Many central Kentuckians start small businesses. A few evolve into huge operations, such as the company formally known as Host Communications, started by sports entrepreneur Jim Host from a one-room office over a Lexington barber shop.
Other equally small businesses may have a long way to go to match Host, but their owners have determination and high hopes. That’s the category in which Elizabeth Downing of Goblin Nightvision finds herself.
Goblin Nightvision sells night-vision devices. No, not the highly sophisticated kind our U.S. Special Forces use in foreign wars, but the kind with practical uses for homeowners, farm and ranch owners and outdoor enthusiasts.
Downing’s husband operated a night-vision business years ago but gave it up. Now she has picked up the baton and is giving it a try herself.
“I have two small children adopted from Guatemala and looked for a career that would give me more flexibility,” said Downing. “My husband said I should get into this because I would have his expertise behind me — kind of a silent partner.”
Downing worked in marketing and graphic design for several years and applies that experience and those skills to her new business.
She said the average consumer can find many uses for small, portable and reasonably priced night-vision devices. People can go into woods, remote areas or caves and observe wildlife at night. Some stargaze with night vision that Downing said is 10 times clearer than the naked eye can see.
Farm and ranch owners can use night vision to safely and efficiently search for escaped horses, cattle and other stock, or they can observe a problem or activity going on in any darkened outdoor area. Some hunters also find them useful.
“As for home security, if you hear a noise in your backyard and want to investigate, you can use a night-vision device, stay indoors and look out a window to see what’s going on. Is it a raccoon or a prowler? If there’s someone out there, they won’t know you’re watching them,” said Downing.
You can even use a video feature on some devices to capture the night-time scene.
Downing said night vision represents an enormous advancement in technology when compared to a flashlight, invented 110 years ago. She compares it to the leap from traditional land-line telephones to today’s amazing cell phones.
“People in general have misconceptions about night vision. Many don’t know anything about it because of the way it has traditionally been marketed, primarily to hunters and professionals.”
Downing is a distributor for the Pulse brand of night-vision products and a dealer for products made by ITT and Armasight. Among the many offerings are monoculars (one eyepiece) and binoculars (goggles).
One product she has seen generate particular interest is the Pulsar Digisight N750 Night Vision Riflescope for hunters.
Downing registered the business last February and then spent months designing and writing her website, located at goblinnightvision.com.
“My website is different than other night-vision websites,” said Downing. “You will be able to go on there and learn all about night vision in easy-to-understand terms, because I show an introductory video.”
Downing said that with many night-vision websites, visitors need to know something about the technology before they can explore it. “We try to break it down to how the average person might use it at home or on a farm.”
Downing began taking orders this fall and has generated modest sales of about $10,000, but she expects the momentum to build.
“This is a web-based business model that makes a whole lot of sense for many people,” explained Gordon Garrett, associate state director for the Kentucky Small Business Development Center. At various centers around the state, the SBDC provides consulting and training services that help existing business owners and startup entrepreneurs alike.
“These types of business models have very low overhead and are easy to get into,” continued Garrett. “It will depend on her ability to makes sales through her website and any other direct-selling activities she may have.”
He said defined territories are a question. If you are not given any territory by the manufacturer, then others may cut in on you in a particular territory if there are no barriers to prevent it.
But it can be lucrative.
“We’ve seen people make a lot of money doing this stuff. A man in Kentucky sells custom trailers for boats and other things. He doesn’t touch anything and has a multimillion-dollar business,” said Garrett. “He is basically a dealer/distributor with a Web presence that represents manufacturers who may not feel they are best suited to go out and sell and market their products.”
The guy in the trailer business uses UPS in Louisville for his fulfillment, which involves filling orders and shipping them. It seems to work for him.
Downing is confident she can make a go of it with Goblin Nightvision, calling the technology “the 21st-century way to see in darkness and extend the hours in which you can pursue your interests.”