Thanks to the inventor’s Eureka, Trimlight’s lighting business in Utah shines brightly. moment

Photo: Gephardt Daily / Trimlight

WEST JORDAN, Utah, Nov 13, 2020 (Gephardt Daily / Bill’s Marketplace / * sponsored) – Inventors call it the “Eureka” moment: that split second of insight, a sudden flash of brilliance that turns a simple idea into a thriving business.

Ryan Whittaker, the inventor and co-founder of Trimlight, the permanent lighting system for vacation homes, saw this flash of brilliance. As a lifelong hobbyist, entrepreneur and self-described “type of solution”, he firmly believes in Thomas Edison’s famous line: “Genius is one percent inspiration, 99 percent sweat.”

The sweat that inspired Ryan’s “Eureka” moment came in late fall 2010 when his wife asked him to put up some Christmas lights for the season. As he climbed the cold steel ladder in cold, snowy conditions and tried to get his ice cold fingers to attach the lights to the gutters and eves, all he could think of was how difficult and frustrating the whole process is and how he made it easy Get back up the ladder in a few months, again in freezing conditions, to turn off the same lights and find a place to keep them.

Four hours later, when Ryan thawed out in his garage, he was pondering the clutter of old-fashioned lights that lay at his feet. Should he take the time to untangle it, maybe flick every lightbulb to make sure it was still working? Or just do what he did the year before and the year before, stuff them in a box and take care of them the next December.

There had to be a better way, Ryan thought to himself – then suddenly another light switched on in an instant – this one in Ryan’s head. Triggered by his background in design and roof systems, Ryan saw the vision – a permanent lighting system for the home – invisible during the day, elegant at night, bathing houses and neighborhoods in the soft, festive glow of Christmas lights, regardless of the season. No more ladders, no more tightrope work. Just a sleek, durable lighting system with an infinite range of colors and patterns controlled by a simple app right in the palm of your hand.

Enter Johnny Ware and Aaron Rasmussen, next door neighbors, now close friends, both highly skilled in marketing and sales with the same passion as Ryan for small business development. They weren’t inventors, but they knew a stroke of genius when they saw one. As Ryan explained his concept of “permanent Christmas lights that are hidden during the day and turn off all year round,” Johnny and Aaron began to have their own visions.

It was the beginning of a wonderful partnership.

Soon the family garage – the site of Ryan’s revelation – was a beehive full of activity. Ryan started testing materials and building prototypes, then everyone started strategizing, investing in the project, and setting up others who believed in the brilliance of Trimlight’s business model.

Photo: Gephardt Daily / Trimlight

In the course of the design work, they decided to showcase this soon-to-be-patented product in Ryan’s own home. The neighbors were impressed when he flipped the switch, which reminded of a moment of “Clark Griswold”. Ryan, Aaron and Johnny knew from the “oohs and ahs” on the street that they were stumbling upon something big.

“We love to sell a unique product that no one has seen before that brings so much happiness and excitement to people,” Johnny told Bill’s Marketplace – and sell it. In the first year of its existence, Trimlight installed its revolutionary lighting system in a total of 26 homes in Utah. the next year there were a total of 54; the year after that they installed 110. Then they started selling nationwide. Since their inception, they have doubled their sales every year!

Photo: Gephardt Daily / Trimlight

So what is it that makes Ryan, Aaron, and Johnny responsible for the success of Trimlight?

“It’s all about the lights, those beautiful, programmable lights,” said Ryan, “and the simple joy and serenity they seem to inspire in people pretty much everywhere. When we invented Trimlight, it was largely in the spirit of Christmas, and the more we thought about it, the more it occurred to us why we shouldn’t celebrate at other times of the year, ”he said. With the same inventive spirit, Ryan worked with engineers to create lights that would have a simple app that did it Allows homeowners to program and customize their Trimlight system, changing into millions of different colors.

“Now we have customers who tell us that they use them every night and for every single holiday, be it Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Memorial Day or July 4th. You can even program the lights for an extra scary Halloween. “

Photo: Gephardt Daily / Trimlight

“And it’s not just on holidays when people use the lights,” Ryan said. “You use them for anniversaries, birthdays or whenever you play jazz, utes or BYU. What better way to remember a big life changing event like child birth or graduation than to bring the memory to light?

“And it’s not just on holidays when customers are using the lights,” said Ryan. “You use them for anniversaries, birthdays or whenever you play jazz, utes or BYU. What better way to remember a big life changing event like child birth or graduation than to bring the memory to light?

“They also use their trimlight systems for emergency lighting,” added Johnny. “They illuminate backyards and doors and ensure security. We have companies that do the same. You can actually use the app to program your lights to turn on and off while you are away and look like someone is around, ”said Johnny.

Photo: Gephardt Daily / Trimlight

“Most importantly, we back Trimlight with a lifetime product warranty and a 5 year labor warranty. So let’s say in the unlikely event that a light goes out or something else goes wrong within the first five years, we’ll fix it for free. After five years, we’ll still come out and fix it, and we’ll never bill you for the parts. If that $ 200 controller breaks after seven years, we’ll replace that. We charge a service fee, but it’s only $ 20-40 because it’s a 10 minute repair.

“It’s all about customer service and we pride ourselves on it,” said Johnny.

Ryan Whittaker, owner of Trimlight, co-founder; Johnny Ware, co-founder of Trimlight; Aaron Rasmussen, managing director. Photo: Gephardt Daily / Trimlight / Sarah Galeboloke

At the end of another long and rewarding day, the Trimlight owners meet for a moment to develop strategies on how to manage the rapid growth of their business and where Trimlight is headed from here. With over 80 dealerships in Utah, the United States, and Canada, you can only imagine what the future holds. Will they continue to expand or maybe develop something new?

“You never know,” said Ryan with a smile. “We always look to the next horizon.”

Trimlight Home Holiday Lighting