Stay Lit! - Ep. 1: Why Christmas Lights?

What's up, dudes? It's the first episode of the second season of the Stay Lit! podcast, all about the professional Christmas Light Installation industry. I've joined as the showrunner and host, with original hosts Nick Glassett of The Jump Off and Let's Get Lit and Matt Billington of Big & Bright Inflatables and Let's Get Lit Supply! This is just the introductory episode where we're all just getting to know each others' styles. Later on this season we'll dive into a lot of cool things in the Christmas Light industry, and I'm really looking forward to it!

Check us out on Facebook, Twitter,  Instagram,  Totally Rad Christmas Mall & Arcade, Teepublic.com, or TotallyRadChristmas.com!  Later, dudes!

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:17

That was awesome. That was pretty I wasn't ready for that one.

SPEAKER_02 0:22

That one was very I do write theme songs. I do write music. I didn't write that one. I will write a better one. Or I might just use it. It was kind of catchy. I might just use it. Add some live instruments on top. It had me wanting to kind of rock.

SPEAKER_03 0:34

That was not what played when I just finished that one with Alvin. It was like a 30-second countdown with like snow going up. So that was that was so far and away better than what I thought I was going to see. That was unbelievable.

SPEAKER_02 0:46

I like the dollar signs. The dollar signs did it for me. That's that work. All right. What's up, everybody? Welcome to the show where we turn roof lines into revenue and Christmas lights into cash. Now, if you've ever looked at a house in December, I'm sure you've driven by and you thought, wow, that's gorgeous. We look at it and say, that's$2,500 right there. This is the podcast for installers who are done playing small and ready to build a Christmas light business. Now we're talking systems, we're talking scaling, pricing, safety, marketing, everything you need to go from a seasonal side hustle to a six-figure operation. I'm your host, Jerry D, and this is season two of Stay Lit, Mastering the Christmas Light Hustle. Now, of course, I couldn't do a podcast alone. So I'm joined by my very talented co-host. He's a businessman, entrepreneur, Christmas light expert, bounce house rock star, and an internet celebrity from the jump off. It's Christmas Light superstar, Nick Blassen. Nick, how's it going?

SPEAKER_03 1:41

What is up, guys? It is going very good. It is great to be here.

SPEAKER_02 1:45

Right. Well, it's good to see you. I hadn't met you before in person, so it was really nice to see you back at uh Iowa a couple of nights ago.

SPEAKER_03 1:52

Yeah, that was awesome.

SPEAKER_02 1:53

Now, sitting next to me is my other co-host. He's also a businessman and entrepreneur. He's an innovator in the bounce house industry. It's owner and operator of Big and Bright Inflatables, Matt Billington. Matt, what's happening?

SPEAKER_04 2:04

Hello, Jerry. Thanks for having me on the podcast. I just want to shout out and say anybody that saw season one of the Stay Lit Podcast can see that Jerry has definitely taken this to a new level for us. We're a little bit into it.

SPEAKER_02 2:16

We're only two minutes into it. So yes, if you didn't know, this is season two. I was not here for season one. This is my first episode. So I'm still trying to figure everything out and get uh used to your guys' style, get used to working with you guys. But so far it's been an absolute pleasure, and I've been very blessed. For those of you that did not catch season one, we might not know us. So we're gonna introduce ourselves a little bit, just tell a little bit about ourselves and then we'll go from there. So why don't we start with you, Nick?

SPEAKER_03 2:44

So, first thing I'm gonna say for anybody that doesn't know who I am, I'm rather restless. So I move around a bunch. I'm gonna be drinking coffee, I'm gonna be drinking my water bottle. It's just I can't sit still. So like I'm all over the place. So uh I would not make a good television personality, but for the internet, it's just fine. So I started a bounce house business in the summer of 2019, and then I started my first Christmas light season as an installer, also in 2019. Just kind of I'd quit my job, wanted to be an entrepreneur, had no idea what I wanted to do, and I just kind of stumbled accidentally into both businesses. And then it turned out that I'm a good entrepreneur, which is exactly what I was hoping. And so I was able to scale those businesses, and now that's you know, that's what I do because those are the first two I started. I scaled them up, they got big, and so I never left. And so, so I have a bounce house rental company and I have a Christmas light installation company. And then I also started doing YouTube videos in 2021 and with with real no expectations, hopes and dreams and prayers, but no expectations. And it turned out that I somehow was good on camera. I don't, whatever. It just is what it is. And so the the YouTube channel popped, and then I kind of became an internet personality in in the bounce house world. I started a Shopify store. That's all this stuff is behind me. I sell that on my Shopify store, the jumpoffstore.com. And then I kind of started becoming a little bit of an internet personality in the Christmas lighting space. Then when Matt Matt approached me to co-found Let's Get Lit Supply in 2023, we became business partners. And now it's 2026, and all the things are big and running great and awesome.

SPEAKER_02 4:21

So right on. Very cool. What about you, man?

