Throughout their 30-plus years in the power tool business, Paul and Robert Robichaud have kept this thought in mind: It's not how much you sell, it's how much you get to keep . Indeed, profit is king at their Boston-area distributorship and has been from the start.

The Robichauds are co-owners of Robi Tool Sales, a power tool and fastener distributorship headquartered in Somerville, Massachusetts. Somerville borders Boston to the North and is home to one of the busiest Home Depots in the country. It's also in the backyard of the Big Dig, Boston's mammoth highway construction project set for completion in 2004. Both factors have influenced Robi Tool, but not in the way you might think. When Home Depot moved in, for example, Robi Tool got smaller instead of bigger. As for the Big Dig, Robi Tool isn't involved. The company would have had to get too big too fast to supply contractors working on the project, an effort Paul Robichaud says simply wouldn't prove profitable in the long run.

Going against the grain is standard for the Robichauds, who built their business from scratch in 1970 based on an interest in tools and a desire to be their own bosses. Today, Robi Tool has 16 employees and brought in $5 million in sales in 2001. The company has succeeded by sticking to a strict, but simple, business philosophy: To stay in business, you need to be profitable; to be profitable, you need business partners that understand your mission and have the same goals in mind. You can't waste energy with suppliers and customers who don't value your time, or their own. It's as simple as that.

"I believe we've reached the point where we all have to realize that profit for all of us is the only way we're going to survive," says Paul Robichaud, emphasizing that profitability is inextricably linked with another key business element: running lean, in good times and in bad.

That philosophy is reflected in Robi Tool's headquarters, a showroom/warehouse with products, repair facilities, counter and office space jam-packed into 3,600 square feet. The building is anything but plush — with concrete floors throughout, metal furniture in the offices, and product literature stacked to the ceiling. The Robichauds prefer to invest in things they're likely to see a return on — like inventory, repair services, and a home-grown computer system that tracks every transaction the company makes.

Such Yankee frugality has not only helped Robi Tool turn a profit over the years, it's also helped the company avoid layoffs and other drastic cost-cutting measures in tough times. In fact, keeping costs in line has given Robi Tool a nimbleness that helped the firm grow business by 14 percent last year — a year many distributors would like to forget. The Robichauds anticipate growth this year, too — between 15 and 18 percent.

"Lean is good, in good times and in bad times," says Paul. "That's why Robi survives."

Paul Robichaud hesitates to tell people he's been in business for over 30 years because they tend to think he's ready to retire. The thought of retiring is far from Paul's mind, however. He and his brother are in their early 50s, having founded the company at ages 21 and 18, respectively. That leaves them with energy and drive to run Robi Tool for years to come, they say.

External factors have kept the two on their toes, as well. When Home Depot moved into Robi Tool's backyard eight years ago — the store is just a five-minute drive from Robi's Somerville headquarters — Paul says suppliers and customers called asking what he was going to do in the face of the new competition. In truth, Paul wasn't sure at the time what his next move would be. But he was sure of one thing: Folding under the pressure was not an option. After consulting with some industry colleagues, Paul and Robert decided to further specialize and take an even harder look at their customer and supplier relationships.

Robi Tool had always evaluated both entities regularly based on how profitable it was to do business with them — an activity-based costing approach, to use a buzzword the Robichauds would frown upon. In the face of big-box competition, however, it became clear that Robi Tool needed to take an even tougher stance. The company went from 21 power tool lines down to seven, and made similar decisions with its customer base. The industrial side of Robi Tool's business had been changing already. Manufacturing plants had long since started to leave New England, causing Robi Tool to focus more on small to mid-sized construction accounts.

"We evaluated all our product lines and got rid of the manufacturers who thought our time wasn't valuable," Paul says matter-of-factly. "We also determined which customers valued our time and which didn't. Service has to be profitable — and that offended many customers."

As Paul explains, Robi Tool employees simply don't waste time with customers whose service requirements outweigh the profit margin on the sale. That's a touchy issue, his brother Robert says — and one that requires knowing your customer base and being tactful when telling the customer you've done all you possibly can do for him. The Robichauds are trying to avoid price shoppers who essentially steal Robi Tool's time by pumping employees for information on a product and then buying it somewhere else at a lower price. Robert says such action is a waste of time for both parties: The customer spends hours researching a tool that costs $200 and Robi Tool invests valuable time without making the sale.

