Lightenco case prep

LIGHTENCO Case Prep

Define Lightenco's innovation 'space', its business, and the critical success factors & key trade-offs that can affect the future prosperity of this enterprise.

LIGHTENCO is a company that offers clean and green LED based turnkey lighting solutions. LIGHTENCO’s founders decided to enter the lighting industry after picking up on the signs of the business opportunity that the growth of the LED market offered in the late 2000s. They were attracted by the possibilities this business opening could offer after reviewing survey findings about the LED lighting efficiency, consumption saving and environmental friendliness. The market looked promising and large in options, so the decision was quickly made. The search space for their innovation sparked for being inspired by this market, by this established and framed environment and they decided to “Exploit” it and bring in incremental innovation. They also targeted a customer base whose lighting consumption took up a big chunk of the electricity bill. But LIGHTENCO reached a financial turning point, where they have to decide whether to scale-up and risk diluting their equity and with it a portion of control and identity or keep their financing internal and risk stagnating.

What strategies did the Lightenco founders use to build their multimillion-dollar enterprise?

Their value proposition: LIGHTENCO came up with a packaging that offered a consulting service and analysis of the client’s premises, to come up with a recommendation of the right equipment that would enhance their lighting instalment. This product would as well be supported by government subventions to finance the project investment. This, I think, was their smartest innovation, because they managed to create a customer centric in a very clear service bundle, as well as get reimbursement from the government for these projects. Marketing: the founders chose to let their project results speak for them instead of following the traditional marketing route. I believe they were very innovative in choosing the most popular spots in Ontario for the highest visibility possible, and to let their project results literally shine the brightest. Bootstrapping: This financing strategy is very innovative and sensible. What LIGHTENCO managed to do with their financing, and how far they came to success with it is quite impressive. They did it by cutting down costs as much as possible, reinvesting their profits, and not incurring dept as much as they did, and with Employee grants: by hiring employees and getting governmental grants for their employments, again, brilliant!

What components of the 'innovative organization' do you recognize in Lightenco?

One of the Innovative Organization components that I recognize in this case is High Involvement Innovation, where the founders were very hands on with the company’s every activity, they participated thoroughly in their company’s improvement, and were able to see it grow organically because of their significant efforts, that is why diluting their equity and control over it would be such a hard decision to make if it came down to it. They also based their work on an Appropriate Structure, for fast growth and failure avoidance, they defined a clear path to profitability that combined with scrappiness and a lot of vigilance allowed them to build the right structure and business plan for their company to reach their objectives in the intended time.

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