If you catch Tony Fisher red-handed at the controls of a pinball game on company time, relax.

He's only working and, besides, he's the boss. Pinball is all part of a day's work for the Calgary entrepreneur whose livelihood depends on people playing games.

To Fisher, who has been president and CEO of thriving games and entertainment marketer SML Entertainment for the past 16 years, work and play have gone hand in hand since his first day with the company servicing jukeboxes 35 years ago.

So if Fisher is playing pinball, he's not just satisfying one of his life's passions. He's also testing the market and marketing one of his company's many products sold by retail or rented to bars and other public venues.

Larry MacDougal, Business Edge
SML Entertainment CEO Tony Fisher thrives on all the bells and whistles in his Calgary company's showroom.

And, of course, having the time of his life.

1. Being in the games business, what games did you play as a youngster?

"I didn't play a lot of games. There wasn't a lot of selection at the time.

I was raised on a farm, so I had multiple interests around outdoors and animals. From the time you were old enough to go to the barn, there was work to be done. Growing up on a mixed farm helped me develop a variety of interests rather than being channeled in one direction. I think that's why I like this business."

2. Who was your most important mentor?

"It was probably my father (the late Walter Fisher). He influenced me just by what he believed in and that was good, solid, hard work."

3. What are your recollections of your start at SML Entertainment (then known as Southern Music Ltd.) in 1970?

"Primarily, the company was a jukebox company that was started in 1956 by (the late) Dick Johnson. He was the president when I joined. I started as an employee in their service shop because I had a friend working at the company, and I grew up through the operation. Before becoming president and CEO (in 1989), I was games manager, operations manager and VP of operations. After getting involved with the company, I was taken by the excitement of the products, the variety of locations using the products and the potential for expansion."

4. What was Dick Johnson like to work for?

"He was a leader in leading-edge technologies and really embraced that. I look back to him as a great leader and a great teacher. He had a high respect for each and every person. When it came to integrity, he didn't just talk it, he practised it. The company was developed on integrity."

5. What's been the key to the rapid growth of the company?

"We built our location base by looking after our customers and attracting them for life. Then, we used those same customers to drive our expansion."

6. You have two sons and three brothers working in your company. What's it been like running such a family- oriented business?

"It can be a challenge, but we've really handled our problems well and taken them at face value. We still have a very good family life. Does it mean that some of the business gravitates itself to the dinner table once in a while? Of course it does. In a business like this, you can't just walk out of your office and think that it's going to stop."

7. What is it about this business that has kept you in it so long?

"To me, it's still fun and if you have a real passion in your job, it's not work. You often hear the comment from people who say they've never worked a day in their lives. Well, that's the way I feel. If I didn't enjoy it, I guess I'd be looking for a different career. I like the fact that it has a pretty good pace to it, it's constantly changing and there's a lot of contact with people. It's not a routine business. Tuesdays are never the same. If I couldn't get you excited about a pinball game in our showroom, then I wouldn't be very good at my job. But I'd be surprised if I couldn't do that. It depends on how far you can dream. I can pretty well look for opportunity anywhere, whether it's the coffeeshop on the corner or a new trend."

8. Is risk-taking important to you?

"I think it's important to take risks, but you have to measure the risks in terms of how much risk you can afford. If the idea is not good, it's important that you walk away from it and abandon it rather than sticking to it forever. If you don't have risk, you probably have no gain either."

9. What's the most valuable lesson you've learned in this business?

"From Day 1, I've learned about the importance of integrity. I think it's important to turn a bottom-line profit from a business, but also to do things the right way. If you do it right, it'll keep supporting itself.

And it's good to be a good corporate citizen. The net bottom line should have an allocation for charity. All those components tend to make it work, or at least that's been my story of success."

10. How would you describe your management style?

"Open. Easy. I'm always looking for a lot of input from our employees. I like people to come to me with possible solutions to problems."

11. What have been some of the most significant changes in the company since you joined 25 years ago?

"It's a very cyclical business. When I started, jukeboxes were the main part of the business but then I was instrumental in bringing the company into the games market. We went into the pinball games market, and then video games like Pac-Man. Then, along came the first coin-operated pool tables for pubs. What's interesting is that right now our newest and most exciting piece of equipment this year is the downloadable jukebox (the MaxFire digital jukebox). We've got the exclusive rights for this jukebox for all of Canada and we also have a music licensing program for the content. We're always looking for names that signify value. We're big in selling the best possible product."