"The first thing that needs to happen is, the customer must value his own time," says Robert. "And then he has to understand that your time is valuable, as well."

For the most part, that's the way it is at Robi Tool these days. The Robichauds look for long-term business on both sides of the equation — with suppliers and customers who want to create partnerships that will endure for years to come.

"When we do business with someone, we tend to do business with them for a long period of time," says Robert. "Sometimes there's more to business than just the dollars that go over the counter."

Atlas Copco Construction Tools is one example of the long-term partnerships Robi Tool has developed. The companies have been working together since the early days of Robi Tool, says John Vogel, vice president of sales for Atlas Copco. Patience and commitment are prime virtues of that relationship, which is built upon something more tangible — Robi Tool's ability to service Atlas Copco products.

"They perform a valuable function for us in that they handle many of the service-related problems so that we don't have to," says Vogel. "They're definitely a power tool specialist and I think their success is based on their service and application knowledge."

It's said time and time again: Specializing is a good way for small distributors to differentiate themselves from the competition — especially big-box competition. The Robichauds say that's not just lip service; specializing has made a difference at all four of Robi Tool's locations — all of which are in close proximity to at least one big-box retailer. Making tough decisions on whose products to sell and who to sell them to is one thing, they say, but the ability to answer tough questions and supply the best product when it's needed is invaluable to many customers.

That's why Robi Tool sells high-end items and covers everything from soup to nuts in each of the brands it carries. That allows the company to capitalize on product and application knowledge. It also keeps them from having to compete with the big boxes on every front and helps boost profitability. The philosophy is a good one, says Jamie Sylvia, district manager for Bosch Power Tools, another longtime supplier to Robi Tool. What's more, Sylvia says such in-depth coverage is rare among distributors.

"Most [distributors] cherry pick, they don't go full-blown with any company," says Sylvia, adding that Robi Tool's profit margin tends to be higher than other companies that have to spread profit across multiple product lines. "Paul just sticks with his partners and that's it."

Robi Tool also invests heavily in repair capabilities, which makes up a significant portion of the firm's business. Each of Robi Tool's locations has a repair center. (The company's three branches all fall under the Robi Tool umbrella, but operate under different names —Tool Hauz in Needham and Middleborough, Mass., and Power Tool & Fastener in Amherst, N.H.) Three machinists work at the Somerville headquarters — the least experienced has been with Robi Tool for 10 years, while the other two have been with the firm for 28 and 21 years, respectively. That depth of knowledge allows the company to fix just about anything. While that's a feather in the firm's cap, it's still tough to compete against large-volume retailers who will just replace a broken tool for the customer. Robi Tool makes up for that by repairing hard-to-find and higher-end items that the big boxes simply don't carry.

To be sure, companies like Home Depot have been a thorn in the side of firms like Robi Tool for years. The Robichauds are quick to point out, though, that the competition has been good for them. It's forced Robi Tool to become a better company. And if there's one thing they'd like to serve as an example of, it's that there's still a place for good distributors whose goal is to provide service and knowledge to customers.

"We're realists. We know what we're good at — power tools and fasteners," says Paul, adding that he was more concerned about the future of the independent distributor a few years ago than he is today. "It's clear to me now that there's still room for someone who's stubborn enough to make it work."

As often happens with trends, the initial scare was worse than what's come to pass. The Robichauds say that, at least in their corner of the world, the big boxes have found their niche just like everyone else — and though they've certainly caused casualties among the independents, the worst is probably over.

"The [distributors] that haven't gone out of business became much stronger for it," says Robert, adding that independents need to respond to the competition by specializing and focusing on that all-important element: profit. "The ones that are left are going to stay. You need to mold your business to be in an area where you can make money. If you're not capable of changing or adjusting yourself, then you're history."

His brother agrees, adding that any distributor that's survived the turbulence of the last 10 years — with its surge in construction activity, influx of new competition, and high-technology wave — has a bright future, especially in New England.

"The opportunities for industrial distributors are more fertile than they've been in a long time," says Paul Robichaud. "If you know you're good at it, stick with it."