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Christmas Business Igin Article
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By Richard Lenti
September 2005 |
More and more, landscape and maintenance contractors are adding winter services to their offerings to keep them working during what is traditionally considered the off-season. Some of those services are a natural fit. Snow removal comes to mind as a logical extension of a service you are already providing. But there is another lucrative service that will help keep your business doors open year-round. Welcome to the world of holiday lights.
As people’s lives become more and more complicated, and they have less time on their hands, some traditions fall by the wayside. When it comes to decorating their house with Christmas lights, it is often something that’s put off to the last moment, if it’s done at all! It’s not that people don’t want their homes beautifully lit up for the holidays. It’s just too time consuming, and it really is a chore.
For some, holiday lighting has become their core business. Brad Finkle’s company, Creative Decorating in Omaha, Nebraska, is celebrating its 25th anniversary. In that time, the company has installed over 10 million Christmas lights on thousands of homes. In just the Omaha area, Finkle says the holiday decoration business has grown from just a handful of companies in the 1980’s, to more than one hundred. And for him, it all began as just a hobby.
As a teenager, he began lighting his parent’s house for the fun of it. That display eventually grew to 10,000 lights and 100 lighted plastic figures. When a neighbor offered to pay Finkle to help decorate her home, Creative Decorating was born.
“Within a couple of years, all her friends were calling and asking if I would put up their lights. I started with a dozen homes,” says Finkle, “and it’s grown to over 200 homes and businesses.” Several city parks also use his service.
Creative Decorating offers a full-line of how-to manuals, along with training videos, to help demonstrate all the tips and techniques used in decorating. Since repeat business depends on doing a good job right out of the gate, this might be a good way to get a better understanding of not just the mechanics of hanging lights, but the principles of design.
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