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Weekend Chore a Bright And Booming Business

The owner and operator of a local jet-ski rental business, Kevin Boyd’s business was based on the summer and spring seasons.

Looking for something to do in the off-season, Boyd decided to start a service-oriented business and came up with the idea of hanging Christmas lights.

Established in 1998, the Christmas Light Pros is a thriving business. Boyd no longer owns the jet-ski rental business, selling that seven years ago to focus full time on the Christmas light business.

“It has grown quite a bit,” Boyd said.

The company, based in San Diego, now offers a guidebook for potential entrepreneurs, sells the licensing of its name, and holds three-day training courses on how to start a Christmas light hanging business.

The three-day training course costs $10,000 and includes the guidebook, advertising materials, wholesale discounts on lights, uniforms and the use of the name.

The cost for the guidebook alone is $1,500.

Currently the company has eight franchisees operating under the Christmas Light Pros name in several cities throughout California as well as in Florida, Georgia, Nevada and Colorado.

The business has done so well because of the enormous potential for returns on their investment, Boyd said.

“People can make over $100,000 in a few months,” he said.

The Christmas Light Pros have hung lights throughout residential areas of San Diego County as well as commercially at locations such as the Pala Mesa Resort and Brecht BMW dealership.

The company is hoping to add the Carlsbad Company Stores to its client roster, Boyd said.

With a crew of about eight people, the company provides the lights, hangs them and takes them down at the end of the season.


Into The Thousands

The typical job, which can last about three hours, can be priced at a minimum of $200 per house and increases the closer it gets to the holiday season, Boyd said, adding, “Prices can go as high as in the thousands.”

Boyd said the company can do as many as 15 houses per day working from about 7 a.m. to 10 p.m and expects to reach $225,000 in revenue this season alone.

“Our typical customer is either two working parents or a very exclusive neighborhood where money is no object,” Boyd said. “It is either a convenience thing for them or the project is beyond the capability of what they can do.”

Boyd is not alone in the market; signs advertising Christmas light hanging services can be found at freeway off-ramps and on Web sites such as Craig’s List.

Charles Stanley has been operating a handyman service for the last 16 years.

In 2003, he started offering Christmas light hanging services to his clients.

“I just like hanging Christmas lights,” Stanley said. “My house is like the Griswold’s house (from the movie ‘National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation’ with Chevy Chase).”

Stanley charges about $65 per hour and provides the lights.

Last year, Stanley said that he did about 20 houses in Poway, Rancho San Diego and Carlsbad.

Some houses he has done have been quite a challenge, he said, adding that one house in Carlsbad was so tall he had to rent a 20-foot ladder.

“It was a mission to do it.”


It’s A Gift

Stanley, who owns and operates Charles Stanley Handyman Services in Poway, said he expects this year’s business to be about the same as last year.

“I’m not into it to make a profit,” Stanley said. “It is more like my gift to the community.”

Diane Finley has been hanging holiday lights for seven years.

Owner of Poway-based Light Works, Finley caters to the more exclusive clients, focusing on Poway and Rancho Santa Fe.

With 25 employees, Light Works expects to hang holiday lights at some 220 homes this season.

The majority of Light Works clients are extremely wealthy with large properties, which can take all day to decorate, Finley said.

“We are on big properties,” she added. “We do guest houses alone that are 10,000 square feet.”

Finley charges a minimum amount of $500 per house.

“It’s a big business,” she said.

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