New Frontiers In Franchising

Starting a concept from square one isn't easy. But being first to market can put you one step closer to becoming the next big thing.

- Jason Daley, photographs by Jeffery Salter

With fast-evolving consumer technology and a broadening palate, the franchise world today looks very different from that of a decade ago. Cell-phone repairs. Hawaiian barbecue. Lobster food trucks. They’re all part of the movement toward anything new and everything mobile.

Opening a burger franchise is not easy, but at least there’s a template: Do what the other guys did before you, but do it better and don’t make the same mistakes. Pulling a whole new sector into the franchise industry or creating a concept from scratch? That’s a different challenge altogether.

Marcel Fairbairn knows this well. He recognized the potential of LED lighting more than a decade ago, despite underutilization by consumers and lackluster marketing by retailers.

The problem? People were using LED bulbs like incandescents—a 100-year-old technology—which is a bit like buying a supercomputer and using it only to play Pac-Man. LED bulbs are available in almost infinite combinations of color and warmth. Utilized with the right lighting systems, they’ve led to a new era of in-home lighting design, in which a room can have subtle violet hues, or the light intensity can change throughout the day. But go to a big-box store, and you’ll find LED bulbs almost all within the tiny spectrum of incandescents.

Back in 2005 when Fairbairn, who owned a lighting company, saw the prices of LED technology dropping and the migration of the tech into homes and businesses, he started Wellington, Fla.-based LED Source. Five years later he franchised the concept, bringing high-quality LEDs and professional lighting design to businesses.

It took another five years to build his brand to 15 units. Now, growing pains behind him, Fairbairn anticipates a burst of expansion in the next year, saying the public is finally ready to realize the potential of LEDs.