How to Turn Winter Into Your Most Profitable Season: The Ultimate Guide to Holiday Lighting and Off-Season Revenue

Winter doesn't have to be the death of your revenue.

Every year, the same story plays out: temperatures drop, phones stop ringing, and home service business owners start sweating about cash flow. Landscapers watch their schedules evaporate. Painters sit idle. Even pest control companies see demand plummet when insects go dormant.

The typical response? Cut costs, lay off crews, white-knuckle it until spring.

But here's what the winners are doing instead:

They're turning winter into a profit center. They're keeping crews employed year-round. And they're adding 10-20% to their annual revenue from off-season services that most contractors never even consider.

At GlassHouse, we've worked with hundreds of home service businesses—pest control companies, roofers, HVAC contractors, power washers, window cleaners, and landscapers. We've seen the data on what works when everyone else is hibernating.

Let's talk about the biggest off-season opportunity most contractors are missing: holiday lighting. And then we'll show you exactly how to add lucrative winter services across any home service trade.

The Holiday Lighting Gold Rush Nobody's Talking About

Professional holiday lighting has quietly become a $1.5-2 billion industry in the mid-2020s, growing at 7-8% annually.

Let that sink in. While you're watching your revenue dry up in December, there's a billion-dollar market of homeowners actively looking to pay someone to hang their Christmas lights.

The numbers are staggering:

• Average residential installation: $2,400 (up from ~$1,000 in the early 2000s)

• Client retention rate: 75-81% (they come back every year)

• Gross profit margins: 50-60%

• Net profit margins: 20-30%

• Material costs: Only 10-12% of job price

Christmas Décor, the leading franchise network in this space, grew from $75 million in revenue in 2022 to an expected $87 million in 2023. That's not a typo—$87 million from hanging Christmas lights.

One landscape company does $1 million of their $5 million annual revenue (20%) just from holiday decorating. Another brings in $250,000 each winter from lights alone—about 9% of total revenue.

Here's why this works so well:

Homeowners love professional holiday displays, but they don't want the hassle, danger, or time commitment of doing it themselves. They're busy. They don't have the right equipment. They're nervous about climbing ladders in cold weather.

So they hire pros. And they pay premium prices for the convenience.

Even better? The service is recession-proof. One holiday décor executive notes that "regardless of headwinds, people tend to cut other things out before they cut out their decorating." Holiday spending persists even when budgets tighten elsewhere.

Why Holiday Lighting Is Perfect for Home Service Businesses

If you're a landscaper, painter, roofer, window cleaner, or even a pest control company, you already have 70-80% of what you need to crush it with holiday lighting:

You have trucks and ladders. The core equipment is stuff you're already using for your main business.

You have outdoor service crews. Your team already knows how to work outside safely, interact with homeowners professionally, and deliver quality results.

You have an existing customer base. Your lawn care clients, painting customers, and roof repair contacts are the exact people who want holiday lights. You can cross-sell immediately to people who already trust you.

You can use slow-season labor. Instead of laying off crews in November, you keep them employed doing holiday installs. This improves retention and means you don't have to recruit and train from scratch every spring.

One Michigan landscape company, Naylor Landscape Management, added holiday lighting specifically to keep four additional employees on payroll year-round. Those same employees who were at risk of seasonal layoffs became their holiday lighting crew—and generated hundreds of thousands in winter revenue.

The Business Model That Works

Let's get tactical about how successful operators make holiday lighting profitable.

Pricing Strategy

The golden rule: Don't forget the takedown.

Many contractors make the mistake of only charging for installation, then eating the cost of returning in January to remove everything. That's a profit killer.

Instead, charge a single bundled price that covers:

• Design consultation

• Installation (typically mid-November through early December)

• Mid-season check (replacing any burnt-out bulbs)

• Takedown (usually January)

• Storage of lights for next year (optional upsell)

Target a 30% net profit margin on each project. With material costs at only 10-12% of the job price (because you're buying commercial-grade LEDs in bulk and reusing them), you can hit healthy margins even after labor.

The Sales Cycle Starts Early

Here's the secret: Start selling in summer.

Top operators begin contacting past holiday lighting customers in March to plan reinstallations. By July, they've already booked 50% of their clients for the upcoming season.

For new customers, marketing ramps up in September. The goal is to have contracts signed by October, because the installation window is compressed—basically Thanksgiving through mid-December.

Early-bird incentives work well: "Sign up by Halloween and save 10%" creates urgency and helps you forecast labor needs.

Leverage Your Existing Customer Base

Your easiest first sales are to current clients. Send an email to your lawn care customers, your painting clients, your roof repair contacts:

"We're excited to announce we're now offering professional holiday lighting installation! As a valued customer, you'll get priority scheduling and 10% off if you book by October 15th."

