VU THAI, 29, president, Efficient Lighting Corp., Gardena

Business: Manufacturer and seller of energy-efficient light fixtures

Employees: 80 full and part time

Financials: 2009 revenue of $4 million

Vu Thai was working as a legal technology specialist at law firm Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP when he realized that green businesses were booming.

So Thai quit his job and launched Efficient Lighting Corp. with about $200,000 of his own money. The Gardena company, which opened in 2006, makes and sells indoor and outdoor energy-efficient light fixtures, such as ceiling lights for offices or porch lights for homes.

It was a whole new world for him.

“I had no background in it,” Thai said. “I did a lot of research, a whole lot of research, to see what was out there and to figure out a niche market. I thought that was a good industry to go into.”

Efficient Lighting owns a facility in Zhongshan, China, where the company does its manufacturing. The fixtures’ sockets aren’t adapted for incandescent light bulbs, which aren’t as energy efficient as newer compact fluorescent bulbs. The home fixtures, which are the company’s core product, sell for an average of $15, but Thai said he is starting to produce higher-end models that go for $30 to $50.

Efficient Lighting sells its products, including energy-efficient light bulbs that the company purchases from other manufacturers, to contractors and distributors, which in turn sell the products to retailers such as the Ace Hardware Stores chain.

Thai’s seen success thus far – the company posted revenue of $4 million in 2009, up 82 percent from $2.2 million in 2008 and has been growing so quickly that it’s moving from an 18,000-square-foot warehouse to a 50,000-square-foot one – but he’s also hit some bumps.

Thai said one of his biggest challenges has been obtaining financing to fund the company’s expansion efforts. What’s more, the intense competition within the green industry has been daunting.

“It’s very cutthroat,” Thai said. “You are getting into an industry where players are trying to stomp you out.”

Still, Thai can’t imagine a time when he would work as an employee for another company. He even expects to launch another venture in the future.

“I would start another company,” Thai said. “The people around me have the entrepreneur bug, too. My friends, they go to work and don’t like it and want to do their own thing.”