It's the most wonderful time of the year, unless you're the one assigned the task of untangling the lights, balancing on the ladder and spending hours hanging and rearranging your home's exterior holiday decorations.
If you're in the latter category, then this might be the year to give yourself the gift of hiring a Christmas lighting pro. But make your decision soon. Some companies are already stringing lights, and most are booked for the season by mid-November. A growing, glowing business
Brad Finkle began decorating houses as a hobby while still a teenager. When he saw the amount of neighborly interest in his handiwork -- "They'd say, 'You know what? I can't get my husband outside to do anything. Would you mind?'" -- he knew it could succeed as a business.
He was right. For 26 years, Finkle's Creative Decorating has been a full-time holiday lighting company in Omaha, Neb., and a busy company at that. "We hang close to 1 million lights each season," says Finkle. And in the off-season, there's removing the lights, inventorying, repairing and storing them and consulting with others who want to start similar businesses.
If you want to avoid such hassles, then put in a call to a holiday lighting company soon. Finkle started scheduling existing customers in early September, with installations starting at the end of October. That's also the time calls start coming in from potential new customers. "Most of the new ones wait until Halloween is past then start thinking about Christmas," he says.
Depending on the company, the electrician fee is an added cost, but as Finkle says, it's better than having a display turn into "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" with 18,000 plugs in one outlet, blowing out the house's circuitry. |
