Build an MSP from Open Source - A new series on building an MSP business using open source software

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Show Notes

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=== Timestamps ===
00:00 Intro
00:08 Introduction to the Series
01:36 Thank you to my Patrons over at Patreon
02:12 The Basics of Starrting an MSP
02:59 A VPN
04:14 Our RMM
06:05 Remote Desktop Support
07:54 Backups
09:17 invoicing - Getting Paid
10:21 SSO - Single Sign On
11:10 The Open Source Apps We'll be Using
17:57 Let's Talk About Pricing For a Minute

=== Contact ===
Twitter: @mickintx
Telegram: @MickInTx

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Support my Channel and ongoing efforts through Patreon:

What does the money go to?
To Pay for Digital Ocean droplets, donations to open source projects I feature, any hardware I may need to purchase for future episodes (which I will then give to a subscriber in a drawing or contest).

[SimarMannSingh]

For me personally, this channel is way more informative. I do not earn much at the moment, but when I do, I sure will love to payback for the knowledge I gathered from here in the form of patreon or similar things.

[Matthewonyoutube]

Great series. Enjoying this, but stop being apologetic about pricing. If you don’t charge what it’s worth you are actually hurting them, as you will not be able to maintain their network correctly. Every person that goes out their own makes this mistake. Don’t learn the hard way that cheap clients take the most time and clients willing to pay what you’re worth actually respect your time and services.

[zadekeys]

Regarding inhouse vs outsourced. If inhouse would cost them $130k, DO NOT go in at $30k... Go in at $100k, they still save all the HR, overtime, etc etc AND $30k.... Win/Win.

[tesfataitt]

This will be an exciting series. I can't wait to implement it in my home lab

[SchalkNeethling]

I like that you mentioned the importance off single sign-on. Not only can this increase the ease of access which leads to an improved user experience but, if you are building a software as a service offering, having a flexible SSO solution allows you to also sell to the enterprise. You have already mention some of the open source solutions in other videos. Another one I would like to mention is BoxyHQ through which you can also get additional enterprise services such as Directory Sync and Audit logs (think compliance). I reckon it would be a great addition to most, if not all, startups.

This series is looking incredibly interesting and I am looking forward to following along. Also interested to see if you can learn more about the SSO story concerning InvoiceNinja.

[toddselby]

Really looking forward to the rest of this series. Always learn a lot from your videos.

[JonathanBaileynu]

Thank you for doing a pricing model, and more so a detailed explanation of the whys and what-ifs.. I am not an MSP... but getting started in website management.. and this really helps me.

[pekkaleppanen]

Definitely interesting series. Past months, I have been building a ISP in same way. Mostly using open source solutions to fulfil base level of requirements. Keep up good work! :)

[jonathandoe]

Thank you for this, this gives someone who is willing to put in the effort hope that they can build something worth while.

[avatarmanz]

I'm 2 minutes in and I just wanted to say I'm super glad you made this video.
I'm 27 years old and been working in IT for the last 8 years. I work a great job right now thankfully but I'm growing tired of supporting big tech and paying monthly subscriptions for everything.
As I build out my own homelab I have this increasing desire to make my own company as an MSP and evaluate small businesses and switch them to a Linux desktop and open source software to hopefully save them some headache and get away from all the monthly charges and Windows Updates and things.
I'm just on this journey to figuring out if I can do this on the side like how you stated you do currently. Can't wait to see what you have in store!

[Knaveofspades]

Literally just what i was looking for.

[zadekeys]

A good way to justify the rollup of time to clients is that you need to now add info to the documentation / ticket system, so that the issue can be resolved quickernext time.

[rdscog]

You are awesome sir! I am aspiring to start a Cybersecurity consulting business and on a budget...This is pure gold along with many of your other videos.

[adzieau]

Love all your videos. I am looking forward to this series greatly. I have just started working as an MSP part time and am working on all the tools I need without having a big upfront cost before building a client base. Patch management is another thing I use to look after my clients. I found a great service that gives you 100 endpoints for free, Not open source though unfortunately.

[paultech]

Those prices are low especially if you bundle A/V backup etc. The idea of MSP is to average actual working time over a year. I would also state that this is remote working time and going onsite is time and materials. BTW if you’re solving issues Foolish IT D7X was a great swiss army nice for me when I was starting out. Remember, don’t do anything until you have a backup and pull a possible infected machine ASAP.

[henderstech]

Thanks for doing all this work and sharing it all. I appreciate it alot.

[NetBandit]

Tickets and Knowledge Base are absolutely critical IMO. Clearly you are going to need something to manage cases, and by integrating with a Knowledge Base, you create the documentation for how to fix the problems that is both self-service capable (when appropriate) and saves time for future problems. Every closed case needs to reference at least one Knowledge Base entry. Further, this makes it easier to bring on additional staff to handle cases.

[iowawizkid]

I really like Tactical RMM and how it integrates with Mesh Central. The scripting and automation as well as granular security make it a slam dunk for us. Code signing is available for a small fee. You should probably focus on "Free to Use" products as well as Open Source if you are just starting an MSP. Milestone Xprotect and 3CX come to mind...

[QEDAGI]

HA! Printers are a PAIN! You're alright by me. Just hearing you say that, the way you did, tells me you've paid your dues.

[DannydeKooker]

Love the video and all the tools, i own my own small msp company on the side of my full time job and open source is king for me.

One tool that i mist that I would also consider is a password manager, sso is nice but clients all have different systems with different passwords and passwordpolicies.