Starting a Christmas light installation company is an exciting journey filled with unique challenges and rewards. Reflecting on my path from a novice entrepreneur to a seasoned professional, there are many lessons learned from 15 years of installing Christmas lights. Whether you are expanding your window cleaning service, power washing company, or starting a new Christmas light installation company from scratch, here are ten things I wish I knew before I started:
How to Handle Seasonality
The intense seasonality can be both a blessing and a challenge. Plan to manage cash flow during off-peak months and consider offering related services in the off-season to maintain revenue streams. A “Christmas in July” campaign where you incentivize customers to book early is particularly effective. All repeat customers should have their lights installed first and as early as possible. Stack them in October, September, or even August. November should be reserved for new customers. When it comes time for removals, run a lean crew of your top performers. If the removals drag out into April, that’s ok. Most clients just turn the lights off anyway. By lengthening your season, you’ll take some of the “sting” out of seasonality.
Importance of Quality Products
Invest in high-quality lights and materials from the start. Cheap products lead to frequent replacements and dissatisfied customers. For example, you don’t want warm-white turning yellow, or pure-white turning blue in a few years. This will make the display unattractive, especially when you start having to replace single bulbs or strings with new ones, which will look different. LED stability is crucial for long term success.
Safety First
Safety cannot be overstated. I’ve had some scares – all preventable. Ensure you and your team are well-versed in safety protocols to prevent accidents and liabilities. Training and proper equipment are crucial. Only use high-quality ladders. Tripod ladders are particularly dangerous, so only use Hasegawa branded ladders. Also take the time to educate your team on power management and ensure they know the limitations of the products. Your supplier can help with this. Dielectric grease is really helpful too, so use plugs that already have this included.
Building a Reliable Team
Hiring skilled and reliable workers is crucial. Take the time to find and train the right people. Interview for soft skills that are not trainable and then build a robust training program for the trainable skills. Must have soft-skills are:
1.Winner Mindset (aka sales oriented)
2. Obsessed
3. Good person
4. Proactive
5. Natural leader
Read the article “5 Must-Have Characteristics to Interview for When Hiring Christmas Light Installers” for a list of interview questions that will help you find this talent.
Efficient Scheduling
Efficient scheduling systems are essential during peak season. Invest in software that can handle bookings, reminders, and routing. If aerial lifts are required, stack those clients together so the lift can be rented out for consecutive weeks or even months. Steep discounts are provided by the equipment companies for monthly rentals and you can still charge daily rates to customers.
Customer Relationships
Building strong customer relationships leads to gain repeat business and referrals. Go the extra mile to provide exceptional service, from the initial consultation to post-installation follow-ups. If you get those 5-star review ratings up, the search engines will reward you. If a job experiences a setback, stay cool and turn it into opportunity. Great companies are often defined by their recoveries.
Marketing Matters
Effective marketing strategies are key to attracting and retaining customers. Invest in a strong online presence, including a professional website, SEO, and social media marketing. You don’t need manicured content on your social media. The key is relevance. Don’t waste money on untested ads. Instead, create specific content for very specific market segments and post it for free. If something outperforms, adapt it to other market segments too. If it continues to do well, then (and only then) consider spending money on paid ads to push the content further. Remember: social media companies love to keep people on their platforms for as long as possible. If your content is relevant, the platform will reward you by sharing it to more people.
Learn to Say “No”
Stay focused on what makes you the most profit – not just any profit. Clients may ask about inflatables or large figures from big box stores. A commercial client may ask for an image projection or an augmented reality display. Politely decline and focus on what your team is awesome at. Unique projects often don’t go well, become distractions, and delays could easily derail other lucrative business in an already short season without a chance for catching up.
Legal Considerations
Understand the legal aspects, from insurance to permits. Ensure your business complies with all city regulations to avoid fines and ensure smooth operations. Hire expert legal counsel to draft everything from customer contracts to employee agreements. It’s money worth spending.
Continuous Learning
The industry evolves. Stay updated with the latest trends and technologies to keep your business competitive. Attend industry conferences and workshops regularly. Join several social media groups with other professional installers to learn and share some of your lessons too. Also consider a mentor who has been through it before and can share their knowledge. The Holiday Lights Academy is a great place to start for accountable mentorship specific to decorative lighting.
Starting a Christmas light company has a very low barrier to entry, but there are many lessons to learn as you build. They sometimes become expensive lessons too, particularly as you scale. If you want to scale quickly without too many growing pains, talk to people who have done it before. Learn more from their mistakes and less from your own. If you are considering getting into the Christmas light business, sign up as Pro Installer here and get a complimentary 45 min training call here. We’ll make sure you start the right way.