It’s never too early to start planning holiday lighting projects.
Three members of the Association of Outdoor Lighting Professionals who have experience in this business sector offer tips on how to execute holiday lighting projects to ensure their success from start to finish.
1. Book projects ahead of time for the best results.
“Booking and scheduling holiday lighting jobs depends on your company’s availability, location, market and weather,” notes Jeremy Ferchau, owner of Treasure Valley Lighting & Display in Eagle, Idaho. The company has about 150 residential holiday lighting customers and about 30 commercial property clients.
The company begins some of its commercial property clients’ projects in late September. By the end of October, all commercial clients and HOA properties are completed, tested and ready to be plugged in on Nov. 1, at which time the company transitions to residential clients.
Ferchau’s company aims to complete installations before the second week of December, as the closer it gets to Christmas, the higher chance winter weather conditions may prevent project completions.
Decorating Elves serves the greater Tampa, Florida, area with outdoor holiday and event lighting through installation, design and design-builds.
The company starts the process of commercial account renewables and responding to requests for proposals in early July, making requested changes and solidifying contracts by the end of that month.
In August, the company starts confirming residential account renewals and scheduling projects.
“We start making sure we have the inventory in the building to take care of those accounts or get it ordered,” says CEO Nicholas Schriver, CLVLT, COLD.
Chris Apfelstadt, CLVLT, Light Up Columbus president, notes the company gets inundated with phone calls from people wanting professional lighting in mid- to late November or when the first snow hits.
He encourages clients and potential clients to call in July “when they can get the most attention from professionals to create the best plan, have a spot on the schedule and have it be stress-free when it comes down to the actual installation.
“If you’re a large commercial or municipal project, it’s even earlier just because the nature of the business and the time window that exists,” he adds.
Light Up Columbus serves residential, municipal and commercial clients with holiday lighting, landscape lighting, event lighting and architectural lighting.
“We maintain ownership for the majority of the product,” says Apfelstadt. “We store it in a temperature-
controlled warehouse. Some clients keep the same display each year. Others like the opportunity to try different options and colors from year to year. We have the flexibility to change it.”
Apfelstadt says his company does fewer projects, but they are six-figure projects such as lighting parks for a city, retirement homes or other commercial areas.
“The longer you’ve been doing it and the more clients you have, the more you stretch out the season to try to get as much work done as you can in that short period of time,” he adds.
While most holiday lighting projects are for Christmas, Apfelstadt’s company has covered requests for blue lighting for Hanukkah. Lighting options for Diwali are also getting more popular. Some clients request Halloween lighting.
Some projects include an LED module that can produce almost any color using red, green and blue as primary colors.
“With remote control or online, they can change the color,” Apfelstadt says. “They do the installation once and can change it for different holidays.”
Those who do not yet have holiday lighting clients should begin by reaching out to the current customer base to let them know the service is now being offered, says Ferchau.
Consider offering a discount for early bookings, he adds.
“We usually reach out to our current holiday customers in July and receive deposits for the upcoming season,” Ferchau says. “By the end of August, our entire holiday schedule is planned out with room for new customers.”
Ferchau advises company managers to decide whether they will be selling or leasing the lights to customers.
The selling model generates more revenue upfront and less customer turnover in future years, Ferchau says, adding the main benefit for the leasing model is better long-term profitability. It also makes it easier to sell one’s turnkey business in the future by using multiyear contracts and keeping clear, accurate inventory records.
It’s important to know the competition, Ferchau says.
“If you are a reputable, professional company that carries all the necessary insurance and certifications to safely and effectively serve your customers, price yourself accordingly,” he adds. “You are not competing with the college kid down the street who is home for the holidays or the random guy on Craigslist. Set yourself apart with professionalism, excellence and quality.”
2. Plan ahead to ensure installation goes smoothly.
Ferchau notes training is key. Ensure the team knows the products, installation techniques and safety protocols. Also important is having the right material, lights, tools, equipment, ladders and labor ready to go before the season starts.
Ferchau advises business owners to get as many supplies as they can afford before the holiday season starts.
“You don’t want to be in the middle of the season waiting for materials to arrive,” he says, adding distributors usually offer discounts for buying products pre-season.
Only use commercial-grade materials from reputable manufacturers, Ferchau says.
“It may seem expensive at first, but you will save so much in the long run in terms of longevity and ease of installation. Plus, you want to offer the best to your clients.”
Shriver notes it’s critical that trees be trimmed and other elements, such as rooflines, that will host the lights are poised to do so. Even something as rudimentary as ensuring that electrical outlets are on-site and work correctly cannot be overlooked.
Occasionally, a project can have some speed bumps. Apfelstadt recalls one large installation sponsored by heavy hitters and attracting the news media.
“My biggest advice is to make sure someone who knows what they’re doing is in control of plugging it in and flipping the switch,” he says. “We had a staffer decide she wanted to do it. In the last second, she saw another cord and plugged them both in and tripped the GFI. There was a live countdown on television and it didn’t turn on.
