Maximum Yield Australia/New Zealand January/February 2020 | Page 61

“
These startups gave Amit and myself a great exposure
to the industry, helped us understand LED technology,
efficiency, and what the customers are looking for.”
How many people were
employed by Horticulture
Lighting Group at the beginning?
What were their roles?
In the beginning, it was only the two of
us (Amit and Steve) working eighteen
hours a day on finishing the Quantum
BoardTM QB304 LED module design.
What did you first produce?
After the merger, we continued to sell
the old product line together. Over time,
we slowly replaced the old products
with newer, higher-quality, higher-ef-
ficiency, and lower-priced products.
The first fixture Horticulture Lighting
Group produced was the HLG 550. The
first product produced was the QB304
Quantum BoardTM LED module design.
What were some of your struggles
as you started the business? How
did you overcome them?
Being self-funded was a big challenge.
We insisted on the company staying
privately owned while we concentrated
on what we felt was most important.
When we launched the QB304
Quantum BoardTM, the adoption rate
was very low and it was a unique
new product. Over time, we were
able to convince customers to try our
products through our exceptional price,
efficiency, and reviews. We started
retailing our LED modules and that
helped us fund the company.
What are you doing to gain market
share and recognition?
Innovation, exceptional customer
service, exhibitions, and advertising.
Horticulture lighting is a fast-growing
market. We are one of the top compa-
nies in the industry and have always
faced a risk of copied products. We love
to innovate and bring newer, better
products to market to lead the way.
Currently, most of our customers are
from word of mouth. We appreciate all
our customers that have stood behind
us and shared their success stories
with others. We have plans to start
selling Horticulture Lighting Group
clothing on our website. We have
exhibited at MJBizCon in Las Vegas, as
well as Cultivate, NECANN, and Indo
Expo. We also advertise with social
media, Google, and in magazines.
Has Horticulture Lighting Group
moved or expanded since the
beginning?
Our company started with operations
just in Ohio. We now have an account
manager, customer support manager,
shipping manager, production
manager, and a small team of help
production. We currently work directly
with Samsung to make our most
popular LED module, QB 288V2. We
recently invested $500,000 in an SMT
production line in Tennessee. This
line will help us reduce lead times,
allow more flexibility, and enable us to
overcome limitations of the machines
our suppliers currently use.
What are some of your best-
selling products?
Our best-selling product is the
HLG 550 V2 lamp. We also sell a lot
of small lamps and LED components
like the QB 288V2.
What product(s) are you
most proud of?
We take pride in all the products
designed at Horticulture Lighting
Group. We are most proud of
HLG 550 V2 as it is the first ETL/
CSA-certified fixture we make.
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