Mark Metzger, who added holiday lighting to his landscape company, found that offering lights to landscaping clients not only brought in décor revenue—it worked in reverse too. New holiday lighting customers often became landscape maintenance clients in spring. Each service became a lead generator for the other.

Target the Right Demographics

Not everyone is your customer for premium holiday lighting. Smart operators focus on:

• Homeowners with $100k+ household income

• Properties valued at $500k+

• Busy professionals who value convenience

• Families in upscale neighborhoods

One Colorado company worked with a marketing firm to identify affluent neighborhoods and focused their direct mail and online ads there. This targeting ensured they reached people "who are going to want to spend the money" instead of wasting budget on renters or lower-income households unlikely to pay $2,000+ for lights.

Beyond Holiday Lighting: Off-Season Services by Trade

Holiday lighting isn't the only winter revenue opportunity. Here's what's working across different home service trades:

Landscaping & Lawn Care

Top winter add-ons:

• Holiday lighting (obviously)

• Snow and ice removal

• Seasonal décor installation

• Late-fall gutter cleaning

• Dormant pruning and tree work

• Winter plant protection

Snow removal can account for 20-40% of annual revenue for landscape companies in cold climates. Some firms report snow revenue at 35% of total earnings.

The key is deciding whether to offer snow as guaranteed seasonal contracts (stable income regardless of snowfall) or per-event pricing (higher revenue in heavy winters, risk in mild ones).

Painting Contractors

Top winter add-ons:

• Interior painting projects

• Cabinet refinishing

• Wallpaper and drywall repairs

• Garage floor epoxy coatings

• Small remodeling jobs

Many painting companies run 10-20% winter discounts to fill schedules. One Idaho/Nevada company advertises "up to 20% off winter projects" and explicitly notes it "keeps our team working year-round."

Interior painting in winter actually has advantages: lower humidity, clients' holiday hosting needs, and faster scheduling since you're not competing with summer exterior projects.

Roofing & Gutter Contractors

Top winter add-ons:

• Snow and ice dam removal

• Gutter cleaning and repairs

• Attic insulation and ventilation

• Roof inspections and emergency patches

• Holiday light installation (using roof expertise)

Winter roof services can add 10-15% to annual revenue in cold climates. Emergency snow removal during storms commands premium pricing, and preventing ice dams is critical work homeowners will pay well for.

HVAC & Plumbing

Top off-season focus:

• Maintenance plans and tune-ups

• Winterization services

• Indoor air quality add-ons

• Water heater flushes and replacements

Recurring service contracts now represent over 50% of HVAC industry revenue. By selling annual plans (spring AC check + fall furnace check), HVAC companies fill shoulder seasons with guaranteed work.

These maintenance agreements create baseline revenue that dramatically reduces seasonal swings. Some HVAC companies report higher revenue in traditionally slow quarters because of contract work.

Window Cleaning & Power Washing

Top winter add-ons:

• Holiday light installation

• Gutter cleaning

• Indoor window cleaning

• Minor handyman services

Shack Shine, a major window/gutter cleaning franchise, explicitly combines house detailing services with holiday lighting. One franchisee grew their holiday light revenue from $150k to $927k over a few years, with seasonal growth rates of 15-25% annually.

They target 30% net profit on lighting jobs and keep crews fully utilized in months that used to be dead.

How to Actually Make This Work: The Operational Playbook

Adding an off-season service isn't automatic money. You need systems. Here's how top operators execute:

1. Train Your Team Properly

Don't just throw your lawn crew onto roofs with Christmas lights and hope for the best. Invest in real training.

One Denver company conducts a 1-2 day training camp every fall specifically for holiday lighting. The training covers:

• Low-voltage wiring and power load calculations

• Installation techniques for different surfaces

• Safety protocols (harnesses, ladder use, roof navigation)

• Customer service during the hectic season

Throughout the season, they hold brief daily meetings to share issues and solutions, plus weekly safety refreshers.

Safety is critical. Holiday lighting involves heights, electrical work, and cold weather. Falls from roofs can be fatal. Your insurance needs to cover this work, and your team needs proper safety equipment.

2. Get Your Equipment Right

The good news: You probably own most of what you need already.

For holiday lighting, the essentials are:

• Various ladder sizes

• Safety harnesses for roof work

• Extension poles for high tree lights

• Commercial-grade LED lights and clips

• Storage racks and labeling systems

Some companies rent boom lifts for a few weeks to handle specific tall installations. Others invest in custom tools like extension poles.

The key is reusing equipment across services. Landscapers repurpose trucks and trailers for holiday jobs. Roofers use their existing ladders. This spreads equipment costs and improves overall profitability.

3. Manage the Compressed Timeline

The installation window is brutally short—roughly Thanksgiving through mid-December. Customers have zero tolerance for delays on time-sensitive services like holiday lights.

