Stuart Millington runs a healthcare-focused managed service provider in Western Australia. How he moved every client to one security standard, why the practice manager is the linchpin, and why clients now find him on ChatGPT and Claude.
Show Notes
Stuart Millington runs Bluebird IT, a healthcare-focused managed service provider (MSP) in Mandurah, Western Australia. Bluebird started with three pricing tiers, went down to two, and ended with one set of security standards that every client follows. When he told clients "this is our price, this is what it is," the ones who came back to him simply said: okay, I understand.
About 85% of his clients are in healthcare, and the person Bluebird works with day to day is the practice manager, who takes pressure from doctors, owners, receptionists and patients. Stuart explains how his team takes vendor problems off their plate, how a traineeship in Broken Hill led to an MSP of his own, and the accountability group where things took off. He also shares why clients now tell him they found Bluebird on ChatGPT and Claude, and why his long-term goal is a business one of his children can take over.
What we cover:
- Moving from three pricing tiers to one security standard every client follows
- When healthcare became the rule, and the finance, recruitment and arborist clients who stayed
- Pointing prospects outside healthcare to other providers he trusts
- Starting with general practices and aged care, then serving the wider medical industry
- Why the practice manager is the linchpin, and dealing with their software vendors for them
- Turning workflows and automation into monthly recurring revenue, this quarter's goal
- From a one-year traineeship in Broken Hill to fixing cash machines in Perth
- The boss who became one of his biggest role models in the industry
- Starting Bluebird IT, then joining the Peel Chamber and Tech Tribe early on
- An accountability group of six MSPs in different states
- Sharing a building with a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) organization that Bluebird supports
- Pushing through a hard first year and a half
- Referrals, local networking, and the answer engine optimization (AEO) and generative engine optimization (GEO) work on his website
- Where practice managers spend time online: Facebook groups over LinkedIn
- Why he would rather help than sell: helping the people who fix the people
- The stack: HaloPSA, NinjaOne, Huntress and Hudu, plus site photos for clients 20 hours apart
- Australia's Privacy Act, keeping data in the country, and DefensX for controlling artificial intelligence (AI) access
- Keeping the pull of shiny new tools in check with peer accountability
- Best Practice and MedicalDirector building AI into clinical software
- Monthly reports in HaloPSA as proof for Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) audits
- American buyers moving into the Australian MSP market
- A long-term goal of handing the business to one of his children
- Systems solid enough for probably another 300 devices before the next hire
- Lightning round: Hudu, AI hype and hardware prices, client relationships, cloud, and MSPs that help each other grow
Stuart Millington: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuartmillingtonmandurah
Bluebird IT: https://bluebirdit.com.au
What is Play It Smart?
Play It Smart is the show where Alexej Pikovsky sits down with MSP operators and business owners and takes apart how they actually do it: winning clients, pricing, staying lean, using AI, and building toward an exit worth having. Season 2 is dedicated to MSP operators. Past guests include Rand Fishkin of Moz and SparkToro and the founders of Chili Piper, Flowchat and 3DLOOK.