During summer vacations, when he was a boy of 12, Loay Al Fadhil went to work in his father’s stationery business. For three days he sat in the shop, helping his father sell stationery supplies and various office products. On the fourth day—boys being boys—he could sit still no longer. So he told his father that he would prefer taking samples of the products, jumping into a cab, and going to other towns to try to sell them. “I will get you the money by getting your products out the door,” he promised his father. So they agreed on a commission for each successful sale, and the young boy hit the open road and started selling. He was so successful that his father continued to employ him and his brothers throughout the summers of their childhood.

Thirty years later, Loay is CEO of Loay International LLC. The business has expanded beyond his father’s wildest dreams. Loay recognized an opportunity for the company to grow beyond stationery and office supplies when he saw the impact new technologies and the Internet were having on the rest of the world. Today, Loay International LLC specializes in personal computer hardware—PCs and Macs—including desktops, laptops, mobile phones, iPods, digital cameras, storage devices, personal handheld electric organizers, and the like. The company also focuses on servicing these products, whether that involves taking over the IT departments for large corporations, offering ongoing IT support, or providing structure cabling, networking and maintenance. The company has five retail showrooms throughout Oman, plus Loay International LLC boasts a corporate sales team that takes care of its big customers. “When a customer buys a product from us,” says Loay, “they know that we are there to help them with any aspect of using that product, for the life of the product.” And yes, they still sell the stationery and office supplies that his father specialized in.

To keep his team focused on customer satisfaction, he makes sure that continuous training is considered part of their jobs. “When a customer walks in the door, or when we go to a company to sell them our products or offer our services, each and every one of us has to know everything about every product available. We all also have to make ourselves familiar with the customer’s knowledge base and their requirements and expectations, as well as their needs. So I make sure our team gets training to keep abreast of all the latest products and that they have the skills to service those products and keep the customer happy.”

It’s not only team members who require continuing education. Loay continues to educate himself. A couple of years ago, Loay attended the Owner/President Management (OPM) program at Harvard Business School. “Harvard taught me about management skills and forward thinking. That changed my approach a lot and made me think about how to expand the business and make it grow.” Loay also makes a point of getting feedback from the people who matter so much to him: the customers. “I go out and ask customers specific questions about our company. That feedback from customers really helps us improve and continue to grow. Whether those customers are the kind who have just come into a store to buy an iPod or whether they are a large company that utilizes many of our services, they both have important feedback to share with us that we can then address so that we stand apart from the crowd.”

Loay International’s larger customers include the Oman Ministry of Education as well as Oman’s largest Internet carrier, OMANTEL. “The Ministry of Education is one of our largest customers because we have a lot of schools here and each one of those schools is getting filled up with computers for the students,” says Loay. “And with the Internet carrier, we help each other grow by doing simultaneous launches of products and their Internet services. For example, if you buy a laptop from us, then you will get free airtime or free wireless for a certain period of time—some sort of mutual deal so that we are pushing them as a carrier as well as selling the customer all the hardware, setup, and support services he may need. Our collaboration works out well for both of us. It helps both of us grow.”

But Loay has also encountered some significant challenges as he built his business. “In 2001, I recognized that we needed investors in order to really grow. In a family business, with everyone having a share of the business, you have to be able to convince each person that growth is a good idea and that the methods you have chosen are good. I convinced my family to give up some of their shares so that investors could also own shares in our company and vice versa. Today, we are run by professionals, but we are still a family, with all the complications and challenges that go with being related to one another and trying to make a business grow and prosper.”

Dealing with outside investors and making the transition from a small, family-owned stationery business to what it is today was not without risks. Says Loay, “With outside investors, you are not just dealing with satisfying family members. While you can say to your dad, ‘I want to expand,’ and he says, ‘Go ahead, son, I trust you,’ the same is not true with outside investors. They have agreed to our plans and our proposals and have put money into this company. I have to minimize risk for everyone by having an in-depth knowledge of my business and by using professional people to help me make the decisions in a thoughtful manner, so that the risk is calculated and well-informed. The knowledge of specific board members and our expertise combine to help me answer the most important question, which is, will I be able to satisfy those investors and their expectations? Thank God, from 2001 until the closing of the books in 2005, we have been very successful and everyone is happy.”

Today, Loay International LLC has more than 100 full-time team members. Says Loay, “In terms of our managerial structure, we style the company like a small pyramid. Each product line or service has its own division which is endowed with the ability to make their own decisions, to run themselves. Our team members take the authority we have given them and use it with pride to satisfy all our customers’ wishes, big or small.”

How does Loay keep his team happy and ready to work hard for the company? He says, “Our requirements for each team member, whether he’s a divisional manager, in charge of warehousing and storage, or a sales manager, is that he achieve his stated targets. And we give him all the support to do so. We are an easy-going company; everyone in the corporate office is on one floor, and the office is open. It’s easy to get to everyone, from me to the manager and the assistants. Any company can give financial rewards, but feeling good about your work, and about the team you work with, not everyone can offer an employee that.”

