Most business owners assume the R&D tax credit is only for labs, scientists, or massive corporations. In reality, many MSPs and service-based businesses qualify every year without realizing it.

In this episode of the BMK Vision Podcast, Josh Peterson sits down with Val Majewski, Partner at American Incentive Advisors, to break down what the R&D tax credit really is, why most companies self-censor themselves out of qualifying, and how innovation in everyday business processes can translate into real tax savings.

Val explains how MSPs, IT firms, and professional services businesses often meet the IRS requirements through process improvement, software development, automation, and service innovation. The conversation also covers recent tax law changes that reopened credits for 2022, 2023, and 2024, common audit misconceptions, and how proper documentation protects business owners.

This episode is especially relevant for MSP owners and leaders investing time and money into improving operations and wondering how innovation can reduce tax liability.

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🎙 What We Cover in This Episode

• What actually qualifies as R&D for service businesses

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👤 Guest Links

Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/valmajewski/

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In this episode of From the Trenches on the BMK Vision Podcast, Josh Peterson sits down with Steve Brickner, Founder/CEO of Kraken Technology Solutions, for a grounded conversation about where MSPs are headed next—and why the market is rewarding leadership more than ticket throughput.

Steve shares his path from construction into IT, why early-stage MSPs need the ability to pivot quickly, and how “fractional technology leadership” is becoming the new wedge for trust, retention, and higher-value client relationships.

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🎙 What We Cover in This Episode

Reframing MSP value: from tickets to technology leadership

Fractional leadership and the consultative MSP model

Why cybersecurity became table-stakes—and what comes after

IT as a growth driver (not just a cost center)

Translating security and tech decisions into CFO-ready ROI language

Relationship-first prospecting: community, chambers, and content

Webinars vs podcasts in 2026: attention, intent, and repurposing

Podcast production stack ideas (Riverside + automated switching)

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👤 Guest Links

Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevebrickner981ba9242 

Company Website: https://krakentechnology.io/ 

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Most MSPs delay hiring a dispatcher because they believe it will slow response times or distance clients from technical help. In reality, the lack of dispatch is one of the biggest reasons MSPs struggle with inconsistent service, forgotten tickets, poor utilization, and burned-out technicians.

In this episode of the BMK Vision Podcast, Josh Peterson breaks down why dispatch is not administrative overhead—it’s the control system that protects client experience and operational health. Drawing on nearly two decades of experience working with thousands of MSPs, Josh explains why technicians should not be responsible for prioritization, follow-ups, or workload decisions, and how a well-designed dispatch model changes everything.

• Why dispatch is widely misunderstood in MSPs

• The hidden cost of technician self-dispatch

• How dispatch eliminates forgotten tickets and aging backlogs

• The three things every dispatcher must own: tickets, time, and the day

• Why utilization fails without centralized control

• When to hire your first dispatcher (even as a small MSP)

• Priority-based vs centralized dispatch models

Josh Peterson is the CEO of Bering McKinley and host of the BMK Vision Podcast. He helps MSP owners bring structure to chaos through operational clarity, financial discipline, and scalable leadership systems.

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

In #75 of From the Trenches on the BMK Vision Podcast, Josh Peterson talks with Jocelyn Gorman (President, DSI) about building an MSP inside a copier-dealer ecosystem—and why the real advantage isn’t the client list, it’s credibility, infrastructure, and a willingness to take smart risks. 

They cover the “big contract first” origin story, why large accounts can fund growth without delivering profitability, how sales teams must evolve from generalists to specialists, and how Jocelyn is using Lean Six Sigma + practical AI to reduce admin work and focus the team on higher-value outcomes.

Guest: Jocelyn Gorman (DSI) 

Company site: https://www.dsinm.com 

Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jocelyn-gorman-09b47422 

Explore Vision: https://beringmckinley.com/vision

Apply to be a guest: https://beringmckinley.com/blog#speaker-form

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@beringmckinleyvision?sub_confirmation=1

Your MSP business is doing more right than you think—but the industry rarely pauses to say it. In this episode, Josh Peterson is joined by Gary Boyle and Ryan Alter for a “Don’t Be That Guy” conversation that flips the script: why the MSP business model is awesome, why it’s often more resilient (and sellable) than other SMB categories, and what owners must do to protect margin as the market tightens.