SPEAKER_04 4:25

Well, I'm Matthew Billington. I own Big and Bright Inflatables. We're an inflatable manufacturer here in the Dallas, Texas area. My story is kind of correlates with Nick's. I started in 2020 as a rental company. Towards the end of 2020, I decided I was going to start manufacturing a few because my background was more in manufacturing. In 2021, I ended up going all in with the manufacturing and at the end of 2021, I sold my rental business. But at the same time, I started a Christmas light installation business. So by the end of 2021, I sold the rental business, but I was full in on Christmas light installs, and I was uh full on manufacturing in the inflatable business. So fast forward to 2022, inflatable started blowing up and have ever since. And Christmas lights also took off in 2022. And so in 2023, I said, hey, I'm already doing all of this in the manufacturing space. Christmas lights, it's not quite manufacturing, but it's distribution and all the kind of the same things. I had the space croached to Nick about it, and the rest is kind of history. So he kind of told you that. So at this point, we kill it with Let's Get Lit Supply and Big and Bright Inflatables. And so last year, both Nick and I's business were just expanding at the point that we couldn't give Let's Get Lit the love that it needed. And so we discussed it and went after Jerry here. And you can see why just in the first few minutes of this conversation. So before I pass it off for him to introduce himself, a fun fact is Jerry is the one that taught me about Christmas lights back in 2020. And so I've been fond of him ever since and always looked at him as sort of a mentor and somebody to go to if I had Christmas light questions. So I know over the past few years, Nick and I have been that for some of you. Jerry was my version of that. And so I want to thank you for the last six years. It's been a great ride, and so glad that you're on our team this year. So I'll pass it to you for your intro.

SPEAKER_02 6:30

Yeah, so started off as a band director right out of college, but I liked having a life. So I got out of that and went into selling insurance, did that for a few years, paid for my house, which is really nice. But I use that experience in sales to sell Christmas lights and have been doing that for the last nine, eight, eight years. So very excited. I you're right. I taught I taught you how to get into the business, just some basics. We didn't really have a full class and trainings like let's get lit does later on in the year, which by the way, if you're interested in, we're gonna have dates for those fairly soon. So be on the lookout as well. But just a one-on-one kind of training. Matt came in, I remember because you just had surgery, I think. So we had the cane. I had a hip replacement back then. He was the you know, he was the installer with the cane. I was the cane installer. He was the cane installer, but he got all his installs done and he came in and bought material, and which is always nice from a distributor perspective, and went from there and become a good friend and look forward to becoming really good friends with you as well, Nick, and kind of going from there.

SPEAKER_04 7:30

So, fun fact about Jerry, he left this out, but he started right after college. What what did you get a degree in, Jerry?

SPEAKER_02 7:37

My degree is actually physics with the minor in music composition.

SPEAKER_04 7:40

So he's uh he's a physicist over here or something. He should be at NASA, but instead he's gonna teach you how to do Christmas lights.

SPEAKER_02 7:47

Well, I decided I I finished the degree because I was almost done, but I realized like my senior year that I didn't want to do anything. So at that point, I was like three, three and a half years in. So I was like, yeah, might as well finish it.

SPEAKER_03 8:00

So I I took physics in in high school my junior year, I think. And I I loved it because it's I just have that kind of brain, except I'm not good at math, like naturally. And so I had to, I came up with some scheme to get out of physics class with because I played soccer. I'm like, well, it can't be my last period of the day because I got to leave for soccer and I'll miss physics. And so they were gonna let me switch periods, and then I somewhere along the way swapped it on them and got them to switch me out of the class. And I'm like the only person that was able to like leave a class mid-semester, but I was able to like pull the parachute and get out of physics because uh what couldn't even finish the semester.

SPEAKER_01 8:39

Why would they change math? Math is math is math.

SPEAKER_02 8:43

Yeah, the math gets really crazy, but we're not here to talk about that kind of math. We are here to talk about the kind of math that puts cash in your wallet. So, first question, really easy one. Today's more of an introductory, uh, an introductory kind of review and episode because you don't really know us, or you don't really know me, at least. So, first question why Christmas lights? Why why this business? Why should anyone do this business? Why don't we start with you, Matt?

SPEAKER_04 9:08

Well, I mean, there's a lot of reasons to do it. I did it for a couple of reasons. I did it because at the time I was running a seasonal business that died down in the winter and I wanted to keep my employees around. So I had got the I had right when I got my first rental business, I also bought big and bright Christmas lights at the same time.com, right? Because I knew, hey, this is a seasonal business, we're gonna slow down. So anybody that's like roofing, landscaping, firefighting, college students, construction, anything that slows down as you get closer to the Christmas season, this is perfect for. So for me, that was the reason. I had employees, I wanted to pay through the winter, but I didn't want to pay out of pocket. So I found them something else to do and to pay for them. And Christmas lights was the way. So that's what the like the initial hook for me was. But once I got in it, it was two things. One, it was the love. Like I really liked the creativity part of it. I really enjoyed seeing my work afterwards, how beautiful it was. I really liked the smile on pieces, people's faces, bringing them their holiday the way that they were supposed to. And then the money. It was so much more profitable than just paying like people. Nick can tell you about a swimming pool in his yard from Christmas money. All the but basically, it, you know, the the appeal for me was paying people and then loving it. Um, but then the fact that it's so profitable just blew my mind. I tell people this all the time, and I mean it a hundred percent. If Christmas lights were year-round, if I could do them year-round, you wouldn't see me doing big and bright inflatables. As much as I love it, it's just so profitable for the amount of work that you actually put into it that it it's it's like a cheat code, man. I can't believe I can't believe it's legal, to be honest.