Maintaining what he refers to as a “California-style” corporate culture is also important to Loay. “We are not like other corporate offices where you have to show up in a suit. We are laid back about dress, and we address one another by first name. We also do not differentiate between the employees, whether they be a sales manager, a salesperson, a logistics person. Everybody works together, everybody shares the same office space, everyone is treated the same. We don’t have these little cubicles everyone hides behind. It’s open. We all talk to one another very openly, and we share our personal lives as well. We have a lot of celebrations here whenever we do a good deal or accomplish one of our goals. We do an annual get-together. We throw chocolate around on happy occasions. If we have just attended COMEX, the computer and communications exhibition in Oman, and we’ve launched a new product or secured a new deal, we all celebrate. If we have accomplished our stated deliverables for a big corporation, we celebrate. It’s all very family-oriented.”

One of the most interesting things about Loay International is that the information sharing is totally transparent. “We share all of our results with all of our employees,” Loay confides. “We don’t hide anything. Every quarter we all get together—everyone from logistics to accounts, sales and retail—and we report everyone’s numbers to everyone else. That way, everyone really knows where they stand and what their division has accomplished, or conversely, where it could stand to improve. We open the books so everyone feels knowledgeable. I think that also serves to make every employee feel responsible for contributing to the whole, because they know they will be recognized for their efforts.”

Loay rewards his employees for exemplary work through profit-sharing.  “At the beginning of the fiscal year, we get the sales team together and we make an agreement,” he says. “If they reach such-and-such goal at the end of the year, with X amount of turnover and Y amount in gross margin, then they will be given Z amount of commission or bonus. And we make the disbursements quarterly, to keep the employees consistently motivated. Over and above that, if the company has done well overall, the results go to the board, and the board has the power to award bonuses to the staff. We have that system down pretty well.”

Recruiting and retaining IT employees is not easy, says Loay. “In this industry, you cannot hold onto employees very long. There’s a revolving door, no matter how much incentive they are given, no matter how much support they are given. So we don’t bring in people at the highest levels, nor do we bring in people who know nothing. We always try to attract the people who have learned enough, but who are willing to learn more and who are motivated to achieve. We believe that every employee has something to teach us. We can learn from them. But we are clear from the beginning about the company culture, the structure, the incentives, and we welcome them to come aboard if they feel they can meet the challenges. Otherwise we don’t hire them.”

If he had to do it all over again, Loay says that he would not go into products but would concentrate on services. “It’s really important to stay ahead of the curve with products. People want the latest and greatest products,” he says. “We want to give them that quality product—nothing too cheap, because then their needs will not ultimately be served. But in that quest for new products, you have a two-fold problem. First of all, in the case of PCs, if Intel increases the prices on their chips or processors, then the entire price of the computer goes up. In the case of LCDs, if glass prices are raised in China, then the LCD monitors go up in price. All of these things affect my business and they are all external. Secondly, technology changes so fast, and to keep on top of all those changes, we cannot carry too much inventory in case something better comes along for our customers. Then again, we can’t carry too little, or we cannot respond to their needs fast enough because of the lead-time in deliverables. So it’s a constant balancing act with products. But with services, either they need IT support or networking support or they do not. Service is not affected by external issues. It’s internal to the country, the customers, and their needs.”

Fadhil worries about the ability of the consumers in his country to continue to afford his products, whether it’s a computer or an iPod or an entire networked system with Internet hookups. “Extra money is hard to come by for most people. The number one agenda for most families is to secure their home, to have proper food and medical treatment, to get insurance, and to provide a good education for their children. Computers are still considered extras here. So I worry that if and when people are able to save up that extra money, that they will think of spending that money on some other perceived luxury as opposed to the digital products that I offer.” Despite the fact that Oman is a relatively affluent country, the young generation still needs to work hard for extra money to buy things. But, as Loay accurately observes, “That’s probably true with young people almost everywhere.”

To stay on top of new developments in technology, Loay travels all over the world. But even with the best products, the customer is still the focus as is the health of the company. “I always listen to my team and I always listen to my customers. When I was selected to participate in the MEET U.S. (Middle East Entrepreneur Training in the U.S.) program and to come to San Diego’s Beyster Institute, I met a variety of different people. Professors, professionals, business owners—all provided inspiration and ideas.”

For young entrepreneurs just starting out and seeking financing, Loay says, “You have to have a presentation that has a clear objective. Then you have to be specific about your deliverables. Anyone can get money, but specifying what you need the money for and what you can accomplish with it, and backing it up with local research is paramount to your success.” Loay adds, “If you have an idea, you have to stay committed to it. But if you get criticism or feedback, you also have to consider it because it might make a difference between success and failure. Competition is everywhere, but there is a market for almost anything. You also need to understand the pros and cons behind your idea. You have to use all the information you can get in order to have a competitive advantage. But most of all, you have to provide something of real value to your customer. You have to benefit them in some measurable way so that they will come back and buy again.”