Rick Powers, President and Co-Owner, Benito Repollet, VP and Co-Owner, and Donna Powers, VP of Sales & Marketing, of LiteMirror in Irvington, NY sat with Main St. Business Strategies, to share how they built a manufacturing business from the ground up in Westchester County, and the efforts that successfully kept them in business for 15 years (and counting).

Thanks for taking your lunch break to chat, Rick, Benito, and Donna. Let’s start with learning a bit about the business and how long you've been in the game. 

Rick: We started LiteMirror, a manufacturing business that produces mirrors made with film [instead of glass] for homes, productions, gyms, and commercial spaces, in 2008, arguably the most difficult time to start a business from scratch. Up to that point, I was a Supervising Production and Plant Manager at large corporations like GM, and Wet & Wild Cosmetics. In 1995, I answered an advertisement in the Pennysaver looking for a Production Supervisor at KAMAR, an Irvington-based company that manufactured mirrors specifically for the inside of televisions.

Benito: I started with KAMAR in 1987 as the Quality Control Supervisor and eventually, the Quality Control Manager. At the point KAMAR was closing their business, Rick and I decided to continue working together. I knew I was good at engineering and quality control, and Rick was good at managing a floor and a production line. We had the experience to build a business ourselves.

Donna: I’ve been in sales and marketing my entire career. I owned a travel business on Main Street in Irvington in the 90s, eventually moved into higher-up sales positions at corporate travel companies, and then joined LiteMirror in 2017.

In the early development days of LiteMirror, what was on the to-do list? How did you find your space in Irvington? Who were the people you were speaking with the most? What type of DIY projects did you take on?

Rick: We fell into the space LiteMirror was originally out of, 2 S. Astor St. in Irvington because Benito and I knew the owner of the building. The biggest task on a day-to-day basis was creating a list of and reaching out to trucking companies for the delivery of our mirrors. We had to introduce ourselves to all potential vendors and form those relationships. Distributors were the hardest to get buy-in from, they often came to the facility to make sure we were a legitimate business because there were so many unknowns during the economic crash in 2008.

As far as DIY, everything was DIY. We had to do hand drawings of all the custom pieces needed to build the LiteMirror product, like the extrusions (the aluminum frames that give LiteMirrors their shape), and custom boxes. We started from scratch, which means making ourselves.

Benito: We even had to build the tables our team works on - a table for filming, a table for welding. Pretty much setting up a full factory from scratch.

SCORE was also a big help in the beginning. They helped us find an accountant and a lawyer. They also suggested we launch LiteMirror as an S Corp. As Rick mentioned though, the hardest part was looking for vendors, film for the mirrors, and trucking companies.

In building a business from the ground up, and during a rough economy, what were the unexpected hurdles?

Rick: The biggest hurdle was hiring people. We were lucky to start the business with some of the crew from the previous company, a number of them are still with us to this day, but we needed to hire additional specialists. If we couldn’t find a trained welder, we had to teach people how to become welders, people who weren't experienced in manufacturing had to be taught how to build boxes, and how to stretch and treat the film.

Benito: Being on the water in the Rivertowns and close to Metro-North has been a huge benefit for finding employees who live all along the Hudson River.

We had 1 week of training ahead of fully opening the doors of our business in September of 2008. Ahead of that week, we had gone out and locked in a few distributors, so we had projects for the team to work on, but our website wasn't live yet.

What strategies have worked well in bringing customers, clients, and audiences through your front door?

Rick: The number one thing is the quality and uniqueness of the product itself. Having the opportunity to introduce a brand-new, unknown product to the world is a huge advantage in capturing attention. We made a wishlist of businesses we wanted to work with and industries we wanted to introduce our product to. Probably sent 300-400 emails introducing ourselves to potential distributors and customers.

Donna: Finding the right name for the business and subsequently, the product, was crucial too. We brainstormed descriptions of the product and then the name followed - it's a lightweight mirror so we named the product itself LiteMirror. Unlike other businesses whose name doesn't tie directly to the product itself, we've found that the product naming has captured our audience’s attention most.

Rick and Benito: Early on we were able to capture the attention of and sell our mirrors to touring artists like Shakira (2009), Beyonce (2010), Jennifer Lopez (2010), and Lady Gaga for the ‘Born This Way’ music video. We provided mirrors for Step Up (the movie), Alice in Wonderland (Broadway), and the Metropolitan Opera House. American Apparel (2008-2009) added our mirrors to their ceilings across the U.S. Since then, we’ve worked with some of the largest musicians [some we can’t mention for NDA purposes], visual artists, productions, museums, architects, and interior designers. We’re really proud of our team.

Donna: We set up a shop on our website in 2018, but trade shows have also been a huge aspect of scaling our business in recent years. Since 2018, we’ve done 20 trade shows across the U.S., averaging 5 a year at this point. It's been the money driver.

Generally, grassroots efforts have always and continue to be the focus for us because we’re dealing with an education hurdle - teaching people how mirrors, a product that’s been around forever, have been reinvented with LiteMirror.

Having gone through the business development process, what's been the most gratifying aspect of owning your own business?

Rick: The real gratification is working for yourself and seeing 20% growth YoY. We've had a few of our team members with us since we were all at the previous company in 1987, and 1995. We’re all proud of what we’ve accomplished so far.

Donna: Seeing our mirrors in public spaces, especially in iconic locations like the Met Museum, in 2020, being next to a Monet is something else.

Benito: The Guggenheim…

Rick: And that some of our mirrors are in places you happen to walk into - we went into a hotel bar in Washington D.C. and our mirrors were on the ceiling. Sometimes you forget every location you send your mirrors to and it’s a surprise once you walk in.

It’s amazing the scale and breadth of projects LiteMirror has worked on. What’s the best advice you’d give someone starting their own business?

Donna: Make sure you have your team, not just your people, but your team - your accountant, lawyer, advisors, all on board.

Rick: The first thing you need to do is your research. Do your research ahead of time to find out what you’ll need to progress and move the business forward. Then, get the best help you can, like those from SCORE. Find retirees who have built their own companies - they’ll give you the best advice. That’s what they did for us. Don’t go into something you don’t have any experience in. Do the thing you know best.  

This question has been the most fun to ask business owners - what are all of your hype songs?

Rick: Every morning I listen to ‘I’ve Got To Be Me’ - Steve Lawrence

Benito: ‘Stand By Me’ (sung by multiple artists) - I really like that song.

Donna: Mine is ‘Soul Sacrifice’ by Carlos Santana

LiteMirror, 50 S. Buckhout St., Suite 106, Irvington, NY 10533

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