Onboarding
What must be collected, configured, tested, and proven before a client is called managed.
Small MSP operating guides
Operating guides for small MSPs
SmallMSP helps solo and small-team MSPs decide what to define, document, verify, and charge for before the stack or the vendor pitch takes over.
Practical operating judgmentWritten for small teamsUseful before theoretical
Start with the operating foundations
Use these cornerstone guides to define the client, the security promise, and the price before expanding the stack.
Operations
Client onboarding checklist for small MSPs
Turn a new client from unknown environment into documented, monitored, supported account with clear decisions and exceptions.
Security & Risk
Security baseline for small MSPs
Define the controls, evidence, and client boundaries a small MSP can actually operate each month.
Pricing & Growth
Pricing managed services without undercharging
Build a minimum viable price around responsibility, labor, tools, review work, risk buffer, discount boundaries, and the technician time your team must protect.
SmallMSP
What the first guides help you decide
Service desk
How work enters the queue, who owns the next action, and when informal support breaks down.
Security baseline
Which minimum controls should be real before security becomes a sales promise.
Built for the work small MSPs repeat every week
Client intake
Turn a signed agreement into access, backups, monitoring, documentation, and proof.
Queue control
Keep tickets, alerts, callbacks, and owner memory from becoming the operating system.
Stack decisions
Compare tools by support load, reporting, billing minimums, and weekly operation.
Security basics
Define minimum controls that can be checked, reported, and maintained.
Pricing boundaries
Protect margin by separating included service from project work and exceptions.
Automation judgment
Use AI and automation where they reduce repetition without hiding accountability.
Latest guides
Browse guides
Security & Risk
Security takeover checklist when inheriting an MSP client
Handle a security finding during MSP transition without destroying evidence, guessing at blame, or contacting the previous provider without a clear client-approved purpose.
Tooling
PSA implementation and evaluation checklist for small MSPs
Evaluate a PSA by whether a real ticket reaches the right owner, complete time records, a correct invoice, and usable profitability evidence without hidden manual work.
Pricing & Growth
Fixed-fee project pricing for small MSPs
Quote fixed-fee MSP projects from a defined outcome, an internal sell rate, realistic effort, direct costs, and a risk reserve—then keep recurring responsibility in a separate monthly agreement.
Keep the site useful
SmallMSP is meant to stay practical: fewer rankings, fewer generic checklists, and more operating judgment that small teams can actually use.