Kenny Lee turned a question from his wife about the amount of money he was spending on his hobby into a business he launched from his kitchen table that is now a multimillion-dollar enterprise.
Kenny was buying more and more Lego in 2016 after introducing his two young sons to the hobby a couple of years earlier. In response to his wife querying the expense involved, Kenny devised a business plan that was designed to “justify his purchases”.
“The opportunity I came across was based on the fact that I wanted to add lights to these elaborate Lego sets I’d been purchasing, but after searching, I found that there was no easy-to-integrate, out-of-the-box solution to do so on the market,” Kenny explains. “This surprised me, as I knew I wasn’t the only Lego fan out there who had the money to spend, but lacked the electronic experience to program and solder my own raw circuitry.”
So, Kenny set about developing an LED light kit that integrated seamlessly with Lego’s building system, complete with easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions that anyone could use. Fast-forward to today and the business Kenny launched around his idea – Light My Bricks – produces custom-designed Lego lighting kits that allow his customers to install LED lights into their Lego sets easily.
“These light kits are modular, meaning that much like Lego itself, different kits can be easily chained together to allow an expanding collection to be lit up as it grows in size, on one easily operated lighting circuit,” Kenny says.
Along with its set-specific products, Light My Bricks also offers a range of DIY components for those more accomplished hobbyists who wish to create their own set-up without the use of an instructional guide. And, beyond the lighting systems, Light My Bricks produces sound effects boards that enable customers to upload and playback their own soundtracks when indulging in their hobby.
“Our product is so visual it lends itself really well to both paid advertising on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.”
“We provide an experience that is born out of our very strong and very authentic passion for Lego and its community,” Kenny avers. “Light My Bricks is made up of a group of individuals who are authentic and passionate Lego enthusiasts themselves, which means we know what other fans want, expect and appreciate.”
By enthusiasts, for enthusiasts
That ethos of passion and authenticity expresses itself in several ways, from how the company’s customer service team interacts with its customers – being on hand to offer ‘real-time’ assistance as they install Light My Bricks products – to the type of social media content the company makes.
“A more specific example is knowing how to design a light kit for a particular Lego set, which is vitally important when you are dealing with IP such as Star Wars or Harry Potter,” Kenny says. “Achieving an authentic lighting effect that matches an on-screen aesthetic makes all the difference and lets the customer know that they are purchasing the genuine article, but it also signals the product was produced by someone just like them. This creates a brand experience that isn’t just transactional, but that also reflects the community to which they want to belong.
“From the durability of materials used, and the level of sustainability in our packaging, to the global child safety standards implemented, all of our kits are designed, packed and checked for quality assurance here in our Melbourne facility before being sent out to our other facilities around the world or to our network of resellers,” Kenny adds.
On the subject of building the brand from a hobby business based in a home office to an established brand available in Australia, the UK, Europe and the US, Kenny says that there have been several “inflection points”. The first phase was learning about the potential of digital marketing and leveraging social media. “Our product is so visual it lends itself really well to both paid advertising on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, and organic content that engages with the community aspect of what we do. When implemented in combination [these paid and organic elements] led to an explosion of growth in sales in 2017,” Kenny enthuses.
Ready for the world
The next stage on the business’ journey involved the transition to solidifying Light My Bricks as a global player in the eCommerce landscape, understanding that customers want to purchase locally in their own currency and enjoy a local, familiar shipping experience. This realisation led Kenny and the team to develop separate websites for each individual region that they serve, and to enter into partnerships with 3PL providers to ensure that the shipping and fulfilment experience is fast, cost-effective, reliable and embeds trust with the company’s customers.
These strategies, combined with many other insights gleaned and decisions made along the way, have been what Kenny describes as a “gamechanger” in terms of the business’ revenue. “We’ve seen a six-year average growth rate of 82 per cent, which shows no signs of slowing down,” he says. “In 2023, we grew 53 per cent, reaching $10.86 million in revenue to close out the year.”
Kenny is keen to maintain the momentum and push on, with a complete brand update on the cards. “This is deemed necessary to bring our branding and messaging in line with the improvements we’ve made to the overall Light My Bricks user experience, as well as to tell the world about the revolutionary new product line we have built from the ground up,” he explains. “This new product line means further expansion and development of our Melbourne-based facility to allow for a more optimised operation.
“Further to the rebrand and new product line, we’re looking to invest back into what we do best and continue to seek out the best talent and grow the Light My Bricks team at home and abroad. We’ll be implementing new sales insights gained throughout 2023 and scaling our digital ad and marketing strategies.”
Kenny’s plans for growth don’t stop there. He has had a number of recent interactions with Lego that have revealed potential pathways to collaborating on a project together. “The big picture goal is that when anyone thinks of Lego, they think of lighting their creations up – and coming to Light My Bricks to achieve that end,” he says. “Ultimately, we want to completely change the way people experience Lego. With roughly 96 per cent of users globally being completely unaware of the option to light up their Lego, we’ve got a lot of work to do to shrink that percentage…and a lot more fans to introduce to our light kits in the process,” Kenny concludes.
This article first appeared in issue 44 of the Inside Small Business quarterly magazine
