the price point. So
[11:10] SPEAKER_01: yeah, we're going to switch gears here and talk a little bit about a passion of yours. And that's
[11:16] SPEAKER_01: an organization in Calvary called Trellis. First of all, talk about a little bit about Trellis,
[11:24] SPEAKER_01: what it does. And then we'll get into your history. Yeah, for sure. Trellis is a non-profit
[11:31] SPEAKER_02: trail society. And what they do is they support youth in vulnerable places. So kids growing up that
[11:37] SPEAKER_02: are kind of at that intersection, you know, they could go hang out with bad people or they could
[11:42] SPEAKER_02: go play with positive friends. Just getting them really on the right path is important.
[11:48] SPEAKER_02: And supporting them and supporting their families to make sure they have what they need.
[11:52] SPEAKER_02: Obviously, you know, if we can lift those folks up in our communities, our communities are
[11:56] SPEAKER_02: much better off, right? They're preventing issues from happening in the future, right? So
[12:01] SPEAKER_02: so that's really why I believe in it. My history with it, the history of Trellis is it was formed
[12:08] SPEAKER_02: when Trellis Society and Aspen family merged together over COVID. Prior to that, Trellis was
[12:15] SPEAKER_02: Boys and Girls Clubs of Calvary, separate from Aspen. And I was a club kid growing up. So I,
[12:21] SPEAKER_02: you know, I was a vulnerable youth, parents went through divorce. And so I could have gotten
[12:25] SPEAKER_02: to trouble, but I had some really good people looking out for me through the clubs at Boys and Girls
[12:30] SPEAKER_01: Club, right? Mm-hmm. And tell me, maybe describe a little bit about what you do each year with the
[12:37] SPEAKER_01: ESPN. Yeah, sure. Yeah. Stampede fundraiser for raising funds for this. Yeah, I get the privilege of
[12:45] SPEAKER_02: hosting an event every year for them and they're in their benefit. And what happened? It was in 2016,
[12:52] SPEAKER_02: the Cal Ray economy had gone through quite a bit then, right? Though, well, recession. And
[12:56] SPEAKER_02: we were doing really good in our business. And so we're like, we don't throw a Stampede party.
[13:01] SPEAKER_02: We want to do good for the community. And so we raised money for Boys and Girls Clubs back then.
[13:06] SPEAKER_02: The first year we raised $5,000. And we've actually kept doing the event ever since.
[13:11] SPEAKER_02: And now it's called the Ace High Stampede kickoff. It's always the first Friday. We've done it
[13:16] SPEAKER_02: at the Dean House for the last four or five years. This year we raised $104,000 in the one day.
[13:23] SPEAKER_02: And we're over 325 K total raised, which is pretty amazing. Yeah.
[13:28] SPEAKER_01: Do you talk a lot to the kids that are impacted by what Trellis does?
[13:36] SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we get to hear your impact stories. And I've gone on a bunch of tours of different facilities
[13:41] SPEAKER_02: than met them. And it's just amazing to see, you know, hear their stories like here's where they
[13:47] SPEAKER_02: were two months ago. Look at them now. All it takes is just a little bit of help sometimes in the
[13:55] SPEAKER_01: when you look at the giving back side of things. Why do you think that's important for business?
[14:05] SPEAKER_02: Any business to do that? Yeah, I think we build our businesses for purpose. We want to
[14:12] SPEAKER_02: create something that matters. That has purpose that makes a difference in lives of our team.
[14:19] SPEAKER_02: But then you realize that it ripples to the community. The community needs support.
[14:25] SPEAKER_02: It ripples out there. So if you're supporting the community, you're supporting your team members.
[14:30] SPEAKER_02: The city just becomes a much better place. If we're all winning, how do you go wrong with that?
[14:38] SPEAKER_01: That's an amazing thing. Now Sean, with your own business and then with your work with Trellis,
[14:46] SPEAKER_01: I'm wondering what do you do outside of that to give yourself some kind of work-like balance?
[14:54] SPEAKER_02: Yeah, for sure. When you're doing stuff you love, it's hard. You don't really need to take
[14:59] SPEAKER_02: vacation. I love to travel, I love to play golf. Just get out there and we do just poppy issues 10
[15:04] SPEAKER_02: months old. Actually, 11 months old today. So she keeps us on our feet and having fun with her.
[15:12] SPEAKER_02: Just mentoring people that just need a little bit of support in the business world.
[15:17] SPEAKER_02: You forget what you've learned all the way and I can give that back to anybody. I'm happy too.
[15:24] SPEAKER_01: What do you like and love about living here in Calgary?
[15:30] SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I was born and raised in Calgary. So one of the rare ones.
[15:34] SPEAKER_02: Yeah, Calgary just feels like home. It's a big small town. We're 1.7 million.
[15:41] SPEAKER_02: It's probably 3 degrees of separation to anybody from people on the top of the tower downtown
[15:47] SPEAKER_02: to people on the streets. We're very connected. I think that's special. I think that's a special
[15:55] SPEAKER_02: part of Calgary. Our culture is just really supportive and connected.
[16:00] SPEAKER_01: All right. Well, thanks so much, Sean, for joining us today.
[16:04] SPEAKER_01: Thanks for having me. Okay, that was Sean Freeman, who is founder of Impactful MSP.
[16:09] SPEAKER_01: I'm Mario Tonigusi, Managing Editor of Canada's Entrepreneur. Thanks for joining us today.
