Meet the young entrepreneurs who’ve made it their business to ratchet up your Yom Tov

You thought you had it all figured out after years of celebrating Succos, when suddenly, there’s that guy who does this thing to make your succah nicer or your lulav and esrog easier to handle. Meet the young entrepreneurs who’ve made it their business to ratchet up your Yom Tov.

The Man: 

Menachem Rosenfeld, Brooklyn, New York

The Mission:

Succah Light

A born entrepreneur, 24-year-old Menachem Rosenfeld was selling arba minim sets on Boro Park’s 13th Avenue at the age of 12 before and after yeshivah hours. Eight years later, he decided to reengage the succah market, albeit with a twist: Rather than selling arba minim, Menachem invested in manufacturing and importing the first-ever hanging light designed with all the nuances of today’s succahs in mind.

on

how I got into the lighting business

I always liked selling things — as a kid I used to sell lulavim and esrogim in Boro Park, and I always had a few side hustles like selling meat platters. One summer, I sold sushi out of the basement of a medical building in the Catskills. Four years ago, I wanted to get into the succah market, and I decided to look for an item I could import that could turn a decent profit. I found a manufacturer who had hanging lights for outdoor use, bought them on consignment, and sold them out of a truck in Lakewood and Boro Park. The lights sold out that year — 1,000 pieces in total.

People need lights, I realized, but I knew the light I had sold wasn’t perfect. Immediately after Succos, I reached out to a friend in the lighting business, who introduced me to some of his contacts in China, and we collaborated to create my new Sukkah Light. It took us a full year of back and forth until I received it, but they came right before Succos, which wasn’t enough time to sell them publicly. I stored them for a year, and two years ago, I sold them to the public for the first time.

on

the operations behind the scenes

Even though this is a seasonal business, it requires a lot of logistics. I have a salesman, and one of us has to call store owners or physically go down with a sample as a preliminary step, so they know what we have and why they should sell it. That starts right after the summer ends. I also sell my lights in the Lakewood arba minim shuk, and we have to prepare for retail sales there by hiring workers and setting up credit card processing machines. Finally, we have a team of drivers because we offer free delivery in Brooklyn, Lakewood, and Monsey.

on

the considerations that went into developing my Sukkah Light

I used one of the first lights I sold in my parents’ succah, but it wasn’t as bright as I wanted. I did some research and realized that most of the stock outdoor lights are a warmer color, which is more about ambiance and isn’t always so bright — but brightness is important in a succah. The first specification I had was that the brightness level should be much higher than the standard light. The Sukkah Light has a color temperature of 6000K lumens, which is a bright daylight LED color, as opposed to the standard, which is a cool white of 4500K.

Also, people don’t want to have to run a bulky extension cord through their succah, so I manufactured the Sukkah Light with a thin, white, built-in 25-foot-cord. It’s easy to maneuver, it’s not obtrusive, and it plugs right into your outlet. I also made a one-foot adapter at one end that can connect to another light, which is great if you have a large succah and need multiple lights. With the adapters you can plug up to six of these lights, one into the other, and only the one at the end has to plug into the outlet. The slim design also makes it compact and easy to store year-round.

on

how many lights I sell

We’re averaging about 3,000 lights per year, and we sell mostly to clients in the Tristate area. Last year, a store in Baltimore carried the lights as well.

on

what I use

I’m still young and don’t have my own succah, but my parents use between six and eight lights. My in-laws like when the succah is really bright, so I put up 12 lights for them. Our lights come with special clips designed for wooden beams, which is how I hang them, but people also tell me they use zip-ties, which are very effective.

on

changes we’ve made along the way

I made a four-foot adapter that you can add to your setup if you want to space your lights further apart than one foot, which is the length of our standard setup. That addition was in response to a frequent customer request.

on

my day job

I run “The Car Maven,” a WhatsApp status with approximately 5,000 followers that brokers the sale of used cars. After Succos, I plan to partner with an auto mechanic shop in Lakewood to build on my experience in the industry.

on

the next model 

I’m thinking about adding a built-in timer, so you don’t have to add another contraption and everything is on one light. I actually had envisioned designing this with my initial batch, but during Covid, the manufacturing prices made the add-on cost prohibitive. Manufacturing costs have come down since then, and I’m working with a manufacturer to add a timer but keep it reasonably priced.

on

memorable orders

The largest order I’ve ever received from a single customer was for 100 lights, from a succah rental business that wanted to upgrade the lights in all of their succahs. In terms of timing, I’ve gotten orders as late as  Chol Hamoed from people who decided, last-minute, to be home second days, or from people whose lights (not from us!) broke and they needed new ones. People also message me throughout the year — they want to use the lights in their garages, unfinished basements, or workshops. I always keep a box in my house.