In the final analysis, it’s about personal preferences and I look forward to your feedback as an SMB Nation member. When it comes to urban vs rural lifestyle and business models, both answers are right.
At a high-level – my AI-based Google research returned to following “ urban areas being more populated and having more amenities, while rural areas offer more privacy and lower costs of living:” True that!
Rural
My experience has been that many rural MSPs run lifestyle businesses. Nothing like going fishing on Fridays with (perhaps with a client).It tends to be more relaxing than urban living.
Dramatic improvements in remote work/support
this last five years can be attributed to changing work habits. Part of the rural, Zoom town movement was due to the pandemic where work from Colorado ski resorts was possible. I’ll you and I need is a solid WiFi connection!
For the record I prefer rural living. It’s all I know hainv grown up in Alaska, then having 20 years with the family on Bainbridge Island across from Seattle and now living 30-miles west of Austin in the Texas Hill Country.
Finally – you can often discover a lower cost of living and lower tax rates in rural areas. And do you have challenges securing broadband access?
Urban
The fast paced business behavior of urban living and business creates a certain vibe and energy. I can’t deny it. Urban density can and does create more high paying opportunities as a general rule (but I’ll talk about MSP seat rates in a moment.
Then there is talent acquisition and retention. My friend, an MSP in my area of the Texas Hill Country, often has challenges recruiting MSP talent (e.g. Help Desk/Service Support as he is an “in-office kinda guy.)
Does it really matter?
With MSP business model automation and remote monitoring and management (RMM), does it really matter where you domicile? Do your per seat rates differ based on geography?
Lemme know what you think by replying to this email!
Poll Results – the people have spoken!
We ran a flash poll in two MSP / IT service provider communities. The results were insightful.
You Know You Grew Up with SBS If….
A robust geek group on Facebook orchestrated by SMB Nation (join HERE) revealed the following results.
Two group members, Bob Nitro and Jeffery Sherman, weighed in on a custom category, Suburban as a third choice and is kinda a hybrid selection between rural and urban. But the overwhelming favorite was rural, proving our audience avoids the urban night life LOL.
The IT and MSP Business Owners Group
This large group has over 25,000 active members (join HERE) and here are the poll results.
Essentially this group was divided right down the middle between rural and urban. What’s interesting is that this group is much larger and more diverse than the smaller, focused SBS group. That would suggest these results (below) track more accurately and closely to true SMB MSP sentiments.
One respondent, Nick Ellermann, had a very interesting custom entry that was, again, a hybrid answer. It’s amounts to living rural but most clients are urban. The best of both worlds? You be the judge.
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