To mitigate weather risks:

• Build buffer days into your schedule

• Work long hours during good weather windows

• Have backup crews available

• Communicate clearly with customers about weather contingencies

One pro tip: Pause other services during peak installation season. Some landscape companies explicitly note that during snow events, snow removal takes priority over holiday lighting installs. Set expectations with clients upfront.

4. Price for the Full Service Cycle

Include these costs in your pricing:

• Design consultation

• Installation labor

• Mid-season maintenance visit

• Takedown labor (don't forget this!)

• Storage space and labeling

• Material replacement over time

Require deposits or full prepayment—this locks in commitment and helps cash flow. Many companies take 50% down when scheduling, or even 100% for smaller jobs.

5. Sell the Experience, Not the Task

Homeowners aren't buying "someone to hang lights." They're buying:

• A magical, hassle-free holiday for their family

• The ability to host without stress

• Professional design expertise

• Safety and convenience

• Time to focus on what matters

Your marketing should emphasize the white-glove experience: design, installation, proactive maintenance, takedown, and storage all handled for the client.

Show before-and-after photos. Share testimonials about how families loved their display. Create emotional connections to the outcome, not just the service.

Digital Door Knocking: The Secret Weapon for Off-Season Services

Here's where most contractors miss a massive opportunity.

When you finish a job in a neighborhood—whether it's a roof replacement, a lawn care visit, or a pest control treatment—you have instant credibility with every house on that street.

But most contractors just pack up and leave.

Digital door knocking means proactively reaching out to homeowners in neighborhoods where you're already working.

For off-season services, this is gold:

"Hi Sarah, we just finished installing holiday lights for your neighbor Tom at 123 Main Street. Since we're already working in Oakwood Estates this week, we wanted to offer you a free quote for your home. We have a few time slots available before Thanksgiving—would you like us to stop by?"

This works because:

• You have social proof (their neighbor hired you)

• You have proximity (they've seen your trucks)

• You have timing (you're actively in the area)

• You have relevance (they're likely considering the same service)

This is exactly what GlassHouse was built to do: Help home service businesses identify ideal customers in target neighborhoods and reach out with personalized messages that convert.

Instead of hoping homeowners find you, you're finding them first. Instead of paying Angi $100 for a shared lead, you're building relationships at near-zero acquisition cost.

The businesses crushing it with off-season revenue aren't waiting for the phone to ring. They're doing digital door knocking in neighborhoods where they just completed work.

The Long-Term Strategic Value

Adding off-season services isn't just about immediate revenue. It creates lasting competitive advantages:

Year-round employment attracts better talent. You're not laying people off every November and scrambling to rehire every April. You offer stable jobs, which means better retention and more experienced crews.

Cash flow stability changes everything. Covering fixed expenses in winter months (rent, insurance, loan payments) means you're not draining reserves or taking on debt during slow seasons.

Higher customer lifetime value. A single homeowner generating revenue from spring landscaping, summer maintenance, fall cleanup, holiday lights, and winter snow removal is worth far more than a one-time customer.

Stronger business valuation. If you ever want to sell your business or seek investors, diversified revenue streams command higher valuations. Buyers favor companies with multiple income sources and reduced seasonality risk.

One landscape owner put it perfectly: Getting into holiday décor "allowed us to use assets fully, sharpen competitive pricing, and stabilize the operation year-round."

The Bottom Line: Winter Winners vs. Winter Losers

Here's the reality:

Most contractors will keep doing what they've always done. They'll watch revenue collapse in November. They'll lay off crews. They'll stress about making payroll. They'll pray for an early spring.

A small percentage will read this, take action, and dominate.

They'll add holiday lighting or another off-season service. They'll keep teams employed. They'll smooth out cash flow. They'll build customer loyalty through year-round relationships.

And when spring arrives, they'll start the busy season with:

• A trained, experienced crew (not new hires)

• A full pipeline from cross-selling off-season customers

• Strong cash reserves from winter revenue

• Zero layoff/rehiring costs

Your competitors are already doing this. They're already hanging holiday lights while you're sitting idle. They're already doing digital door knocking to win neighborhoods before you even know they're available.

The question is: Are you going to keep treating winter like it's something to survive? Or are you ready to turn it into one of your most profitable seasons?

At GlassHouse, we're on a mission to help home service businesses win more—not just in summer, but year-round.

Because the truth is, your next $100,000 in revenue isn't waiting for spring. It's sitting in neighborhoods where you're already working, just waiting for you to reach out.

Let's make this winter your most profitable one yet.

Ready to turn winter into a profit center? Learn how GlassHouse helps home service businesses add off-season revenue through targeted digital door knocking and smart customer relationship strategies. Stop hibernating and start dominating.