Founding a scuba gear company in a landlocked part of Texas might not seem like the best idea. But Scuba Toy's founder Larry Dague has used Web 2.0 to reach scuba divers around the world -- and create a community of divers that keep coming back for more
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.
A Community of Scuba Divers
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."
Cappello should know: He met Dague in the Scuba Toys store when Dague taught him how to scuba dive about 10 years ago. Cappello showed Dague how to connect his security cameras up to the Internet and configured the router so Dague could watch the store from his house. But he ended up using it for much more.
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"One day, this guy called me up about a dive computer," says Dague. "I used the security camera to show it to him. He bought it on the spot, at $600."
Dague began using the camera to walk his online customers around the store. He discovered that once customers saw him and the store, they were more comfortable making purchases. This was when Dague realized his business was taking off. It also was when he realized that technology could enhance the founding credo of Scuba Toys -- excellent customer service.
"I hate it when people use technology to distance themselves from customers, when you have to hunt for a phone number or you get an automated response," he says. "I want to use technology to get closer to people. My dad sold tractors and his sales started with a handshake in a cornfield. Mine start with a handshake in a modem."
