As seen in Pacific Coast Business Times
By BetsyCrowfoot
One year after their acquisition of Bob’s Glass in
Santa Barbara, two Ventura couples have demonstrated the path to success is
crystal clear.
Robert and Deanna Quintanilla Jr. and Enrique and Michele Padron acquired Bob’s Glass – a
producer of high end custom glass doors, windows, skylights and mirrors – one
year ago. By March 2004 the firm had cracked $300,000 in sales, “the biggest
month ever in the history of the company,” said Mrs. Quintanilla, who
attributed impeccable quality, customer service, and a sharp eye on the bottom
line.
Bob’s Glass was founded 35 years ago and operated by
John Rowbottam for the last quarter century. Quintanilla and Padron were the
lead glaziers for the successful Gutierrez Street facility when Rowbottam sold
the business to out-of-town management. “They didn’t have a handle on the level
of quality and kind of custom work that was done in Santa Barbara,” explained
Mrs. Quintanilla, and shortly the business was back on the block.
The Quintanillas and Padrons soon found themselves in
the drivers seat. With the purchase of the company the men were suddenly
employers, supervising people who had only recently been friends and
co-workers. Their homes were leveraged. They spent nights cramming CAL/OSHA
(Occupational Safety and Health Administration) laws and contractor licensing
board requirements.
“Robert and
Enrique were always perfectionists, but now they were financially motivated to
be master craftsmen and master estimators,” said Mrs. Quintanilla. It was an
obvious shift in dynamics, she added, but they both stepped up to the plate.
And in stepped Mrs. Quintanilla and Mrs. Padron, too.
Mrs. Quintanilla had experience as a senior financial analyst and owned a
Carpinteria-based eatery for four years. She joined Bob’s Glass as full-time
chief financial officer.
Mrs. Padron had enjoyed a longstanding career in law
and administration until 1997 when she became a bilingual educator. She was
enlisted as corporate secretary.
“We weren’t
apprehensive about taking on the role as business owners because we were
already in that mindset,” said Mrs. Quintanilla. Messrs. Padron and Quintanilla had been in the process of forming
their own glassworks during the interim owner phase.
“This just jump-started us ten years.”
The quartet purchased Bob’s Glass though a buy-out of
shares of the existing business, Mrs. Quintanilla noted, against the counsel of
their legal and financial advisers. “It was risky, but strategic. We acquired
all the assets of the corporation: a $60,000 Italian polishing machine; a fleet
of trucks; all the inventory; a facility that was already set up for glass.”
They computerized operations, reducing estimating and
production times. “Production is running at a higher level and a lot more
efficiently,” said Quintanilla.
But it did take nearly one year for the company to
recover from the “hiccup” which occurred when the previous short-term owner was
in place; and get old contractors back on board and line up bigger volume and
commercial projects.
Said Mrs. Quintanilla, “The contractors who knew
Robert and Enrique as craftsmen already had respect for them and their
reputation,” – a reputation built on nothing less than 100 percent
perfection.
Their typical installation is the Montecito home
designed by a world-class architect, with glass windbreaks, sand-blasted
artwork, all the bells and whistles. “It’s all custom, high end work. There’s
nothing standard about it,” said Mrs. Quintanilla. “They’re not replacing a
shower with a $300 door from Home Depot.”
But with that big ticket comes an expectation of
impeccable quality and service.
“Glass has to be installed just right, or else you eat
it,” Quintanilla added. “There’s no forgiveness in the material.” Once glass is
tempered (a heat process) it cannot be cut or modified.
While Bob’s Glass established a quality reputation in
the estates of Montecito, Mrs. Quintanilla said they don’t want to be thought
of as “so high end we can’t service our friends next door.“
“We’ve added variety and branched out in numerous
different fields,” Quintanilla said, eyeing a goal of $2-million in sales in
2004.
One thing you won’t see at Bob’s Glass though is
automobile or stained glass. “We think it’s wise to stay focused, be good at
what you’re doing,” said Mrs. Quintanilla, while her husband added the company
may endeavor to expand geographically in to Ventura and northern Santa Barbara
counties.
Additionally, the company hopes to gain further
inroads with contractors: currently 70 percent of their business is to end
users. But the large inventory of glass, custom capability, and possession of
the only sand-blasting booth on premise at a glass company locally, make Bob’s Glass a unique and
viable supplier for the building trade.
Bob’s Glass is a unique employer too. After the
acquisition the entire staff chose to stay on board. Since then the company has
more than doubled in size to embrace 11 full time employees, plus the four
principals. “We are very concerned with our business atmosphere,” Mrs.
Quintanilla said. “We treat our employees as very important assets of the
business too.”
Bob’s Glass
Brief Desc: High end and custom glass and
mirror designs and installation, including tempered, and annealed glass; plate
glass, obscure glass, mirror and plexiglass; glass block and custom sandblasted
designs, for windows, commercial storefronts, shower, tabletop, skylight, patio
and other installations.
Headquarters: 717
East Gutierrez St., Santa Barbara, CA 93105
(805)
966-4134 www.bobsglass.net
Annual Revenue: $1.5-million
sales in 2003
Employees: 15 full time employees located
at the company’s 4,500 sq ft facility
President: Robert Quintanilla
Jr.
Vice President: Enrique
Padron
CFO: Deanna
Quintanilla
Secretary: Michele Padron
