Sincerely,

Team Courtside

   From an early age, Brouillard enjoyed the business side of the game. While working at age 16 for a tennis club in Portland, Brouillard convinced the owner of Mr. Tennis, a local tennis shop, to let him work - for free, at first - stringing racquets and contributing to the overall operation of the store. By the time he enrolled at the University of Oregon in Eugene a few years later, Brouillard had proven himself, and knew the business well enough, to expand Mr. Tennis into Eugene.
      It was there that Brouillard and Hubbard met. Although Hubbard didn't learn to play tennis until he was an adult, he was intricately involved in the game through his son, Paul, who would go on to gain professional singles and doubles rankings. Hubbard made his first visit to Mr. Tennis for equipment and continued going back because of his common interest with Brouillard.
      A longtime sales representative with Nabisco, Hubbard was dissatisfied with the food industry and tired of working for other people. "I'd stop by Mr. Tennis just to watch Steve sell," says Hubbard. "It wasn't long before I was thinking that we should open our own shop."
      According to Hubbard, Brouillard has always been a gifted salesman. Mr. Tennis carried racquets with low-recognition names such as Difini, and it was Brouillard's job to match them with to customers' playing styles while convincing them to give the products a chance. "Steve's difficulty taught us both that our business should carry brand-name products," Hubbard says. "Product awareness and name recognition can be valuable allies."
      As is often the case with any ambitious endeavor, there were other complications: Hubbard's financial responsibility for his family and Brouillard's struggle balancing college coursework with the demanding hours required to start a business. And then there was financing. The troubles seemed endless.
      "Once we decided to make a real effort toward starting the business, we came up with a name, slogan, logo and proposal, which was more like a 20-page term paper," Hubbard recalls. "Mr. Tennis had just folded and we knew Eugene could support a bigger shop, but the banks couldn't envision it. We got turned down for a loan from everyone." Their next move was to solicit friends in the tennis community for the money.

FROM DREAM TO REALITY
      Confident, Hubbard left Nabisco and Brouillard put his college on hold. Together, they purchased a sales counter and a used stringing machine. Then they started calling friends, associates and family. Despite their plan to solicit three-year loans totaling $40,000, the pair could only raise half that amount. Devastated, they divided their joint property - and agreed to let the dream die. "I thought about it half the night," Hubbard says. "It was a big step for me to leave Nabisco after all those years, and equally tough for my partner to leave college. It was a tremendous sacrifice, a huge gamble for both of us, but we knew it could work. I called Steve and said, "That's it. We're doing this one way or the other."
     With renewed determination, Hubbard used his experience dealing with large accounts in the food industry to select the product lines Courtside Tennis & Apparel would carry. He began negotiating accounts based on a combination of COD and Net 90 terms. Both men went months without a paycheck, living off credit cards. When their first store opened in Eugene on May 1, 1985, according to Hubbard, it offered a sparse selection of tennis racquets and clothing, plus one or two styles of Head tennis shoes. "We didn't even have a mirror in the dressing room", Hubbard says, noting that he and Brouillard exchanged looks of concern when their first customer took a new tennis outfit into the dressing room. She bought the outfit based on Brouillard's honest compliments.
      Persistence pays off. Today, Courtside Tennis & Apparel is what Hubbard likes to call "the Circuit City of tennis," with full lines of racquets, shoes, clothing, bags, strings and other accessories catering to tennis, racquetball, squash and badminton. It's no-obligation racquet demo program boasts more than 150 racquets. And while the partners were already established figures in the local tennis community, Hubbard believes most customers come to Courtside Tennis & Apparel based on word of mouth.
      "We've made a huge investment in our inventory, but we're confident our prices, product expertise and service - not volume - will result in sales," Hubbard says. "Our attitude is that we're going to earn every sale while being distinctly loyal to manufacturers and customer base. Honesty and integrity have grown our business."

