Who is Kriss St-Charles Founder of LED123?
Who is Kriss St-Charles Founder of LED123?
1,2,3 GO! Kriss St-Charles doesn't walk, he sprints! The name LED123 is a good repsentation of the personality of this entrepneur whose Quebec company shines abroad. For him, the secret of his success is his passion and his total dedication to his business project.
Entrepneur at heart, Kriss St-Charles took his cue from his grandfather, a man who was totally dedicated to his business. "He worked tirelessly for 60 years. Today, the turnover of his distribution company is in the tens of millions of dollars. I always admired his calmness, despite the size of his company," he says.
Kriss St-Charles founded his company in Brossard 10 years ago. LED123 specializes in the custom manufacturing of LED (light-emitting diode) linear lighting systems. Today, it works with hundreds of clients and partners around the world, but also in Quebec. LED123 designed the lighting system for the research counters of the McGill University Health Center and the pstigious Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal.
Finding inspiration
Inspired by people with a passion for business and his grandfather, Kriss St-Charles trained in sales and consulting, with the goal of running his own business. Upon graduation in 2004, he joined a company that sells automotive parts. The expertise and experience of the management team were significant for his future career.
Two years later, he became co-owner of a shop in the same field in Montreal. "At the beginning, we were a team of only three people. After three months of hard work, our results exploded! We had to hire 11 employees," says Kriss St-Charles.
After being asked to run the business alone, Kriss St-Charles decided to take a different path. He accepted a position with a company specialising in a completely different field: lighting. "I went from auto parts to selling lighting products to take on a new challenge. I had reached a plateau in the auto parts business," he explains.
"My life is my business"
Kriss St-Charles believes that to be successful in business, you have to give it your all. "My life is my business. I devote 100% of my time to it. But that's not all," says the psident and founder of LED123, who travels around the world to meet with clients, to canvass, and to keep up to date with activities at the company's design factory in China. He also travels to Africa to monitor the activities of his team of employees based in Africa.
Learning to delegate
According to St-Charles, an entrepneur needs to surround himself with reliable employees, especially with remote working as it is now. "You can't do everything yourself and think it will be faster. You have to encourage employees to take initiative and have a good work structure. Like many entrepneurs, there is always a tendency to want to do a lot. The proof? Over the past 18 months, I have received and answered an average of 3,940 e-mails per month, not counting the numerous trips, calls and face-to-face meetings.
A funny “bibitte”
Like what he experienced as an employee, Kriss St-Charles is actively involved in training his employees, but also in the ongoing training offered to clients. "Contractors are ʹʹbibittesʹʹ a bit special. Our passion is strong! We want challenges, while wanting to do things our way. But at a certain level, you have to trust your team," concludes Kriss St-Charles.
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This article was written by Synor on the website Académie d’excellence entrepreneuriale 
You can find the original article here