BROTHERS GET COMPANY ROLLING;GROWING COMPUTER HARDWARE BUSINESS BEGAN IN SIMI VALLEY GARAGE.

Byline: Douglas Clark Daily News Staff Writer

Using skills they developed playing computer games, Richard and Brian Rock started a company in their father's Simi Valley garage five years ago, figuring they'd be lucky to clear $300 on each PC they built.

Business at Pure Computing was pretty steady during the first few years, but not strong enough for either brother to quit his day job. Then the Rocks began targeting pharmacies for their intra-office computer systems - and the brothers are literally on Easy Street.

With $2.5 million in sales last year, the Rocks have expanded Pure Computing to a 3,300-square-foot facility on Simi Valley's Easy Street.

``Right now you've got the people who know computers and those who don't know,'' said Richard, 30, an Apollo High School graduate. ``It's the haves and have-nots. It's nice to be one of the haves.''

Pure Computing, which now has nine employees, creates the computer hardware and plumbing for pharmacies that serve nursing homes and board-and-care operations. Their clients include several Fortune 500 companies, such as Omnicare Pharmaceutical Co.

Yet the brothers knew nothing of the pharmaceutical niche in 1993, when they decided to begin building computer hardware so that they could be their own bosses. Their start came after seeing a personal computer their father, John, purchased from a friend who had his own small operation.

``We thought, we can do that,'' Richard said. ``We figured the guy probably made $300 on each computer. To us, that was big money.''

The brothers set up shop in their father's Simi Valley garage, and eventually saw their sales grow to $30,000 a month.

The turning point came in 1995, when Richard was fired from his job at R&A Inc., of Dayton, Ohio. The company creates pharmaceutical software and was having problems dealing with its clients' outdated computer hardware.

``I knew all their clients would have to install new systems,'' he said. ``Wow. Bells ring. They have to buy all-new equipment. Let's go after it. Here's a market nobody knows about.''

So the Rocks turned their attention to pharmaceutical companies. And Pure Computing is now the preferred hardware vendor for R&A Inc.

Meanwhile, Brian, 28, a Royal High graduate, had become the computer expert for Weiss Accountancy in Van Nuys. Brian approached his bosses for money in starting up his company, and Weiss now has a 20 percent interest in Pure Computing.

``Given our close relationship with Brian, who's a brilliant young man, we were excited about being a part of it,'' said Jim Walker, a partner at Weiss. ``It was obvious that the marketplace had a tremendous amount of potential. And they had the capabilities to tap the market.''

Computer games, not college, are where both Richard and Brian began to develop their computer know-how.

``There would be these magazines with 20 pages of code you had to type in to get your game to work,'' Brian said. ``If you typed it wrong, you had to go back and do it again. It was a way to learn the coding and troubleshooting techniques.''

``They had to leave their jobs to begin this,'' she said. ``We dropped everything and said, let's do it. We thought we were going to work for ourselves, but you really are working for other people. You have to be nice. If you get frustrated, you can't just go get another job, because you put all your money into this one.''

The future forecast looks good.

This year, the Rocks say they will add several employees and go after large companies. They'll also market new software they're developing for the pharmacies that use their hardware.

``Small business is the next big market. Everyone - IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Compaq - is scrambling to create these small networks,'' Richard said. ``But we're not just trying to offer a commodity item. We want to provide a solution.''

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

PHOTO (1--Color) (Ran in Simi and Conejo Editions only) Brothers Brian, left, and Richard Rock have seen their Pure Computing hardware company grow since they founded it in a Simi Valley garage in 1993.

(2) (Ran in Simi and Conejo Editions only) Greg Rogers, Pure Computing operations director, upgrades some hardware for a client in Stockton at the company's Easy Street facility in Simi Valley.

Evan Yee/Daily News