SPEAKER_02 10:55

Now, fun fact, later on in the season, we are going to have an episode where we will talk about Christmas lights year-round, but we'll get there when we get there. Nick, why'd you get into Christmas lights?

SPEAKER_03 11:06

Yeah, I I got into Christmas lights because I'd quit my job, was doing nothing. Well, I was driving Uber and selling garbage off the side of the road because I quit my job and went to zero. Didn't even have a car because I had a fleet car that I had to give away. And so my next door neighbor was like, I can never get Scott to hang the damn Christmas lights. I bet people would pay you, right? Everybody was bringing me all these business ideas. You can clean windows, you can clean solar panels. And she said, I bet you could charge people to hang Christmas lights. I'm like, that one sounds quirky enough. I don't know why. I have no idea why I liked it. But went inside and started, you know, Googling and found out that it's a thing. And so I was like, F it. I just started it because I needed something to drum up cap, you know, anything to go make money. I ended up making$2,500 because I was really close to Thanksgiving, which is really, really late to start a Christmas side install business. And and but I made$2,500 as an unemployed person that's trying to follow his entrepreneurial dreams. And so it was like what when when Matt talks about the money, it's it it was just like this unbelievable thing that I couldn't wrap my brain around, right? And I'm driving to their house and just putting up the garbage ice icle lights they have in the attic at this time, right? I don't know anything about the real industry. And and and I was just like, that was unbelievable. And so then the next year in 2020, the my my rental business for inflatables had you know really, really, really taken off. And so I started earlier, so I thought, right, which was like November 8th, and I was booking clients the day like I made a Facebook page and was booking clients that day. And and that season went and made about$20,000. Again, still hanging people's lights out of their attics because I didn't know I didn't know about professional stuff. But but you know, to go make$20,000 in a month as a new entrepreneur was like, yeah, again, it was like, I was like, holy shit, it's gonna work. I remember I remember being like, I'm gonna be able to be an entrepreneur because the jump off did what it did, and then let's get lit just did what it did. And so it just opened the door where I was like, I can do them, I can I can basically work 12 months a year and fulfill my dream of being an entrepreneur.

SPEAKER_00 13:23

This costly, you've got to make the money first. Then when you get the money, you get the power.

SPEAKER_03 13:28

Some of the other things that Matt hit on, I I fully am the same. Like I did the crappiest job ever of putting up my own Christmas lights at my house because it was tedious and I hated it. As soon as the people were paying me a small sum of money, all of a sudden, like my my work ethic and my high standards take over, you know, and then I'm making these beautiful displays, and you do one at night after you know, after daylight savings has ended. So it's almost always dark by the time you finish your last job, and you step back and you're just like, you created this beautiful thing. And it's just like, I don't know, it's like the money is amazing, but that the emotional piece of it, and I and I'm a dude that doesn't really like Christmas itself, the holiday, as much as the normal person either. Like I don't hate it or anything, but but that that emotional piece was just uh addicting, it's just unbelievable.

SPEAKER_02 14:23

Because you're making magic for families, right? I mean, it really is something that's awe-inspiring, and it's just the awe and the wonder, it's is just so palpable, especially when a family comes home with children and they see their lights on for the first time. I mean, that's probably an incredible feeling.

SPEAKER_04 14:39

It gives you that Hallmark movie feeling multiple times a season.

SPEAKER_03 14:44

It sounds cheesy, like it, like you say it to like I say it to my my guys. So so last year we ran three-ish and four, or sometimes four install crews, and so I had new guys, right? And I tell them all that, and they're like, uh-huh. Like, you know, they're sitting in a chair, there's usually a chair right there when I do interviews, and they're like, Yeah, for sure. Then they start and they work a week and they text me, they're like, dude, you were right. Like, why is this so fun? Like, I'm like, I told you, like, I know it sounded cheesy, and it's crazy easy too.

SPEAKER_02 15:14

So later on, we'll get into the ease of it as well. And that's actually one of the perks of getting into the Christmas light install business, is that you don't really need any kind of licenses or anything, depending on state, because it's all low voltage. You don't need a whole lot of material to start with. You, as long as you get a good deposit, you can get enough to get your material to do your first house. You don't really need any crazy tools as long as you got a ladder and like some wire cutters. If you don't have wire cutters, that's okay. I mean, I usually use my box knife when I uh you know when I do it.

SPEAKER_03 15:44

So I use regular scissors.

SPEAKER_02 15:46

Scissors work too.

SPEAKER_04 15:47

I've seen those in a pinch, in a pinch. I love it. No, you're fine, you're fine. Mostly around my house, because I, you know, I for whatever reason I lose all my tools at home. I run in and grab my wife's scissors and come out, take finish up the whatever I left over.

