While news abounded about how bad 2007 was for the construction sector, that wasn’t the case for everyone. C & L Desert Solid Surfaces says the year was its best ever.
"It is all a matter of how you look at it," said Les Laws, owner of C & L. "I wasn’t going to cling tight and ride it out. We needed to be proactive and that’s what we did."
  
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One more step toward being proactive is Laws is streamlining the name of his company to Desert Surfaces.
After selling Accent Interiors, another company he had started, Laws launched C & L Desert Solid Surfaces Inc. in 2003. The first year, the company grossed $130,000, which more than doubled to $300,000 in 2004, then grew to $600,000 in 2005 and $999,000 in 2006. He said he took in $1.5 million in 2007 and hopes to pull in $3 million for 2008.
"For me the secret to my success has been turnaround time," said Laws whose business is mainly manufacturing kitchen counter tops. "In the old days we would tear someone’s kitchen out make a stick template they wait for weeks then we bring the top back. It isn’t like bathroom remodels where you can go use another bathroom. You only have one kitchen. The faster people can get back into their kitchen the happier they will be."
Desert Surfaces works with all solid surfaces, but mainly uses Corian. The turnaround time for most counter tops is three to five days, well below the industry standard of seven to 10 days. He says the company produces three to four solid-surface counters every day. The company can also make counter tops from granite but that takes longer, usually two to three days to manufacture one.
Laws says his turnaround is quicker because he owns a CNC (computer numerically controlled) router. The technology uses mathematics and coordinate systems to precisely cut and shape counter tops.
He also attributes his success to staying focused on his business plan, which in five years is to have Desert Surfaces grossing $15 million annually.
"I did this for me," Laws says. "My bank didn’t ask for it, no one asked for it. It was expensive but you can put a price on being able to keep focused on a goal. My wife asked why I wanted one so much, we were in Houston at the time I believe. I told her that if we wanted to go get Dairy Queen right now, I’m sure we could drive around for a while and eventually we would find one. But how much faster could we have it if we had a map on how to get there? That’s exactly what this plan is."
To get to that point, Laws is now shifting the focus of his business.
"For a long time we have been fabricators and many of our customers have been fabricators, but I want us to make a switch to manufacturers," Laws said. "That’s why I have gone on this $7 million venture."
The venture is to build a state-of-the-art manufacturing plant for solid surfaces that will be fully automated.
"If you don’t get fully automated, you won’t be able to be in business long," Laws said. "So I made this decision to go into this quartz surface product. I went to an expert, to Fabricator’s Choice and to Tom. I asked him to help me design the perfect shop."
Fabricator’s Choice is a company that specializes in automating solid surface, quartz and stone fabrication.
"I told Tom that I didn’t want a forklift and he said ‘don’t worry. You’re going to get a robot that gets the sheet and puts in on the table.’ I said that’s what I want. I just want to push a button and the process goes," Laws said.
While his products are already sold in local Lowes Home Improvement stores, Laws wants to begin manufacturing tops for local companies.
"I’ve found that people really like the small companies," said Laws. "Let’s say Mrs. Jones loves to work with Javier but he can’t build the tops fast enough. I want to build that top for Javier and we can have it done it days, and he picks it up and installs it as though he built it himself."
Laws believes it will be beneficial to the local companies because he will be able to manufacture the tops faster and often for less money that it currently costs the companies to do it themselves.
For his business to succeed he wants to help his customers succeed and that sometimes means taking the time to help educate them.
"I sell the tops to my customers at the same price I sell it to Lowes for," Laws said. "Lowes marks it up 20 percent, so I recommend my customers to mark it up 30 percent. When they tell me they can’t charge more than Lowes I ask them if they have a phone and if I can call them right now. ‘Of course’ they say. Really? Because the person the client is dealing with at Lowes already when home for today and isn’t working tomorrow. They know the projects inside and out and they are available 24 hours every day – there is value in that."
The new plant will be located on Old Vail Road in the Rita Ranch Commerce Center. The $4 million worth of equipment will keep counter tops rolling out of the plant.
The only time his customers will have to come down to the plant will be to pick up the tops. Another piece of technology allows customers to photograph the needed area and e-mail the picture to Desert Surfaces to build it. In order to garner enough business to be profitable, Desert Surfaces will manufacture tops for up to an 800 mile radius of Tucson. Laws hopes to do roughly 30 kitchens every day.
"I just want people to know that it is not all doom and gloom out there today," he said. "There is opportunity out there if you are proactive."
Contact Joe Pangburn at jpangburn@azbiz.com or at (520) 295-4259.
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