Nevada Shuttery & Blinds

EYES WIDE SHUTTER
"The biggest thing in business is not to compete on price alone. Service is
100 percent. Handle customers, whatever the problem is, and they'll come back"

"Anyone can get into the window business for about $1,000 - the cost of a business license and sample books. But to stay in it, to be equipped

to do the repairs and to service the customer, that's another story," says Richard Gabriel, president of Reno-based Nevada Shuttery & Blinds. A cabinet-maker by trade, Gabriel began using his skills to make high-quality shutters for designers. He soon added a line of window treatments - and it was time for one company to become two.

"It was an accounting issue, and I wanted to bring my brother on as a partner," says Gabriel. So, in 1987, he incorporated the shuttery as a separate business. From the beginning, Gabriel has taken a different approach than some competitors, focusing on service, not price. His staff takes on repair jobs that more inexperienced providers aren't prepared to handle.

Gabriel also carefully chose a location in a high-traffic shopping facility. After five years, a tenant in a more visible part of the center moved, and Gabriel took the space. His payoff was a 25 percent increase in business. Gabriel, who is chairman and president of the Better Business Bureau of Northern Nevada, believes passionately in the service vs. price model. "To give good service, you have to stay in business," he says. "To stay in business, you have to make a profit. It's that simple."