Today we’d like to introduce you to Sahir Molu.
Sahir, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I started working on Greentek as a junior in college, but progress was slow. My dad and I began this project as a proof of concept at a point when the economy wasn’t great. LED lighting was very new in the market, but we knew we had a potential client base from our local community and my partner’s previous business to help get us started. The mission was to help save energy cost on businesses’ utility bills with a reasonable return on investment. The idea was to retrofit existing light fixtures with more efficient LEDs, saving up to 85% of lighting costs at some points. Furthermore, we were putting money back into the pocket of local businesses after the investment to LED. So we created a ROI presentation and a “how to” on why switching to LEDs works and how they save you money. I remember creating a very detailed document explaining how the ROI for retrofitting would help businesses – for example, condos. There are hundreds of rooms, but this was not where the company could save the most when retrofitting to LEDs. In the same complex, there are hallways and parking garages where the lights are on 24/7. These lights are burning for the longest time and this is where their ROI would be the most effective. With the carefully curated presentation we were able to figure out how much money each light would save and how much energy the company would save to about a 2% variance. This coupled with incentives from utility companies helped start our business. We were doing a full turnkey operation – manufacturing the lights, selling the lights, and finally installing the lights.
After a while, we knew we needed to grow faster. Newer companies were flooding the market and our head start would only last so long. We made a controversial decision to go away from installing the lights and began to only manufacture and then sell them to resellers and distributors. The key was to sell high quality lights at the lowest price in the market and hope to move as much product as we can. Luckily the timing was perfect. As more and more people became aware of LEDs, the more we grew. We grew, and continue to grow, 400-500% every year from 2013. We introduced new products in the marketplace months and sometimes a year before the mainstream retailers would catch on. We strive to stay a few steps ahead of the curve, so you would find the newest LED technology in our warehouse.
We started off in a single room off the corner of another companies’ office in North Atlanta with a small warehouse. I was the sales, operations, inventory, tech support, warehouse manager and shipping agent. Now, we are very gracious for the opportunity to own our own 50,000+ square feet office building & warehouse with our name on the outside. We invest in our talent and developed a team of over 25 employees and still continue to grow today.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I don’t think growing any business will ever be a smooth road. The biggest problems we faced was not having enough space for inventory and accurately forecasting customer needs. At the time, LEDs were changing rapidly. New products and new designs were released on a monthly basis, so it was hard to invest in products all at once. Not only did we not have space but one order of 5,000 pieces of tube lights could knock out our inventory for the product for 2-3 weeks.
Please tell us about Greentek Energy Systems.
We are an LED Manufacturer that distributes directly to the major electrical and lighting warehouses all over the United States. We are a one stop shop for LED and Solar lighting and provide commercial and residential lighting solutions to our customers.
We are most proud of our “All-In-One” solar LED light. This light is revolutionizing how lighting will be looked at in the future. Without any direct power and with a “plug and play” ease of installation, this light replaces street lights to courtyard lights – all you need is the sun!
What sets us apart are two major aspects – we strive to make high quality products and we take an initiative in bringing the newest and most innovative LED technology to the U.S.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1000 Laval Blvd.,
Lawrenceville, GA 30043 - Website: greentekenergysystems.com
- Phone: 770 744 1300
- Email: support@greentekenergysystems.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreenTekEnergySystems/
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