Today we’d like to introduce you to Chad Stevenson.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
When I started my company 15 years ago I saw a need for products that did not exist in the market place and decided to try and corner that market. There were not many products made at the time to aide hunters at harvesting wild hogs at night when they were most active. Wild hogs at that time were just starting to become a problem and I knew if I were to come up with a better way to manage them it could really pay off in the years to come as they were starting to show up all over the country. I developed a series of lighting systems called the Kill Light which I soon registered as my official federally registered trademark name for my products.
Today, the name Kill Light is used by hunters to refer to what light they use to hunt with just like people use the word Kleenex to describe tissue paper. The name definitely did not hurt but my lights I had developed soon became a huge hit in the outdoor hunting industry and soon were unable to keep up with the demand. It all started with a simple feeder light that would magnetically attach to the bottom of hunter’s feeders and would turn on whenever it was dark run off 4 C size batteries or hooked up to the feeder with the included wiring harness. Today we operate our own retail store in Conroe where we carry everything from high-end coolers to insulated carpeted hunting blinds. We recently purchased our own 7,500 square foot facility located behind our retail store where which is the home of our corporate headquarters and houses all of our inventory for shipping all over the world 5 days a week.
Today, we still sell our very popular feeder light but it now comes in 3 models and three colors and can include 200-yard wireless remote operation as well as motion sensors to make the lights come on very gradual when its activated by a hog as to not spook them. We have 3 different lights that mount to archery equipment as well as more sophisticated lights that mount to a rifle and can zoom the beam up to 750 yards while adjusting the brightness from the rifle. We recently started our own national television show that started airing in July 2017 and it has been a huge hit and has definitely made a tremendous impact on our bottom-line. The name of the show is Elusive Wildlife Television and it airs 3 times a week on Pursuit Channel Fridays at 12:30 pm and 9 pm, Saturdays at 8 am.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It has not been a smooth road. When our lights took off we could not keep up with the demand which in turn created many competitors which previously there were none. Several of our own stores we sold to as well as even some TV shows we sponsored soon copied our lights to try and cash in on the action. Most have come and gone but a few still remain but we do not feel they will not be around much longer.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Elusive Wildlife Technologies story. Tell us more about the business.
My business is one of the few businesses in the outdoor industry that actually cares about our customers. We send people out of our store almost every day if we do not have what they need or if what we have does not fit their budget. We often send them to competing stores. We are not here and exist just to make a buck and get into their pocketbook. We want their long-term business and are not interested in just making a sale. Our customers see this and because of it, they end up coming back later and referring all their friends. Our customer service also sets us apart. We offer a lifetime warranty on all of our flashlights which has been a huge success. We are an A+ rated business with the BBB (Better Business Bureau) for many years now and have never had one complaint filed in the 15 years we have been in business.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
Our success definitely did not come from luck but hard work and determination. I worked a full-time job for the 1st 5 years after I started my business until it finally took off enough that I could give up my full-time job and now, 15 years later, we have 12 full-time employees and have outgrown even our new larger facility we moved into only 2 years ago. I can remember years of nights where my wife and I literally had no sleep staying up all night trying to finish retail packaging design or instruction manuals for products in time for trade shows where we had to show them off. There was even one year where I was not able to go to my hunting lease to get away for the entire season but I kept telling myself it would all be worth it one day.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1107 West Dallas Street
Conroe, TX 77301 - Website: www.ElusiveWildlife.com
- Phone: 1-800-780-6861
- Email: info@elusivewildlife.com
- Instagram: @elusivewildlife
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/elusivewildlife/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ElusiveWildlife
Image Credit:
Elusive Wildlife Technologies
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