#1 - Arbitech Last year, Arbitech was #2. What did it take to leap into the #1 spot?
By Amanda C. Kooser •
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#1 Arbitech
It's high tide at Laguna Beach, California, computer productsdistributor Arbitech. Manned by Torin Pavia, 32, and WilliamPoovey, 33, our second-place winner for both 2002 and 2003 has nowvaulted to the top of this year's Hot100.
Growth is the buzzword around this business. Sales for 2003popped up to $86 million, and the company has expanded from 26 to35 employees. But what's even more impressive than the numbersis the way Arbitech got there. "All our growth has come fromexisting accounts buying more from us, and word-of-mouth,"says Pavia.
Staying down to earth (or down to sea level, in this case) is apriority at Arbitech. As Pavia puts it, "We've fought hardto keep our corporate culture-the fun Hawaiian shirts, [being] nearthe beach, surfing and playing basketball together. We're allstill surfing." Fun and hard work go hand in hand in theiroffice's high-energy trading-floor environment. Every traderworking at Arbitech is his or her own CEO, says Pavia. That'snot just lip service. Each employee makes major decisions, fromaccepting returns to setting the price for computer components.That attitude of empowerment is one of Arbitech's most potentsecrets for success.
Beyond the catered lunches and annual retreat (this year to LasVegas), the Arbitech team stays heavily involved in the community.They donate computer parts to the local high school and sponsor agolf tournament benefiting underprivileged youth, among othercharitable activities.
Arbitech is still engaged in one of its greatest challenges:positioning itself as a complementary company alongside industrygiants Tech Data and Ingram Micro, while still competing with them.Pavia and Poovey are accomplishing that by settling strongly intotheir niche of handling discontinued and constrained products(products that aren't readily available through Tech Data orIngram Micro). This area also allows them to offer incrediblycompetitive prices to their small and midsize reseller clients,many of whom rely on Arbitech as a lifeline for staying profitablein competitive times.
Looking ahead, the Arbitech founders plan to continue to worktheir niche, hang their surfboards on customer satisfaction, andtrust their employees to lead the way. Says Pavia, "Wecouldn't stop growing right now if we tried."