SPEAKER_02 16:05

But I do want to touch on something you said. You said uh you couldn't believe that people were willing to pay you to put lights up. Shut up and take my money. That's why this industry has grown the way it has, because it has really started to move towards the service side of it, right? Yes. Where like we don't just market like we're just hanging lights. It's we design your look, we install it, we maintain it, you know, then we store it, we do everything for you so you don't have to worry about anything. All you have to do is pick what color you want, and everything else we're gonna take care of. And it's hard to believe that people will spend that kind of money for not only lights on their house, but wrap in a tree because trees are you know difficult to do, and a lot of people don't want to do them. I mean, I don't want to do them, that's why uh so much, right? But you know, it it really is something amazing that homeowners are actually willing to spend just for the convenience.

SPEAKER_04 16:59

For the convenience to to avoid the danger. A lot of people feel like they're gonna be on the roofs or all of these sort of things, but just let's just face it. I mean, America is busy. People are busy, and Christmas time just amps that up for most people, and they want to bring that spirit or that thing that they saw when they were a kid to their children and all of that, but they don't have time. And this is just this giant stressor that is also kind of dangerous, right? To the, you know, in their mind, at least for you thinking about getting in it, it's not dangerous. We're gonna show you how to make it not dangerous, but for the homeowner, it feels like there's this danger to it. When done properly, there's not, but it feels like it. So between those two feelings, they're just like, let me write a check for that, move on and join my family, meet all my other obligations, and let you do it.

SPEAKER_03 17:51

And yeah, and we didn't to kind of to make a point off of that. If you're a homeowner, right? The reason I did such a poor job of my own home is because I put up Christmas lights once a year. So, in order to get good at it, how many years does it have to be before I actually figure it out? Then the knowledge you know goes away 12 months later. And so as a professional, I do more houses in a day, right, than the homeowner is going to do in in multiple years. So it's way less dangerous for me. It might could it could potentially actually be dangerous for them because they're they're they're they're clueless, right? They don't they don't know what to do. The other thing, and and this is this is I live in a rapidly growing area, right? So I'm not in New Orleans proper. I'm about 40 minutes away in a in a kind of an offshoot of New Orleans, but there's a giant lake in our way. It's a long story. But the houses nowadays that are getting built, even the three-bedroom homes, the roof lines are so complex. Just it's the style of home. It's computers are probably going to get even more complex now with AI, who knows? But a homeowner, even in my neighborhood, which I live in like a mid-level neighborhood, the houses in my neighborhood are too complex to even do because there's so many different levels and jumps and gables, and you know, and so if they want Christmas lights, they have no choice but to pay us or have none. Like the leverage is is that. So, so when you give out a quote that's properly priced, but you give out a quote of$2,000 or$2,500, that is the correct rate, and they're shocked and hate you, it's kind of like, yeah, that's what it costs because that's my level of expertise that I bring to the table. So you either pay that or you don't get Christmas lights, and that's the industry. For better or worse, I happen to like it like that, but yeah, but the houses are so complex they can't do it.

SPEAKER_04 19:51

But another thing, at least around here, and I think Jerry, you'll attest to this, is especially like where I live, is everybody's doing professional lights. So the few houses left on the street that are obviously doing it themselves, they're they're it's very obvious that they're doing it. So there is a matter of peer pressure as well that is benefiting us as business people. Okay. So, you know, I teach my kids not to give in to peer pressure, but I certainly am glad when the people sell the street art.

SPEAKER_02 20:22

Everybody wants to keep up with the Joneses. Yes. We there's a there's a whole neighborhood that they hire police, you know, they have barricades and and they sell like hot chocolate and popcorn and snacks on the side. And this entire neighborhood, and it's a large neighborhood because it was one from like uh I think the 70s or 80s. Interlocking. Interlocking. And they go all out where like almost every single house is decorated for Christmas. And if you're not doing it, then you're the Grinch of the neighborhood, right? You're the one that the or the Scrooge or whatever you want to call it honestly hooks to.

SPEAKER_04 20:54

In interlocking, and there's a few other in Dallas. I think it's part of the HOA. Like, I don't think you're allowed to buy there if you kind of agree to you're going to participate in this. And you wouldn't buy there because the traffic is horrendous. And so you you would not want to live there unless you were a Christmas person.

SPEAKER_02 21:13

For sure. But it looks great as you're driving through, and you can tell which ones are done professionally and which ones are not. To your point about the complex roof lines, the best part about being a professional Christmas light installer is that you know how to cut the cord, you know how to make your jumps, you know, your jumper cords, all the these ways to make it look perfectly outlined so that it fits your house like a globe. So things you don't want lit are not lit, areas that you do want lit or lit, and it just looks like it was made for that house. And I think that's where people that try to get into this that buy from Home Depot and you know, big box stores, Walmart, things like that, they don't realize there's a better way to do it. There's a better product that, of course, we're gonna get into later on in in further episodes, but The beauty of this system is that it's easy enough that I, who am not handy at all, I can do it. And so if I can do it, anyone can do it.

SPEAKER_04 22:09

I can actually attest to you not being a little bit of a hand. I'm not handy.

SPEAKER_02 22:13

I'm not handy. Yeah. It's true. It's very, very true. So, okay, let's talk some of the perks. So, like pricing, things like that. So, we'll get we'll have a whole episode really just devoted to pricing and things like that later on. But kind of a general idea. Like Nick, you did it this year. What's your average job?

