VEGAS INC Magazine - Latest Las Vegas business news, features and commentaries about gaming, tourism, real estate and more
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/116897
VEGAS INC C OV E R STO RY Korhonen employs five people and services an average of 30 cars a day. ���It fluctuates,��� Korhonen said. ���There have been some days when we���ve had maybe 100 cars, but then there are slow days when we only have three or four.��� Korhonen���s customer list includes more than 3,000 names. In 1993, the Korhonens launched Wally World Auto Brokers. Bobbie Korhonen runs that company, negotiating car sales. Customers choose the type of vehicle they want, then Wally World finds the best price from local or out-of-state dealers. The companies faced their biggest challenge during the recession when customers struggling with finances put off car purchases and repairs, Wally Korhonen said. ���It was a really rough patch,��� he said. ���We had to find ways to minimize our expenses.��� Korhonen cut back his employees��� work schedules and tightened his inventory. ���During the slow times, we also stepped up the distribution of fliers and coupons,��� he said. ���Between that and watching inventory and hours, we made it through.��� B Sweet, 420 S. Rampart Blvd., Las Vegas Starting her own business was Arlene Bordinhao���s dream ��� literally. ���I actually woke up from a dream where I was making cotton candy and told my husband, ���We have to start our own candy store,������ Bordinhao recalled. Last summer, the couple opened B Sweet Candy Boutique on the second floor of the Market LV at Tivoli Village. Neither had ever owned a business before. Arlene Bordinhao had been an event planner at the Mirage, then worked in public relations. Victor Bordinhao was a casino engineer, first at the Mirage, then at the Luxor. But they both loved candy. To learn the ropes of business ownership, Victor Bordinhao took classes offered through Las Vegas��� business license office. That helped the couple prepare for the regulatory and licensing procedures they faced, which Arlene Bordinhao said was their biggest challenge. ���If opening a business were easy, everyone would do it,��� she said. ���You definitely have to jump through hoops. You definitely have a business plans. What are you willing to provide that you can���t get anywhere else? You have to do your research and plan.��� Arlene Bordinhao sold her car to finance the startup. The couple sublet a space at the Market, rather than a stand-alone store, to save on costs. ���We were blessed to have a small space and didn���t have to spend our life savings,��� she said. The shop features retro candy, sugar-free treats and homemade cotton candy with edible glitter. The Bordinhaos recently expanded by offering catered candy buffets for weddings and corporate events. Lotus of Siam, 953 E. Sahara Ave., Las Vegas Lotus of Siam sits in the Commercial Center, a sprawling strip mall on a rundown stretch of Sahara Avenue. Its sign is barely noticeable, and the restaurant is easy to miss. But Lotus is no hole in the wall. It typically is packed with customers and consistently receives glowing reviews from local and national food critics. It is the first or last stop for many Las Vegas visitors, and seeing luggage stuffed under chairs is common. | 25 MARCH 2013 20130325_VI01_F.indd 19 | how sweet: Arlene Bordinhao makes cotton candy inside her candy shop, B Sweet, at Tivoli Village. Bordinhao sold her car to finance the boutique. Lotus, which specializes in northern Thai cuisine, has been owned since 1999 by Chef Saipin Chutima and her husband, Suchay Chutima. The Chutimas are from northern Thailand and met there but got married in the United States. Suchay Chutima���s grandmother worked in the city of Chiang Mai, making food for the community and the northern royal palace. His future wife was his grandmother���s apprentice. Before Lotus, the Chutimas owned a Thai restaurant in Southern California called Renu Nakorn. That eatery also received positive reviews, including from The New York Times, but the restaurant was near a dairy farm and smells of fresh manure wafted in, Suchay Chutima said. The couple decided to move to Las Vegas, figuring that the valley���s smaller but sophisticated culinary scene would bring them ample business. They bought Lotus of Siam and changed the menu. National attention came less than a year later in 2000, when Gourmet magazine named Lotus the best Thai restaurant in North America. Last year, the same critic said in Saveur magazine that Lotus ���has become probably the most famous Thai restaurant in the United States.��� Suchay Chutima attributed the restaurant���s success to one factor: The hard work of his wife, who works in the restaurant���s kitchen every day. ���You can���t make that woman stand still,��� he said. AirBridgeTours, 7370 S. Dean Martin Drive, Las Vegas The secret to Daniel Nisley���s success is minding his own business. Nisley is CEO of AirBridgeTours, which provides bus and charter tours of the Las Vegas Strip, Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon and other sites. While the 20-year-old company has no shortage of competition, it survived the tourism drought that followed 9/11. In fact, while many others companies failed, Nisley���s business grew during the Great Recession. He said he was able to expand in the down economy because he didn���t worry about what his competition was doing. ���There���s definitely some validity in knowing what other companies are doing, but I think the downfall of a lot of people is being too reactive to what others are doing, instead of being proactive,��� Nisley said. ���Concentrate on yourself. We say, ���We think this is the way the industry needs to go, we���re going to drive it, and we���re going that way.������ Part of being proactive is developing relationships with customers and business partners. ���Without trying to be too cliche, you have to remain as old Vegas as possible,��� said Nisley, who grew up in Las Vegas. ���One thing we used to do in Vegas is develop relationships with the customer. That���s something I noticed was lacking. There was nobody trying to provide awesome business with great service; it was all about beating rates.��� Nisley arrives at his southwest Las Vegas office before sunrise to watch his first customers board buses. He stays until the last bus returns. ���If there���s an issue, I know about it, and I���m the one who makes the decision about how to deal with it,��� Nisley said. ���I���ve heard people say, ���No refunds.��� There are always refunds. We admit there are going to be issues. We deal with them fast, and we deal with them well.��� During the economic downturn, AirBridge added limousine service to the airport for corporate charters and recently partnered with Gray Line Worldwide, an international sightseeing company. AirBridge also hired six employees. ���We don���t take anything for granted,��� Nisley said. ���To this day, there are things we do as a company and I do personally because we may not be able to do them tomorrow. That���s not necessarily a life-or-death thing but a business thing. We don���t know what���s going to happen in Vegas. We live to make every experience the best and give everything we can each day.��� AlertID, www.AlertID.com Keli Wilson will never forget the terror she experienced the day she and her family were separated at a California amusement park. ���It was such a helpless feeling,��� she said. ���And I was completely unprepared.��� The event led Wilson to develop AlertID, a free social media site that provides crime alerts to the public and securely connects family members or groups of people. Since AlertID was founded in late 2009, membership has grown to include customers in 50 states and seven countries. Nevada alone has tens of thousands of members, CEO Ken Wiles said. AlertID also opened offices in three states. AlertID, which maintains relationships with law enforcement and public safety groups, notifies members online or by email when a crime or other incident occurs. The company has sent 11 million notices since it began. Members also can establish their own networks to alert family members, neighborhoods and friends about events. For example, a coach or parent could alert a team about a schedule change or weather cancellation. Wiles said AlertID sets itself apart from other social media with security. The company doesn���t distribute email addresses or private information through its network. The company makes money through advertising, sponsorships and licensing. Most of the revenue raised is reinvested in technology and support upgrades. Wiles said the biggest challenge so far has been making the public aware of her service. The company tries to address that with community outreach, public relations efforts and word of mouth. Confess Media, McCarran International Airport It���s a pretty simple concept. Get your picture taken in front of one of Las Vegas��� most recognizable landmarks and keep the photo as a souvenir. 19 3/21/13 2:09:44 PM