In early 2001, four friends from the sunny Okanagan Valley launched BC Northern Lights. Like every good kid from Kelowna, the guys knew a thing or two about hydroponics. With daytime experience in automotive manufacturing and a bit of entrepreneurial flare, they set out to design and build the perfect growing environment. Today the company's flagship "BloomBox" is recognized as the market standard for indoor gardens.
BCNL's motto is "Grow Your Own". Along with the only purpose-built, commercial grade grow cabinets on the market, BC Northern Lights provides customized nutrient management plans, unlimited toll-free technical support and live streaming "Growinars" through its website (http://www.bcnorthernlights.com ). Through its support line, BCNL customers can speak to experienced growers and technicians from 7AM to 11PM pacific time, seven days a week. Today the company employs 14 people and has grown 35% in each of the past five years. A progressive attitude motivates the team as collaboration and open communication drives operations.
The way the company treats its employees is carried through in its customer care. From the minute a non-customer has questions through their first harvest and beyond, BCNL reps share their knowledge and guide their customers' success. Customer directed R&D has been a strong point. Because BCNL owns the manufacturing facilities, the company can tweak production runs to respond to customer requests, making each run of boxes better than the last. BCNL's BloomBox is now a 6th generation product, with customer directed changes incorporated all along. While the company grows, it has instituted regular product lifecycle meetings to ensure that customer feedback from a variety of sources is channeled into production runs and training materials in a structured, scientific fashion.
As BCNL scales up production they are strategically placing products everywhere from floral suppliers to medicinal marijuana growers. Through structured feedback channels spanning the front of the website to the back of the shops, knowledgeable users are driving product improvements, establishing growing tips and helping the community of BCNL customers succeed in growing their own.
|