“Everybody was embarrassed. But anytime in business when something goes wrong, you fix the problem as quickly as possible, communicate effectively and then most people understand.”
3. Design is significant to success.
“Make sure it’s well thought out and that it has a flow and a rhythm to it — that it’s not all twisted and janky,” says Schriver. “In a residential setting, you want to make sure it’s welcoming.”
Identify key elements in the landscape that reinforce a welcoming front door entry, he adds.
“Everybody has different reasons what it’s about, but it’s about enjoying your family, being together, reminiscing on the year, welcoming people in and being hospitable,” Schriver says.
Commercial settings encompass different design types, he says.
“If it’s retail, are we grabbing people’s attention, having them stop and come in? That can be done with banners, a huge tree, outlining buildings, projection and wreaths,” says Schriver.
“If it’s hospitality — an outdoor café, restaurant, hotel — are we creating classic ambiance that makes people enjoy it? Does it create comfort? Does it make the guests want to be there?” he says.
Municipal projects should create a scene that’s enjoyable for adults and children. Consider whether there will be audience interaction, guidance from one area to the next or places that will foster a sense of community. “Huge design is everything in the creation space and good design executed well is amazing,” Shriver says.
Schriver says there’s a reason that holiday displays attract people from outside of the neighborhood to drive through to view them.
“It’s not just the Christmas lights, it’s what the Christmas lights represent,” he says. “What’s amazing about Christmas lighting against anything else is there’s something underlying that gives us joy, makes us feel good about being alive, about being human, about interacting. There are connections, the social aspect, there’s family.”
Apfelstadt points out “on the municipal side, governments are trying to create space that brings value to the residents. During winter months, there are parks that people don’t go to when it’s cold. By taking that space and making it an attraction, it allows the residents to get more joy out of that space they’re paying for in their taxes year-round.
“This is not an easy feat when you do it at the level that we do it at,” Schriver says. “It’s a ton of work. But people are thrilled.” – Nicholas Schriver, CLVLT, COLD, Decorating Elves
4. Balance with other projects.
At Treasure Valley Lighting & Display, eight company employees install Christmas lights during the holiday season. The rest of the year, the company designs and installs low-voltage landscape lighting systems and offers temporary lighting services for weddings and special events.
“If your company offers other services that overlap with the holiday lighting season such as sprinkler blowouts, fall cleanup and landscape lighting, consider having dedicated crews that primarily operate in one facet of your business,” says Ferchau.
Ferchau notes that may not always be possible, so some employees and the owner may have to be involved in most or all the installations depending on a company’s size.
“You should always leave some space in your schedule for things like inclement weather, unforeseen service calls, and new customer consultations or sales and installations,” he adds.
Juggling holiday light projects with other work necessitates starting the holiday projects mid-year, Schriver notes, adding during peak installation season in October and November, the company is about 85% complete with installations.
“It does conflict with our landscape lighting and outdoor lighting. It conflicts with our social lives, our personal lives,” he says. “For a business owner, it’s a difficult balance. It’s a well-crafted script. When it’s going well, it’s a beautiful play. And when it’s not, it’s bad news.”
Light Up Columbus shuts down landscape lighting projects — which represents 60% of company revenues — for the holiday season.
5. Consider hiring more people for the season.
To handle the load, Schriver offers full-time employees overtime.
“They are our best people,” he says. “They know what’s going on. They’ve been through it before. We offer all of the seasonal people that return first dibs on hours. We hire and recruit seasonal staff to come in and fill in the blanks.
“We outsource contractors as needed. Sometimes we use them for running certain types of equipment; sometimes we use them for drivers.”
Light Up Columbus has seven full-time employees year-round.
“We ramp up significantly for the holidays,” Apfelstadt says. “We had 17 people on the payroll during the holidays. That’s one of the biggest challenges in this industry is during the holiday season, you’re competing with all of the other companies that need seasonal workers — retail, warehouse, shipping, chocolate factories.”
Light Up Columbus works with a recruiting company and also has a referral program in which it pays $400 to anyone who finds someone to work there for more than a week.
“We’re also constantly looking at other industries that have people who work outdoors that aren’t busy in that winter time period — roofers, landscape irrigation guys or blacktop people,” Apfelstadt says.
Joining a national organization like the AOLP, attending conferences and networking with others in the field provides benefits to those new to holiday lighting as well as established companies, he adds.
“We love working with different cities because we impact so many people. Our company mission is ‘We brighten lives and bring joy through light.’ I love large projects because we impact so many people,” says Apfelstadt.
“We have tree lighting ceremonies,” he says. “In Dublin, Ohio, we do a 40-foot Christmas tree and tunnels. There are thousands of people surrounding the tree, doing a countdown, flipping the switch, and having everyone’s eyes light up and the kids ‘ooh and ahh.’ It allows us to see our mission and bring joy through what we do.”