SPEAKER_03 22:34

So my average job jumped a little bit this year up to about 20 in between 230 and$2,400. And that was and that was me tracking the new installs. So I have some really old reinstalls that I did that I improperly priced back in 2021. And uh I did raise their price this year, but like only 10%. So so that number is for my my new clients. And and it's there is some low-end ones where we do, you know, we did one that was like seven or eight hundred dollars. That was the low end one, but you know, then we had a couple whales that were gigantic, right? So but but it yeah, it's and it's been that it's been$2100, I think, the two seasons before that. So it's pretty static for me.

SPEAKER_02 23:21

But$2,400, let's say you do just 30 houses, right?$2,400 times 30, that's what,$72,000 in revenue. I mean, that's pretty amazing just for 30 houses. And that's assuming that they're all 2,400. Some, like you mentioned, bigger houses, they're gonna be much more if you're lucky enough to get into commercial. I mean, you're looking at even more, and commercial for some of them are super easy because it's all magnetic, and you just put some magnet cord on and it's eight minutes and you're done, right? I mean, it's you just made like five grand or whatever it is. I mean, it's it's pretty fantastic.

SPEAKER_04 23:57

And so it location and client base make a big difference on what your average is going to be. So to give you just like a different perspective, probably the average house that Nick hangs is eight hundred thousand dollars and above, is my guess somewhere in there. Yeah, that's yeah, yeah, that's probably about right. Yeah. So here in Texas, like I said, that we really want to keep up with the Joneses. And so the the average house we hang on is probably$300,000,$350,000. And because of that, our average ticket is more around$1,200,000,$1,300 in a lot of cases, but it's still a very quick install, very, very simple activity, and we're we're able to make quite a bit of money even on that. Now, of course, that's taking out like HOAs and things like that. This last year, uh business that I'm associated with, I sold, but I don't, but I'm still associated with, you know, they did a$60,000 HOA. So if you were to throw that into their average, obviously it's gonna be much higher. So just your basic residential around here was probably$1,200 to$1,300 and still very, very, very profitable. But because around here, people are paying for lights at$250,000 and above like their the price of their homes. Um, we have just so many jobs to gather. It's so easy to gather jobs around here because we don't have to just stay in those specific neighborhoods with million-dollar houses.

unknown 25:23

Right.

SPEAKER_04 25:23

I definitely do.

SPEAKER_02 25:25

Well, and that's good. Glad you could do it. But there are some folks, so there's a couple of installers that I know that actually go to the contractors that are building these newer subdivisions and actually make deals with them to put their signs out, or if they're doing permanent, you know, uh year-round lighting to get that kind of ticket as well. And so they're able to rope that all in together and really, really do well for themselves. Let me ask you like, so because you your your average ticket is higher, you don't need tons and tons and tons of jobs to make meaningful income, right?

SPEAKER_03 25:58

Right, right. Yeah, I mean, we did, I don't even remember the numbers off the top of my head. I'm I'm too far removed from install season. I think we did somewhere around 200 jobs. I'm kind of educating guessing because I I literally can't remember. But that again, you know, a lot of those are our reinstall customers from from the year prior. So the the revenue split between new installs and reinstalls kind of it fluctuates a little bit, but but usually reinstalls end up being a bigger chunk because we accumulate more and more and more. Of course, you always lose some off the back end, but you accumulate more, and as we accumulate more, they're bigger. And so the so the reinstall stuff is usually the larger side of the revenue. I was on this tour for one reason money.

SPEAKER_04 26:43

Yeah, and bringing up reinstalls, you know, you kind of the way that this conversation goes, somebody that didn't know anything might think, oh, he's more worried about the new installs. That's why he's averaging that out. But the truth of the matter is the reinstalls are where the real money is. And you're so the larger chunk of your business is in the true profit side of the business, which is the reinstalls. The new installs feed the future, and you do make money on them. It's not like you don't, but the the new installs feed the future, the reinstalls like really pad the pocketbook and and and feed the finances.

SPEAKER_02 27:16

Right, right. When we get into the different types of models, like buying versus leasing, or excuse me, selling versus leasing. Of course, we promote the leasing model. I think that's the way that's the way to go. That's the obvious way to go for certain reasons that again we'll save for a future episode. But that particular model really does favor the reinstalls because your first year you get the revenue, but you're also buying the product. And then the years after that, it's all just revenue, right? It's all just profit because labor, yeah, almost all profit.

SPEAKER_03 27:48

And right so this this will be a lot of people. Yeah, this will be a little bit hot take city here. So for those of you listening, hold on to your steering wheel. We didn't take, we didn't do takedowns by client, we did takedowns by color. So I I have I have a handful of houses that have you know five dormer windows across the front that I'm like, we don't want to wire this again. So we have the we there's a hand, maybe 10 bins of a house, like a client's lights. Everything else came down sunwarm, candy cane, you know, red and green, multicolor in those bins. And we're gonna go do our reinstalls next year off of color, not person's bin.

SPEAKER_02 28:33

Interesting. I mean, there's a lot of different methods, and and we can get into that. But that's that's a full episode.

SPEAKER_03 28:39

I mean, I just wanted to tea, I just wanted a teaser. Like, we we don't need to get into it now.

SPEAKER_04 28:44

I need to be on that episode because I'm still gonna take the the opposing view and we can argue that one out.