They unpack how high retention can quietly create a comfort plateau, why price increases get delayed (even when everyone knows they should happen), and why the only metric that really tells the truth—regardless of MRR, per-seat, or hourly billing—is effective hourly rate. If you want a healthier team, better clients, and a business that can actually fund your life and your future, this one is a mindset reset.

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Reframing MSPs as a resilient, sellable SMB model

Working on the business vs in the business (and escaping burnout)

Why 90%+ retention can cause growth stagnation

Margin erosion and the annual price-increase discipline

“Good / Better / Best” client segmentation to create capacity

CAC: how to calculate it and where MSPs overspend

Recurring vs project work—and why EHR is the truth

How pricing affects service quality, talent, and client behavior

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Gary Boyle (LinkedIn): https://www.linkedin.com/in/garyboyle/ 

Ryan Alter (LinkedIn): https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-alter-896a5b11/

Josh Peterson (LinkedIn): https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshdpeterson/

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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

In this Don’t Be That Guy webinar episode of The BMK Vision Podcast, Josh Peterson sits down with Fletcher Wimbush of Discovered for a direct, no-nonsense conversation MSP owners need to hear: you suck at hiring—and it’s costing you more than you think.

Fletcher breaks down why most MSP hiring processes fail before the first interview even happens, how relying on “gut feel” leads to expensive mistakes, and why assessment-first hiring is the fastest way to reduce turnover and improve team performance. The discussion covers screener questions, integrity and attitude assessments, reference checks that actually matter, and how to keep recruiting without misleading candidates or burning yourself out.

If you’re an MSP owner juggling growth, service delivery, and leadership—and still hiring reactively—this episode will challenge your assumptions and give you a clearer path forward.

Guest: Fletcher Wimbush

Founder of Discovered, Fletcher has spent more than a decade helping small and mid-sized businesses fix broken hiring processes. He specializes in recruitment automation, assessment-driven hiring, and reducing turnover by helping leaders make better decisions earlier in the process.

Host: Josh Peterson

Josh Peterson is CEO of Bering McKinley, a management consulting firm that helps MSPs scale through operational discipline, financial clarity, and leadership development. He is the host of The BMK Vision Podcast, where real-world conversations challenge MSP owners to think and operate differently.

Learn more about the Vision Operating System:

https://beringmckinley.com/vision

Subscribe to the BMK Vision Podcast on YouTube:

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Apply to be a guest on the podcast:

https://beringmckinley.com/blog#speaker-form

Connect with Fletcher Wimbush on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/fletcher-wimbush/

Learn more about Discovered:

https://www.discoveredats.com/

Kevin Kahn joins Josh Peterson to share the real story behind scaling an MSP through mentorship, relationship-driven growth, and operational discipline. Kevin explains how a pivotal early mentor changed his trajectory, how IntelliComp grew organically for years, and what shifts when you modernize your stack to get better visibility, reporting, and business control.

Guest Introduction

Kevin Kahn is the President of IntelliComp Technologies (Baltimore) and a longtime MSP leader. In this conversation, we explore scaling pains, pricing and efficiency, tool migrations (and the real cost of change), and how MSPs should think about AI and automation without losing the client relationship that keeps the business strong. 

What We Cover in This Episode

• Building an MSP on relationships (and what you sacrifice for it)

• Lessons from “almost going broke” moments and recovering stronger

• All-you-can-eat helpdesk billing: model first, pricing second

• Switching PSA/RMM: when it’s worth the pain (and when it’s not)

• Why modern reporting matters for running the business

• Hardware margins, leasing, and why MSPs struggle to operationalize it

• AI for MSPs: where efficiency gains are real (and where risk is real)

• Customer success, empathy, and why humans still matter

Guest Links

Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-kahn/

Company Website: https://intellicomp.net/ 

Subscribe & Follow BMK Vision

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Learn More About the Vision Platform: https://beringmckinley.com/vision

Apply to Be a Guest: https://beringmckinley.com/blog

In this BMK Quick Takes episode, Josh Peterson teaches the most important—and most misunderstood—sales principle in the MSP industry: the correct order of selling. Josh explains why selling yourself first, your company second, and your services last leads to stronger trust and better outcomes. He also breaks down the four essential components of a First-Time Appointment: budget, timeframe, next steps, and referral confidence.

