bMighty Heroes: Smaller Businesses Use Tech Tools to Take on Large-Size Competitors and Win

Larry Dague, the founder of discount scuba gear retailer Scuba Toys, is fond of saying it's harder to get farther away from water than Carrollton, Texas. Yet that's exactly where Dague, who lives in the area, located his scuba diving business.

It turns out there are lots of scuba divers in Texas, but Dague had aspirations beyond the Lone Star State. He found a way to connect with scuba divers around the globe by committing to new technologies and, more recently, embracing Web 2.0 tools. He's utilized both to employ good, old-fashioned dedication to his customers.

At Scuba Toys.com, customers can look at products or watch employees in the Carrollton store on the Scuba Toys Webcam. They also can join the Scuba Toy's forum and ask other scuba divers or a Scuba Toys staffer -- often it's Larry or Joe Johnson, the company's manager, who Larry hired as Scuba Toy's first employee in December 1997 -- questions about gear, diving tips, or techniques. Customers can watch instructional videos on ScubaDivingTube.com, and post their own videos to share with other Scuba Toys customers.

For a scuba diving enthusiast, it's all very exciting. For Scuba Toys, it's all very profitable. The company is currently selling about $20,000 in scuba gear a day. Last year, it did $5 million in business; this year Dague projects that sales will be 25% higher.

"Early on, Larry embraced the technology," says David Cappello, an engineer at Cisco who implemented much of Scuba Toy's technology applications. "He got on board with the Internet and then brought the technology into the store."

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