SPEAKER_03 28:50

Well, like Yeah, I have a good rebuttal for I have a good rebuttal for your argument.

SPEAKER_02 28:54

So don't worry, I'm he only does 50 foot, like he cuts all of his thousand-foot spools into 50 foot, 20 foot, and 10 foot sections. And they literally take it down, they don't label anything, they just use these sections, and then if they need smaller chunks, like two foot, three foot, then they'll just cut that as they go. But the rest of the time, he just takes it up, puts all the 50 foot on one side, all the 10 foot, all the 20 foot together, and next year they just get it done. For him, his guys are trained very well. He, I mean, I think he did a quarter of a million dollars this year, and he's looking to pass a million for sure. I mean, then you got guys like Sam Elst that do really well. I mean, um, I think when you start getting more and more houses, logistically, it does become a little bit more difficult. So, like you think of uh David Felt from uh Tough Cliffs with 4,200 homes that he does. That's a ton of homes. Yeah, so he's been doing it for 20 years, so he should have 4200 homes. If he doesn't after 20 years, I mean, come on. But still, I mean, that's there's a lot of ways that you really can can plan it out, and there's different views. And I'm excited to get into all of them because yeah, like you said, I actually don't hate that one.

SPEAKER_04 30:05

That one makes some sense to me, the 50s, 20s, 10s, and then just rig up three, four feet to finish it up.

SPEAKER_02 30:11

Every year they throw away all their all their blank lamp cord, they just throw it away. Each year they just cut it and get it done real quick. But as guys are trained that well, so that they're able to put it up really fast and efficiently. So there's a few different methods. That'll be an interesting episode. I'm excited to talk about it. Definitely getting ahead of myself. So uh, but okay, let's talk about starting the business, right? Like, you're gonna get into it. What do you need? Like, what's the first thing? We're not even talking about like actual business, just are there any barriers to kind of get into this industry?

SPEAKER_04 30:46

I mean, very few. I oh I'll let Nick start because every time I start, he has a better thing.

SPEAKER_03 30:52

So we've got and items. Yeah, my explanation, my explanation of this question has has changed a little bit or evolved a little bit over the years. But I mean, essentially what you need to get started is some sort of way to get customers, right? So the best way is a website, you know, a Facebook page, and then if you can afford it, run some ads in the beginning. But if but if you don't, I I get it. And then you need to go sell lights, and you that's that's it. So I always suggest go to our website, buy the starter pack, whether you want to put it on your house or your mother-in-law's house, whatever, but go get your hands on materials so you can go sell with confidence. And then you also get some pictures, you know, you can show of the house. And essentially that's about all you need to get started. If you kind of take out LLC, which in Louisiana is$105 and very quick, EIN, you know, that's free. And then the website. I don't know. I built, I just built a website for free on AI today. So that's that's a conversation for a different day. But I mean, then you can go start selling jobs, taking 50% deposits, buying materials, buy your ladders, buy your ladder rack for your truck, buy your buy your cougar paws and your pitch hoppers and your goat uh steep assist hooks, you know, with that deposit money, and that and you're off to the races. That's it.

SPEAKER_04 32:12

And I usually start with a more basic answer because this is basically what I did. I grabbed a couple ladders. We already had the trucks and trailers, grabbed a couple ladders, grabbed a couple signs, started throwing them down all over the place and started taking orders. So, you know, it it kind of goes both ways, but the the simple answer is you just get started and there's not a whole lot of money that has to come out of pocket up front. You're gonna take the deposits to get all the things that you need to do. And before you know it, you you know, you'll have 10, 20 jobs, and you'll either be hooked or you'll be stressed. But once you get through them, probably definitely both, but uh but once you get through them, you'll be like, really, that wasn't that hard, and you'll be off to grabbing your next 10, 20, 30, 40 more jobs. So, really on you.

SPEAKER_03 32:59

I want to say this real quick too, Jerry, because every time I talk about Christmas lights now, permanent lights are brought up, right? And so I don't want it to be like the elephant in the room. So permanent lights is basically is going to be more complex, there's more rules, it's more tedious, it's got to be perfect, kind of right down that avenue a little bit. The problem with it is the leads come at the same time. And as the industry continues, as the permanent light industry continues to get better and better and better and better, more and more and more and more people want it. So you have to do both. I you we Matt and I used to kind of be like, do you do the seasonal first and get into permanent later? No, that's not the case anymore, right? And so people that came to our class, we we did just seasonal in our in all of our classes in 25. But I told them, if you land leads for permanent, just go land the job and I'll help you. And and I helped over the phone, and Matt, you probably did too. Multiple people do their first install in the middle of the season in November. So so it is harder and it is more tedious and it is more costly, but the tickets are a lot bigger, and you can, but you gotta do it. You have to do it the same, basically, kind of the same model that that I outlined and forgot about signs. Matt was right on the signs. That model also works. You're gonna be doing permanent as well, I guess is what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_01 34:22

Will the magic last forever, you wonder? Nothing is forever, as I have often said. But this magic is strong.

SPEAKER_02 34:32

Yeah, I actually just learned about uh leasing permanent lights, so I can't wait to get into that. It's another episode, too. That's uh yeah, it's right.

