PLACENTIA, Calif. -- While Tony Fiorini believes diversity and relationships make for business success, he's among the first to acknowledge that it's always good to be riding a bit of good luck as well.

That's just what the president of Silver State Coach of Placentia was doing when the 9-11 terrorist attacks sent the travel industry into a steep nosedive that forced many motorcoach operators to downsize and lots of them to shut down.

Silver State several months earlier had decided to expand into the gaming industry and obtained a lucrative contract to shuttle gamblers to Harrah's Rincon Casino in north San Diego County.

"Fortunately, people kept going to the casinos after 9-11, so our business stayed steady and then grew without the major impact that many of my fellow bus people experienced," said Fiorini, who runs the business with his wife, Jill.

Founded nearly 20 years ago in Reno, Nev., as a small bus leasing company and converted into a two-coach operating business in the Los Angeles area 10 years ago, Silver State has more than doubled the size of its fleet since 9-11.

During its first five years as an operating company, the business added a dozen coaches through the purchase of new buses and the acquisition of two small motorcoach companies. When 9-11 struck, it had 14 coaches. Today it has 34.

"We never planned to grow this big. Our original intent was to have just eight coaches, so my wife and I could run the office and we would only need to hire one mechanic and a few drivers," said Fiorini. "How does that work? It just happens. You get a little more work and then a little more work."

Fiorini points to two successful business strategies that caused him to change course and grow beyond his initial plan - becoming diversified and building strong relationships with everybody.

In addition to the normal charter work that every bus company relies on heavily, Silver State moved into other areas that spread its revenue sources.

It started a small operation in Hemet, Calif., where most of its customers are snowbirds - most of them Canadians - who favor short one-day trips around Southern California. Then it added a small full-service transportation service in Las Vegas and negotiated contracts with two busy tour companies that do a combination of short and long trips, several schools, a government agency and Harrah's Rincon.

"I have always felt that you have to diversify to be successful," said Fiorini, adding that at the time of 9-11 many companies had too much of their business tied to the foreign travel market, which was one of the hardest-hit segments of the industry. "We didn't have everything in that one market."

Silver State's relationship building begins with its customers and extends to everybody with whom the company comes in contact. "There is no better advertising than someone out there talking about your company in a positive way," offered Fiorini.

Customers, of course, get the most attention. "When we talk to our customers, we try to make each of them feel like they are our No. 1 client, and we talk to all of them the same way we talk to Harrah's, which is our No. 1 client," Fiorini said.

Harrah's does get extra attention, though. Fiorini, his drivers and other employees meet regularly with the casino managers to make sure the bus company is providing Harrah's customers with the service the casino expects them to get.

Silver State also has developed close ties to other motorcoach companies, both locally and nationally, which opens the way for them to exchange business referrals. Among them is a limousine company that uses Silver State coaches for combination motorcoach and limousine service packages that it promotes.

It also has built strong relationships with its vendors, too, and is especially tight with ABC Companies, the exclusive U.S. distributor of the Van Hool coaches that fill the Silver State fleet. "If we have a problem with a coach, we get excellent service from ABC because of that relationship," Fiorini emphasizes.

Down the road, Fiorini is looking to possibly grow by expanding its Las Vegas operation and adding a few more coaches to its fleet. "From that point, we'll just try to do what we do a little bit better and make it a little more profitable," he said.

Meantime, it plans to hold tight to the gaming market as a possible hedge again against any type of industry downturn. "I think that market will always be there, and I think most people believe that, too," he suggested.