Digging out of debt, fixing your culture, and changing to a managed services business model are all significant challenges on their own. ET&T, a third-generation, family-owned business, tackled all three —and made over $2 million in ARR in 2024.
In the latest episode of My First Million podcast, Fusun and Merjan Bubernack reveal how the Bethlehem, Pennsylvania-based MSP survived such a major transition. Here are highlights from the podcast.
Building Financial Resilience
In its transition from a phone system to a managed services business model, ET&T underwent significant financial difficulties. Fusun and her husband Michael, co-presidents, purchased the company in 2000 after the first generation of owners announced they were ready to retire. The business was in financial straits already, and with an every-man-for-himself culture to boot. “Our number one goal was to dig ourselves out of that hole and get some healthy financials going,” Fusun says. “It was a long journey before I could pay attention to anything else. Sometimes, it required us to not take any salary.” Instead, Fusun and Michael would put their salaries towards paying off chunks of ET&T’s debts.
Fusun acknowledged that a lot of small businesses neglect their financials. To get financially healthy, “you have got to look at [your finances] on a weekly basis,” she says. “You have to know your spending, expenses, KPIs, and turning point. That takes constant, religious reviewing.” This includes examining every last detail of items like vendor invoices.
“In the early days, I remember seeing her look at every PO that comes and goes, and every check that gets cut, and every invoice,” says the Bubernacks’ daughter, Merjan, director of customer success. “If you’re in a dire place, you need to inspect every last detail, because it’s easy for things to get washed. Even now, we’ll look at vendor invoices and notice that we’re being charged for 30 licenses when we’re only deploying 20. It’s that level of miniscule detail inspection that you need to do, in order to hit those financial goals.” (The Bubernacks’ second daugher, Sirma, also works at ET&T as an account manager.)
It’s never been easy, but it is worth doing in order to build a financially resilient business. “There have been some moments and some time periods that really defeated us,” says Fusun. “And you know, you kick yourself and you beat your head against the wall, but you say, ‘I’m not going to quit. I’m going to move forward.’”
A Motivated, Happy Culture
A great company culture is the soul of any business. But a good culture doesn’t just spawn into existence; it has to be cultivated with intentionality, effort, and policy. For ET&T, it starts from hiring. “I do a 15-minute video call, and I’m not asking technical or job-related questions,” says Fusun. “I’m figuring out who the person is.”
As for what Fusun is looking for, she has a couple qualifiers: “If they can’t smile, they’re out. They have to be a happy, motivated person,” she says. “Culture starts right there.” After the personality interview with Fusun, candidates are passed to Merjan and the rest of the team for the technical interview, which ensures they have the qualifications to do the job. “It’s not easy, and I don’t think we’ve found a silver bullet,” Fusun says.
The culture-cultivation process doesn’t stop after hiring. “After they [join the team], it’s training, team meetings, and quarterly all-hands meetings to keep that [spark] alive,” says Fusun. In these meetings ET&T shares their numbers, current progress, and goals they’ve set, so that employees can see exactly what their work is contributing to.
Fusun also requests feedback from her staff, to make sure ET&T is living up to their expectations and work satisfaction remains high. “She’s a bit of a bully [about it],” jokes Merjan. “She goes around asking, ‘What should we be working on?’ and ‘What do you want to see more of?’ And if the person is quiet, she forces an answer out of them.”
No system is perfect, but ET&T’s strategy gets them closer to hiring the right candidate on the first try. “There’s no magic in hiring,” says Fusun. “But I can teach [a candidate] what they don’t know. I can’t change their personality. I can’t change what a person is made of.”
A staff of “motivated, happy people” is critical to ET&T’s success because of their deep bonds with their customers. “We know all of our clients,” says Fusun. “We pride ourselves on having some clients who have been with us for 20 and 30 years. There’s more of a relationship to it than just a business exchange. We need a team that supports that.”
Mental Toughness is Everything in the Entrepreneurial World
Starting a business in any industry is hard; getting kicked down is part of the process. When asked what advice she’d give to her younger self, Fusun says: “This is not an easy job. It requires mental toughness. Life is going to throw all kinds of crap at you, so put your gloves on. Nothing is ever going to be 100% rose petals.”
When it comes to lessons learned, there’s a saying Fusun stands by. “I either won or I learned,” she says. “I make mistakes. And, when the head of the company makes mistakes, they aren’t small mistakes. I have to look at them as a learning experience. Did it hurt me? Did it cost me money? Yes, it did. But I learned, and I know never to do that again.”
“There are going to be challenges, but think hard, and think long, and think wide before you make a decision,” Fusun advises. “If the end result is still not what you expected, pick yourself back up and move on.”
From transitioning to a managed services business model to revitalizing their culture, the family behind ET&T never quit. For more great advice from this third-generation MSP, listen to the Bubernack’s full podcast episode here. Tune in for more, including the marketing strategies that won them 44 clients in a single year and their transition to an MSP.
For more stories about MSPs making their first million, read how ComTech’s CEO hit the $1M mark by getting out of his own way.