SPEAKER_03 34:40

Yeah, we're gonna try it too. So we'll have real, we'll have real use case here. Hopefully soon. We should be starting to do outbound on that. Next week is ambitious, but maybe the week after.

SPEAKER_02 34:52

Well, I can't wait to hear it. Yeah, and some guys that I've heard of as well, they'll do if some their customer wants permanent, what they'll do is, and they call in November, then they'll just put up the seasonal and then change them to permanent afterwards. Uh they do have clips as well that you can put on so you don't have to do any kind of permanent installation right away. So if it's right in the middle of the season with permanent lights, you can just use some of those clips. And then after the season's done and you get your takedowns done, you can go back and affix it permanently to their house. Of course, permanent, we know nothing's ever really permanent. I prefer the term year-round, but uh I said permanent by fault.

SPEAKER_04 35:32

Well, I think it's good that you did because I think that's how most people refer to them in central company. So I think that's how the those companies market themselves as permanent, I believe.

SPEAKER_02 35:42

They they do. They do. Is it easy to market Christmas lights? Like in your experience?

SPEAKER_04 35:48

It is for me. I found it to be very, very easy to market for Christmas lights. Again, the sci uh in this area, signs do a lot. Facebook ads, Google ads, those do uh all the the rest of the lifting. And then it's a matter of being able to close the deal either in person, which we probably have some conversations about in person. Your in-person close rate is definitely gonna be the highest. And second is phone, you're gonna close a lot more on the phone. But I mean, I've closed 100 plus deals via text, probably. Um, so there's lots of ways to close deals at Christmas Lights, but marketing for me has never never been the issue. There's always been more leads than I had time. We we're not gonna go deep into this, but Nick owns another company that I've used because I've had more leads than I had time, and so they quoted for me.

SPEAKER_03 36:39

So I can speak to that, I guess. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's it's I mean, the marketing is pretty basic. You know, the my my number one lead gen is Google, and then my yard sign, like I need to get a different, I need to get a way to measure my yard signs success rate. So I'm gonna get an extra phone number that's going to be just yard sign phone number, so I can see how much how many leads actually come from it. I'm gonna do it. Yeah, and then Facebook ads with video of you on job sites, you at the at the lighthouse that's famous or whatever, you know, those those convert very well. Those those crush.

SPEAKER_02 37:19

Right up. Finally, before we close it out here, let's talk about the math. Okay. There's a lot of math, right? If you're a good business owner, you should you should know your numbers, right? You should know your close ratio, you should know your uh conversion rates, you should know your average ticket. And if you know all those things, you can back into the number that you have to hit. But let's take your number, 2400, we'll say 2,500 just for ease, right? So you do 30 jobs at$2,500 average ticket, you're at$75,000, right? If you do 60 jobs at that same one, now you're at$150,000 and it just keeps growing. Uh, let's say you're you're less than that, like you're around some of this area where you're at about$1,500 average ticket. Well, that's still$45,000 your first, you know, for 30 houses. That's a lot of money.

SPEAKER_04 38:10

This is very easy to do. I mean, landing 30 houses is not a difficult task.

SPEAKER_02 38:15

No, no. First first year, I'd say, and most post first year installers, their average is between it's somewhere between 40 and 60 houses their first year. That's if they're really not pushing it hard. If you're pushing it hard, you can do well over that. I knew one installer that did 130 houses his first year all by himself. He had no help. So he was ragged by the end of the season. When I saw him, he was terrible, but he was really happy because of the money he made.

SPEAKER_04 38:42

Yeah, he might have taken six months off, though, afterwards.

SPEAKER_02 38:45

That's true, because he could. I mean, especially if if he was at$1,500. I don't know his numbers, so sorry, I can't share his numbers with you, but I do know that it's very, very lucrative. Let's say you do 100 jobs, right? And you're at$1,500 average ticket. That's$150,000 right there. That's more than most people make in several years. So it's it's very concentrated, and you're gonna be spending a lot of time in a short amount of time period doing work, but it's well worth it because the amount of money you get in that six to eight weeks of work is is just outstanding.

SPEAKER_04 39:24

And it comes right in time for Christmas, too. So you're not gonna see your family much during the Thanksgiving time frame, but then you're able to take that money and maybe travel with them or do something over the Christmas. So it it kind of balances itself out. You told me six years ago or whatever when I met you. Oh man, I had this guy, he did a hundred jobs last year, and then I wanted to be that guy. Long story short, I think we sold 45-ish the first season, but but you were also working, you had a full-time job. I had a full-time job, a full-time business, and I quit selling on November 6th and didn't start back up until November like 20th. That's super early. That's like prime time. There's a story between that, right? But I stopped selling on around November, November, it might even have been slightly sooner than maybe November 4th, 5th, 6th. And then I went to IAPA, did the whole trade show thing, and then came back, installed a bunch of houses, actually got my 43 up and said I got a few days left. And so just real politely took a few more. So I have full confidence that if I had had the full crew and everything, that that 80, 90, possibly even 100 houses would have been no problem whatsoever because I was just turning them down left and right. We're book solid, book solid, book solid. And so I can attest that 100 first year is not impossible. At least not in an area like we exist in here.

