I Set up Christmas Lighting for Houses in Rich LA Neighborhoods

• Chris Voigt began his personal Christmas-lights corporate final September.
• He simplest did 15 homes final yr and is doing 60 this yr, together with a $68 million house in Bel Air.
• His guys paintings 16-hour days, and his trade is heading in the right direction to make a couple of six figures.

This as-told-to essay is in line with a dialog with Chris Voigt, the 36-year-old founder and lead installer of Chic Out of doors Lighting, who is based totally in Los Angeles, California.

I used to be sitting at the Pacific Coast Freeway with my pregnant spouse and sweetheart’s mother after I mentioned, “I will’t paintings for any person else anymore and feature them get wealthy.” So identical to that, I took the bounce and began my light-installation corporate, Chic Out of doors Lighting, in September 2021. 

On the time, I had a signed letter of employment with a sun corporate after running within the trade for a while. I majored in trade in school, and once I graduated, I moved into the panorama trade, promoting timber, crops, pavers — anything else for outdoor the house. However I used to be getting calls from former shoppers pronouncing they were not pleased with the client provider they had been receiving. So I assumed to myself, “I’ve a possibility to do one thing to lend a hand folks.” 

Ultimate yr used to be our first Christmas, however this yr is our first complete season. We did about 15 homes in 2021, with the common expense between $5,500 and $7,000. It used to be indisputably a last-minute factor — we had been past due to the sport and did not have the whole thing so as. 

This yr, we are doing about 60 homes, with 85% of purchasers coming from referrals. I paintings with numerous property managers in prosperous spaces like Bel Air, Malibu, Calabasas, and Beverly Hills, so they are able to convey higher-end purchasers to me. 

This yr’s season we are making six figures, north of $250,000. One house we are running on is a $68 million space in Bel Air, the place we’re going to be lighting fixtures up greater than 100 timber and 150 palm timber. It’ll take about 10 to fifteen guys, and they will be running each and every unmarried night time for roughly 4 days. It is going to be some of the largest Christmas installations residentially within the nation at the moment. 

There are recently six full-time workers in my staff, however all through the season, we rent upward of 12 to fifteen other folks, and we are all running 12- to 16-hour days. We have been booked out since August/September, so if you happen to ever want mild installations for the vacations, be sure to enroll neatly upfront. 

Each and every space and set up is other, particularly architecturally

If you’re taking Pasadena, for example, which is northeast of Downtown Los Angeles, you’ll be able to in finding Spanish revival- and Victorian-style houses. While you evaluate this to Malibu, which is west of Downtown Los Angeles, we are adorning many trendy coastal-style houses. 

Our strong point is wrapping timber, which is one thing I have been doing for years. However it is more difficult than it appears, particularly in Los Angeles, with many historical spaces, like Hancock Park, and due to this fact very tall timber. We had one position in Wilshire that used to be simply six timber, nevertheless it took us 3 days to get it finished. It is tremendous in depth paintings. 

We’ve numerous very high-profile and famous person purchasers. Some are concerned within the design, while others don’t seem to be.

I like those who wish to be concerned, as it is in reality amusing to have interaction with them and hook up with their personalities and tastes. 

We’ve two kinds of purchasers, ones who need lighting seasonally and those that need lighting completely. Our first consumer used to be an property supervisor in Studio Town who labored for a well known TV character within the scientific box who sought after the latter. 

We as soon as had a person in Calabasas request their house to appear to be a gingerbread space. We decked out the roof with multicolored issues to appear to be gumdrops. There have been sweet cane twisted poles across the assets, and we defined the home windows in a multicolored style, too. They are a repeat buyer, and this yr they would like a sweet manufacturing facility — so it will be even wilder and crazier with other colours, elves, and peppermints. 

It used to be essential to run the trade as a white-glove provider 

We commence with the design, supply all of the decor and lighting, set up the whole thing, pop out for any upkeep, after which take the whole thing down on the finish of the season. About 5% to fifteen% of consumers acquire the prevailing subject material outright and go away their trunk wraps up all yr spherical. The entirety is ready-made to every consumer, from genre to paint to design. 

Whilst the vacations are our busy season, we have now smaller tasks like overheads for cafes and bistros and different important tasks during the yr. In simply the previous few weeks for panorama lighting fixtures, now not regarding Christmas lighting, now we have finished 4 really extensive houses starting from $5 to $25 million. 

Having labored in landscaping and outside design for a few years, I’ve numerous enjoy within the craft. I have taken items of every activity I have ever had and carried out the most productive portions into my very own corporate to make it what it’s. And whilst I like having the ability to paintings all yr spherical, sure, Christmas in reality is the most productive time of yr.