The summer season is hands-down the busiest (and most profitable) part of the year for lawn care businesses. From pool parties and picnics to backyard parties and barbecues, everyone is spending more time outside and wants their yard in tip-top shape. But come September, business slows and your crews aren’t nearly as needed.
Well, this year, we want to help you change that. Instead of accepting the normal lull in business, we have a way to keep your crews busy and profitable: Holiday lighting! Read on to learn more.
First, Why You Should Offer Holiday Lighting
The holidays are busy enough as it is. Traveling to see family, guests staying in the home, celebrations happening every weekend–there’s never enough time to get it all done. Most homeowners are so overwhelmed by other tasks, hanging their exterior holiday lights falls to the bottom of the list. And that’s where your landscape business comes in.
If you’re able to offer this service, we guarantee most people will take you up on it. Why? Because hanging holiday lights takes time and patience–which can be in short supply if your clients are busy checking off the rest of their to-do list. Having a reliable team they can count on (ideally, year after year) will encourage them to book and refer to friends and family. Everyone will appreciate this service as it saves clients their most valuable resource: Time.
Second, How You’ll Incorporate It
This landscape business opportunity could have a major impact on your bottom line, and if you’re serious about offering this service, there are a few things you should know:
- Timing: Because this service is seasonal, you’ll have a tight window to get the job done. For this reason, we recommend creating a schedule now to save you the headache later.
- For example, you’ll want to buy your lights early. Summer is a great time to start, but February or March are even better to get the best post-holiday deals.
- Second, you’ll need to start marketing this new service around October or early November. After a few years and repeat customers, you can begin offering it to them earlier with savings incentives, so you can get a clearer idea of what your workload will look like.
- And finally, you’ll want to know the install timing. Typically, people want their lights anywhere from November 1st to January 2nd. Prepare yourself now for the rush jobs right before and right after Thanksgiving!
- Pricing: Now that you know the timeline, it’s time to talk money. When it comes to holiday lighting installations, you can either go with a leasing option or a selling option. Leasing involves buying the lights yourself, installing, maintaining, removing, and storing them. The latter is more hands-off as you’re only responsible for install and the customer will handle any maintenance or replacements. We find many customers prefer the leasing option more as they’re able to play around with different lights each year!
- Once you choose your selling model, you’ll need to know your hourly rate–so get ready to practice hanging lights because that’s exactly how you’ll learn to price yourself. Time your crew as they install lights around trees and bushes, and a 1-story, 2-story, 3-story building. Lastly use a labor calculator to determine your hourly rate. From there you can add premiums for difficult landscapes, steep roofs, etc.
- Safety: Finally, we have to discuss safety. It’s important sure you take the same approach to training and safety with lighting jobs to maintain the health of your team and to protect your clients property. We recommend searching for resources and organizations online like Christmas Decor and others for training resources and to make sure you’re in compliance when it comes to Safety.
- Once you feel certain you know the safest way to install lights, you’ll still need to invest in the right gear for your crew: gloves, ladders, ladder levelers, ladder standoff arms, roofing shoes, and harnesses. From there, it’s nice to create a safety checklist for each of your employees to go through before beginning an install job.
Christmas is Coming Early
If you see the value in adding this service to your lawn care company’s roster, we want to help. We’re in the business of growing your business, and this is a great opportunity if you feel it’s a good fit for your area and clientele. Talk to someone today for more details on getting started with holiday lighting installations–or join a peer group with an Executive Coach who can offer even more ways to optimize your current operation.