SPEAKER_02 40:54

Right. It's a huge metroplex. And so you'll get, I mean, there's everybody thinks the market's saturated, but no. 300 people a day move to DFW area. Yes. And you know, just imagine other, yeah, I know, isn't that insane? I just I was just reading that. But imagine other major metropolitan areas. I mean, you're gonna get lots of influx every day, people moving from the country, people moving across, you know, across the US because they have what they were relocated or what have you. So you're really always have fresh leads if you think about it. You're never gonna run your market.

SPEAKER_04 41:30

Whatever. I mean, I just think about my one neighborhood. They are opening two different divisions right now. They're moving ground, which they'll start to break before Christmas, and then definitely for the following year. I there's over 300 houses planned to go in in just my neighborhood over the next two years. So, like, that's 300 leads that I could ride a bike to to sell to, and that's one neighborhood. There's probably 40, 50 neighborhoods like that within 40 miles of here. For definitely.

SPEAKER_00 42:00

Okay, dudes. Let's walk this sucker.

SPEAKER_03 42:02

Yeah, it's and the thing that I tell people, right? Because I've kind of positioned myself as like the I help the beginners, it's just whatever that's kind of happened naturally on YouTube. Well, intentionally, but like whatever. I'm kind of like all the new people find me first, especially in the inflatable business. And anytime somebody asks if the market is saturated, I tell them no. If you think it is, it's because it's healthy. If there's nobody doing it in my area, that's not a good thing. That's a scary thing because that means that whatever that business is potentially doesn't work there, doesn't exist there, doesn't have any knowledge of. When there are lots of them, it means you can jump right in and swim, right away, and start selling jobs as a brand new person because the market is there and healthy.

SPEAKER_02 42:50

And the other thing is if you're trained correctly and if you're motivated, you're gonna outlast all the other guys. And that's the part that I really enjoy is that yes, some some guys complain because other people come in and undercut them, but those are the guys that are out of business in a year. And so if you're motivated, if your marketing's on point, if you're even if you're only like decent at sales, if you're not even good, just decent, you're gonna make a lot of money and you're gonna do well. And even better, you're gonna make people's Christmases special. And that's really what it what it is, right? Just seeing them their faces light up when they turn on their lights.

SPEAKER_03 43:25

Yeah, agreed. Well said.

SPEAKER_02 43:27

Any final thoughts on uh starting the Christmas light business?

SPEAKER_03 43:31

Yeah, I have one. So a lot of people say, I didn't get to it this year, but you know, next year is gonna be my year, or I'll ask somebody why they didn't come to the trainings and they say the same thing. Like the only mistake you can make is to wait another year because the industry is booming. People like people like us are doing Christmas light podcasts and lives and trainings, and that it's getting more and more robust. The longer you wait, the skinnier it's gonna get, right? It's never going to be too oversaturated. But if you've got five Christmas light installation businesses in your town, next year there's going to be 10. Next year there's going to be 20. So the sooner you can get in, like I've got a foothold because I started in 2019. So like I'm well known in my community. The longer you wait, the bigger hill you have to climb. So don't wait. Start, start, start this year. 2026 is your year.

SPEAKER_04 44:24

I agree. I just reiterate that urgency. You're right. People like, oh, next year, next year, whatnot. And all of those people, I've been watching all of the Facebook posts. Again, we're in the inflatable industry, so we see it. All these people forget how slow December, January, and February are going to be. Right. And they they are just blowing and going coming into September, August, September, October, and they're like, I don't need this extra income. And then those are the guys crying in February because they they they can't pay their bills, you know, and they're waiting for pickups in March. And that's just inflatables. I know landscapers that are going to be that same way. I'm sure there's roofers, construction people. So don't skip it in October or September because you're busy, because you're really the February version of you is going to be kicking yourself. Just make it a priority. Sacrifice something during your busy season to get going. And then the February version of you is going to be much happier.

SPEAKER_02 45:25

Yep. Just hire an employee for 15 bucks an hour or whatever to take care of your day while you're come to the training. I don't know. Guys, this has been a lot of fun. Now, for those of you that were listening to this podcast, chances are you've already thought about getting into this industry. And over the next few episodes, we're going to be showing you, you know, exactly how to do it. So next episode, we're going to talk about uh the five essential materials every installer needs. Guys, thanks again. This was fun.

SPEAKER_03 45:52

Yes, thank you. That was awesome. You made this easy. I like, I like the ease here, Jerry.

SPEAKER_02 45:58

Yeah, you just show up and talk and I'll take care of it.

SPEAKER_04 46:00

And on that note, I'm going to end it.

SPEAKER_02 46:04

Well, I try. I'm going to end it with, you know, Christmas lights aren't just decorations. It's a business opportunity, a creative outlet, and a way to bring joy to communities. Now, if you're still wondering whether this industry is worth it, run the math. 30 jobs, a$2,500 average ticket. Suddenly, this isn't a side hustle anymore, right? So go check us out on our social media pages. Don't forget to leave us a review on iTunes once this uh pops up. And uh it helps us reach more people and really just change more lives. And uh make sure to go to let's get lit supply.com for all your Christmas light installation needs. We'll see you in two weeks. And until then, go make it magical and make it profitable.

SPEAKER_03 46:41

See ya.