Q – 1) Kindly give our readers an introduction to your business. Please include what your business is all about, in which city you are located and if you have offices in multiple locations/ cities.
A) We are outdoor lighting experts. We specialize in landscape lighting, permanent holiday lighting, and seasonal holiday lighting. Needless to say we love lights and brightening peoples lives. We are located in the Vancouver WA, and Spokane Valley, WA areas.
Q – 2) Kindly give us a brief description about yourself (it should include your brief educational or entrepreneurial background and list some of your major achievements).
A) In 2008 I moved to Spain for two years to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints and loved learning the language and serving the people. Once I returned I went to college and decided to continue my education to become a Chiropractor. I completed my doctorate in 2020. Since my young adult years I have always enjoyed starting businesses and finding new ways to provide income. From selling candy to junk removal, I was willing to work hard to make money, and I enjoyed the challenge of it all being up to me.
Q – 3) What inspired you to (start a new business venture) or (to make significant changes in an existing business)? How did the idea for your business come about?
A) Back in 2011 I was home from college for 3 months and finding a job was a huge pain. I decided the next year that I would do something different. So a friend and I started a business putting Christmas lights up for people. We soon found that there was quote a need for this! So over the next 8 years I grew the company in Spokane as well as Vancouver WA when I moved there for Chiropractic school. After graduating with my doctorate, I realized that I had a thriving business that I loved and had a lot of potential to be even better, so I decided to give 100% of my focus to Evershine Lighting and provide a service that people love and a product that people can trust.
Q – 4) What three pieces of advice would you give to budding entrepreneurs?
A) Growing pains are real. Take time to create systems that can scale with your growth. As the owner keep your focus on bringing in new clients, and find someone better than you to learn from.
Q – 5) What would you say are the top three skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur?
A) Focused, positive thinking, and solving problems
Q – 6) How many hours do you work a day on average?
A) I work somewhere between 3 and 12 hours a day depending on the time of year. October to December is busy time, then I get to take it slower the rest of the year and focus on larger landscape lighting and permanent lighting jobs.
Q – 7) To what do you most attribute your success?
A) I attribute my success t finding a need that fit my lifestyle, and then hitting the ground running. A lot of people seem hesitant to jump in and figure it out as you go, but that’s what I’ve loved doing. It’s important to critically think and strive to make the best decisions but it’s important to move forward quickly and learn as you go.
Q – 8) How do you go about marketing your business? What has been your most successful form of marketing?
A) I started out with hand painted signs we’d put on the street, then nicer yard signs, then google became a huge help and brought our business to the next level.
Q – 9) Where did your organizations funding/capital come from and how did you go about getting it? How did you obtain investors for your venture?
A) With this business, I have always invested what I made back into the company. I have never needed investors or funding. I wouldn’t recommend that to everyone. Most often it’s best to find investors to allow yourself to grow at a better rate.
Q – 10) What is the best way to achieve long-term success?
A) Often starting and growing a business is like a hockey stick. It takes a lot of time at the beginning but the potential for growth is huge as you push through the challenges.
Q – 11) Where do you see yourself and your business in 5 – 10 years?
A) I plan to have the business in multiple areas in the pacific northwest with around 50 installers and having the most up to date options for outdoor lighting.
Q – 12) Excluding yours, what company or business do you admire the most?
A) I really admire the business Brite Nites in Utah. They have formed a very successful and professional outdoor lighting business that beats all their competitors. They’ve inspired a lot of what I’ve done with my business.