- Startup cost
- $500 to $2,000: lights, ladders, safety gear, vehicle
- Time
- Compressed season. Market in Oct, install in Nov, takedown in Jan. 3 to 5 hours per home.
- Unit of sale
- One package per home per season: install, maintenance, takedown, storage
The idea
Most outdoor hustles die in winter. This one is born in winter. Homeowners with more money than time do not want to climb a cold ladder, untangle lights, or find a bulb out on December 23. You sell the whole problem away as one package, at one price, booked before the season starts.
The package is the product. Not hours. Not a single install. The package is install, in-season maintenance if a strand goes dark, January takedown, and labelled storage bins so next year's job starts already sold.
The numbers
| Job | Reported range |
|---|---|
| US average install (Jobber, 2025) | $442 |
| Most installs land between | $220 to $685 |
| Basic roofline | $250 to $600 |
| Mid-range home | $600 to $1,500 |
| Premium work | $1,500 to $5,000+ |
Decide one thing before you quote anyone: does the client supply the lights, or do you? Pro-grade lights you own cost more up front, but they are cut to fit each roofline and they come back to you in January. That is how a one-season gig becomes an asset.
Your first three customers
- They already trust you at their house. Offer them first, in October, before anyone else.Your existing yard and handyman list.
- Door hangers and yard signs on the streets where nobody wants to be on a ladder.One high-value neighborhood, flyered hard.
- Post last year's photos, or your own house lit up as the demo, with the package price range stated up front.Google Business Profile plus Nextdoor.
The catch, stated plainly
This is ladder and roof work. Insurance is not optional, and neither is a hard rule about ice, wind, and roofs you will not walk. It is also one season a year. Pair it with another winter offer, and watch the permanent LED roofline trend: some homeowners are buying once instead of renting yearly, which is an upsell to learn, not a threat to ignore. Check your city and HOA rules on storage and signage.
Case study
Case study: Steve Hunsaker, Valley Christmas Lights
In our own words. Original story linked below.
- Who
- Steve Hunsaker, founder of Valley Christmas Lights in Scottsdale, Arizona. He started the business in 2020 while working in tech sales.
- Starting point
- Burned out on tech sales during the pandemic, with no crew, no truck, and no experience hanging lights. He saw a Reddit thread about making extra money with Christmas lights and decided to try it.
- First moves
- Ordered basic gear, watched YouTube videos, and knocked on doors around his Scottsdale neighborhood with just a ladder and his Ford Fusion.
- Left a yard sign at every completed job with a clear call to action, and gave happy customers gift cards with tracking codes to hand to friends and neighbors.
- In year two, moved quotes, appointments, and payments into Jobber and built a pricing template based on linear footage and roof type.
- What worked
- Reliability beat low prices. Fast replies, clear quotes, and on-time installs turned neighbors into referrers, and the review and photo from every job became the marketing engine.
- What to copy
- Start small in one or two zip codes, price for profit instead of racing to the bottom, and systemize early with even a simple pricing sheet and install checklist.
- Watch out
- The $800,000 plus per season figure is scale proof, not a first season expectation. Steve started in 2020, went full-time by 2023, and now runs multiple crews. His first season brought in about $35,000, and year two cleared just over $100,000. Expect years of growth, not one season.
- Source
- DollarSprout, How One Man Turned Christmas Lights Into an $800K Business