BASED ON TRUST
     One of Hubbard's favorite anecdotes of their friendship begins at a racetrack. Brouillard waited in line to place both their bets, but the window closed before he could put Hubbard's money down on a different horse. When Brouillard's pick won, he exclaimed, "We won!" and insisted on splitting the winnings.
      "There was no protocol in place for him to do anything like that," Hubbard says. "It's just the kind of guy he is - truly good and sincere. I'm glad to have him handle our finances independently."
      In addition to bookkeeping, Brouillard's role involves creating the computer programs that keep Courtside Tennis & Apparel working efficiently, while giving the business the creative edge it needs to grow. Hubbard oversees purchasing, personnel issues and overall company management.
      Hubbard and Brouillard also agree on how to spend the company's resources. Hubbard, who admits to being "exceptionally frugal," says many small business owners mistakenly invest tens of thousands of dollars in store fixtures, extravagant cars and other luxuries to build the image of a successful business owner. "We worked to present a good image without going into debt," Hubbard says. "There's an element of faith between Steve and I that's kept us going through the hard times."
     So has their positive attitude. When the clothing industry slowed in the late 1980's, forcing them to liquidate much of the store's inventory, Hubbard says they maintained their optimism and faith in the industry. Through he struggles, they learned that challenging situations will always threaten to return - but never have the power to dissolve their partnership.
     "This is a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week job, but we're the ones in control and responsible for every outcome," Hubbard says. "That's my rush."

CHANGING WITH THE TIMES
     Fortunately for tennis shop owners nationwide, the clothing industry is gaining momentum after nearly 5 stagnant years, which Hubbard attributes to a trend toward casual wear. But the biggest opportunity for growth, according to Brouillard, stems from the increased use of the Internet.
     In the 14 years Courtside Tennis & Apparel has been in business, Hubbard and Brouillard have accumulated a 20,000-name customer database they use to track stringing jobs and distribute quarterly newsletters. Brouillard, who studied computer programming in college, is converting the company's mailing list to a database of e-mail addresses. Soon, they'll electronically send their newsletters and other correspondence.
      In addition to eliminating the cost of printing, sorting, labeling and mailing, Brouillard can tailor solicitations to match a specific customer's needs. For example, if the Eugene store sells out of a particular shoe except for one pair in size 12, Brouillard can electronically search the business records, identify which customers have bought that exact size and model, then zap an e-mail message advertising a reduced price.
      "The system saves money, but more importantly it helps us manage our business effectively by keeping us in tune with our customers," Brouillard says. "It allows us to reach our customers in a way that's valuable to them."
      The e-mail list is just one component of a solution called Shop Master, which Brouillard developed to enable the stores' computer network to 'share' pricing, demo checkouts, stringing files, invoices and purchase orders. The system eliminates duplication of effort, and remote access software enables Hubbard and Brouillard to access files from any computer.
      Brouillard also continues to modify the company Website, www.courtsidetennis.com. He uses customer feedback and his own interest in graphic design and animation to tailor the site. He's optimistic about the other advantages of e-mail and the World Wide Web, including the ability to eliminate both telephone tag and the notion that a small local store has a barrier of doing business globally. The more automated the business becomes, the more time can be devoted to enhancing customer service.
      Even with the advanced technology, however, the hazards of opening a business remain. For Brouillard, the toughest part has always been staying motivated during the inevitable slow periods that exist when first opening a store. If only one person comes into the store all day, Brouillard says he tries to concentrate on the fact that the business gained a new customer who may in turn bring others through word-of-mouth.
      "You've got to find victories in little things to keep you going," he says. "You'll be surprised at what you find if you look."

FRIENDSHIP BEFORE BUSINESS
       Looking back, Hubbard identifies three reasons why he and Brouillard have been successful: hard times, hard work, and hard play. He says one of his personal victories is going to work each day with a smile because he enjoys working for himself in a field he loves. "The success that matters," he says, "isn't always about money."
      While individually ambitious, Brouillard and Hubbard agree they're more effective as a team. With a booming economy and opportunity for further growth, Brouillard says he's optimistic about what the future may hold.
      "Business is solid and the outlook for tennis as a whole is getting stronger," he says. "It just keeps getting better." •