• Why emotional trust drives nearly every buying decision

• How to structure curiosity-driven discovery

• The true order of selling for MSPs

• Establishing budget using revenue-based benchmarks

• Helping prospects commit to a realistic timeframe

• Securing next meetings professionally and consistently

• Making referral requests feel natural and confident

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@beringmckinleyvision?sub_confirmation=1

Vision Operating System: https://beringmckinley.com/vision

Apply to Be a Guest: https://beringmckinley.com/blog

Leaving a stable role to launch your own MSP is exciting—and brutally hard. In this episode, Josh Peterson talks with Chris Hart, founder of Hart CTO Inc and longtime IT executive, about what his first 90+ days back in the MSP saddle have really looked like: slow leads, pricing pressure, doubts about size, and the surprising lifelines that are keeping the business moving. 

Guest Introduction

Chris Hart is the founder of Hart CTO Inc, a Florida-based fractional CTO and consulting firm serving law firms and professional services organizations. With more than two decades leading MSP teams and technology operations, Chris has supported thousands of end users, built cybersecurity practices, and guided firms through complex infrastructure and cloud transitions. In this conversation, he and Josh explore the realities of starting a new MSP in a saturated, acquisition-heavy market—and how fractional CTO work, assessments, and subcontract projects can bridge the early-stage gap. 

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Leaving a stable executive role to relaunch as an MSP owner

Why the first 90 days were tougher and slower than expected

Handling “you’re too small” objections with 75–200 user prospects

Pricing realities around $85–$100 per user and why “full freight” is hard

Using subcontract projects and residential work to keep cash flowing

Building a referral “army” of part-time sales partners and ISPs

Selling paid assessments into companies that already have MSPs

Positioning fractional CTO services for legal and professional firms

How consolidation and acquisitions change the local MSP opportunity

Mindset, activity levels, and the long game of building a durable MSP

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Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-hart863/ 

Company Website: https://hartcto.com 

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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/bering-mckinley-podcast-blog

Growing an MSP from “computer guy” to a multi-technician, acquisition-ready business isn’t about hacks or hype—it’s about talking to more people, building real systems, and avoiding the wrong hires at the wrong time. In this episode, Josh Peterson is joined by Chad Kempt, founder and president of Fast Computers, an Ontario-based MSP that’s been serving clients since 1998 and recently merged with another provider to expand its footprint.

Chad and Josh unpack why most sub-$1M MSPs don’t need a salesperson—they need the owner to step up—and how dispatch and service management can either unlock growth or destroy margins if you get the structure wrong. They also dig into realistic targets, ASCII-level peer community involvement, and the discipline required to use data without drowning in dashboards.

🎙 What We Cover in This Episode

• Chad’s 27-plus-year journey from solo “computer guy” to MSP founder

• Why owner-led sales usually beat early sales hires for small MSPs

• The shift from 5–25 seat SBS clients to 50–150 seat cloud-first organizations

• How Fast Computers approached M&A and the operational load that comes with it

• Dispatch vs. service management: who owns hours, schedules, and tickets

• When to hire an admin/dispatcher and when to hold off on a service manager

• The danger of saying “yes” to every client request and shrinking your margins

• Picking a few meaningful PSA metrics instead of chasing every chart

• How ASCII community involvement helped Chad refine his model and mindset

👤 Guest Links

Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chadkempt/

Company Website: https://fastcomputers.ca/

🚀 Subscribe & Follow BMK Vision

YouTube (Video Podcast):

https://www.youtube.com/@beringmckinleyvision?sub_confirmation=1

Learn More About the Vision Platform:

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https://beringmckinley.com/bering-mckinley-podcast-blog