The following article appeared in the March 1996
Virginia Business Magazine 10th Anniversary Issue.

Lee C. Scruggs' 25th birthday was a true rite of passage. With only $82 in his checking account,he plunked down $10 for a business license. Then he splurged on a six-pack of Michelob to celebrate.

"I was both depressed and excited," he recalls of that day in 1991. "I had decided not to pursue a regular job." Instead, he opted to pour his energy into a concept he'd been toying with for a year-- supplying computers to college students.

Scruggs was in his final year of the MBA program at the College of William and Mary, and most of his class projects dealt with his fledgling company. One of his classmates, Tinsley C. Goad, helped him refine his concept as a part of a business school study group.

Today Scruggs and Goad are running College & University Computers Inc. one of Virginia's fastest-growing small companies. The Williamsburg-based business grossed $3.4 million last year, nearly nine times more than in 1992, and it expects revenues to hit $5.5 million this year. The company has 20 employees, including president Scruggs and vice president Goad.

Scruggs' inspiration for the company was simple. As a college student buying a computer, he didn't like how he was treated in the retail stores he visited. He felt like his business was unimportant, and the computer system he purchased wasn't tailored to what he needed at school.

So while Scruggs was still a student, he began selling computers through the William & Mary bookstore.His company now has similar arrangements with other Virginia colleges and universities, including Virginia Tech, Randolph-Macon, and Mary Washington. The firm markets directly to incoming students and their parents, pays a commission to the bookstores and has technicians on hand for installations and repairs.

"We custom design packages to meet the needs of incoming students," Scruggs explains. There are subtle differences between colleges and even various departments on the same campus. "With William & Mary's law students we know they need not only Wordperfect, but also the fastest modem money can buy since they stay on-line a lot," Scruggs says.

The Company's largest contract is with the University of Richmond, where it opened an on-campus computer store in August. In addition, College & University Computers is installing up to 500 new computers for the University's faculty and staff.

"Last year we had funds appropriated for faculty computers for the first time ever," says Louie Love, the university's internal auditor. Once the campus got wired for a computer network, the university searched for a company that couldout fit everyone with Apples or IBM-compatibles.

After considering several firms, the university selected College & University Computers to tackle the long-term project. "It's a young company, and this was a risk," Love says. "But the company was the most willing to do what we needed done. It's been a good relationship. We have a clientele that is pretty demanding, but [Scruggs'] crew has done a good job in working with them."

Scruggs and Goad pride themselves on service. When a Virginia Tech engineering student's computer malfunctioned on a Saturday, in the middle of a major project due on Monday, the company's technicians built him a new system right away. Scruggs hired a courier to drive it to Blackburg, where another technician was waiting to install it. The student was back in business Saturday night.

College sales peak in August and September, so the company balances that business with a retail computer store in James City County, Williamsburg, Virginia that accounts for one-third of its revenues. Scruggs' business plan calls for similar retail stores in other markets, primarily in college towns within a 250-mile radius.

"We plan to stay with a combined strategy of colleges and retail growth," Scruggs says. "But we also are negotiating witha major computer company to take over distribution of its higher education sales. This would almost double our business."

Lee Scruggs believes anyone can sell computers. The growing role of technology in everyday life makes buying a computer the sensible thing to do. Selling computers -- that's the easy part.

"The part that's difficult is building the infrastructure and logistics to keep the promises you make," he says.

Scruggs and the 30 people who work with him know a thing or two about keeping customers satisfied. Since founding College & University Computers, Inc. (CUC) in 1991, they have developed procedures that keep customers coming back to his James City County-based computer retailer. The idea is simple" "The better the quality, the happier the the customer."

Judging by CUC's growth during its first six years, the company must ne doing a good job of pleasing its patrons. Sales have increased from $175,000 in 1991 to about $5 million in sales, and he's thinking about raising that bar.

CUC serves as an official vendor for seven colleges and universities in Virginia, and it operates a retail store in Williamsburg and on the campus of William & Mary. Last year, Virginia Business magazine recognized CUC as the fastest-growing independent retailer in the state. And earlier this year, the company was named as a state designee for the Blue Chip Enterprise Initiative, sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, for its dedication to customer service and product quality.

CUC has devised procedures that ensure buyers receive exactly what they've paid for. As the company;s CAMPUS-brand computers are built, CUC technicians follow a 60-step process that covers everything from how the equipment should be removed from the box to what screws go where. To get the bugs out before shipping CUC even hired a "wizard" to examine and test every computer.

These procedures, combined with an insistance on quality components, have dropped the failure rate of CAMPUS computers to below 3 percent -- an impressive figure compared to the 34 percent failure rate of similar products purchased through the mail or at a superstore.

Building on that record, the company recently created a "customer care package" that contains the invoice, warranty and simple instructions for overcoming many common computer glitches. "For an awful lot of people, this stuff is still complicated," Scruggs explains. "We have the ability to make it easier for them."

CUC's step-by-step approach does more than keep customers satisfied. Following procedures, Scruggs says, gives the staff more time to tackle the tough problems that customers may encounter. "And that, "Scruggs says, "is what makes you excellent."