12. What are the hottest-selling games these days?

"Pool is very, very strong and we have a pool league that is second to none, with some 7,000 league players throughout Western Canada who play in licensed establishments. We derive revenue by promoting play on the coin-operated tables that we rent to the taverns. Foosball is growing fast as a popular game. Golf games are still strong, although they've been in decline."

13. What sets your company apart from others in the games industry?

"In regards to variety, we tend to be kind of all by ourselves in terms of what we do because we complement our coin-operated business with a full retail product line for consumers. We operate in 1,300 operations in Western Canada such as bars, pizza parlours and airports."

14. How has your business weathered recessions?

"We had a downturn (in the 1980s) when the National Energy Program came into place. Our business is not exempt from recessions. When games like Pac-Man came in, we did very well with with that, as that game was very popular. But then, as that game came to the end of its cycle, revenues dropped."

15. What have you learned about coping with the difficult times and adjusting to the whims of the market?

"You always have to be looking for new ideas and new development because there's always something falling off the bottom. We don't analyse games. We don't buy a pinball game because I love it. We buy it because the market really plays it, plays it well, appreciates it and wants it.

We put songs in jukeboxes according to what people are listening to."

16. Have you considered expanding into the U.S. market?

"We aren't looking at it right now. Every business opportunity has a risk factor attached to it. If the risk is too great, then you're sacrificing your whole corporation, and your employees' lives and futures. You've got to be careful. Expansion is now focused within the framework of Western Canada."

17. You have some operations in Mexico.

Why did you expand into that market?

"That's primarily because my middle son (Chad) is getting his MBA in Mexico City and he's running that operation with a partner."

18. What's your long-term vision for SML Entertainment?

"We're continually looking for new ideas to fuel our growth. Some of those new ideas may be on the table right now and some are probably in the drawing stages. We think that a big part of our future is in promoting the products through the players."

19. Are people playing more games since the National Hockey League lockout?

"I think that the sports bars have been impacted by the number of customers that come for hockey games. On the other hand, the bars that aren't so heavily marketed toward sports are probably drawing about the same or better. What we do is complement the bar with an entertainment product and it's our job to make sure we've always got something exciting for people to do in the bars."

20. Ten years from today, do you think you'll still be running this business?

"I don't know. It's hard to believe it's been this long. Anything's possible. I can't ask for much more. This has given me a lot of job satisfaction and I'm still having fun. We're pretty happy with where we're at. Would we like to have done more? Of course. You never reach your goals exactly the way you want them, but you strive harder to move forward."

THE COMPANY: SML ENTERTAINMENT

* Profile: SML Entertainment is a Calgary-based rec-room game and accessory supplier to homes and businesses, with two Alberta showrooms (Calgary and Red Deer). SML opened for business in 1956, providing Calgarians with their first games arcade before expanding across Western Canada. The company has branch offices in Alberta, B.C., Saskatchewan and Mexico, and sponsors and oversees Canada's largest pool leagues and tournaments.

* Playing It Again: SML, originally known as Southern Music Ltd., introduced the first jukeboxes to Calgary in 1956 and is now cranking up the jukebox business with MaxFire digital jukeboxes.

* Key Products: Pool tables, foosball games, arcade games, shuffleboards and ping pong tables.

* Website: www.smlentertainment.com

* Head Office: 3605 32 St. N.E., Calgary, T1Y 5Y9.

* Phone/Fax: 403-291-1666/250-2915.

IN PROFILE:TONY FISHER

* Title: President/CEO/majority owner, SML Entertainment.

* Born/Raised/Age: Paradise Hill, Sask./ 55.

* Education: Grade 12.

* Career: Fisher has kept himself entertained at SML Entertainment since he was hired at an entry-level position there in 1970. He worked as a service technician, games manager and vice-president of operations before becoming president and CEO in 1989.

* Role Model: Walter Fisher (his father).

* Pastime: Hiking.

* Favourite Game: Pinball.

(Gyle Konotopetz can be reached at gyle@businessedge.ca)