"You can't outwork a broken system."
If you’ve ever tried muscling through the chaos of peak season installs—lost calls, delayed quotes, missed revenue—you know how painfully true this is.
Daniel Cowan, founder of Big Star Lights, has lived it. He built his holiday lighting business from a solo hustle out of a Volkswagen Jetta into a seven-figure operation. In the latest Strategy Session webinar, Daniel revealed the operational systems that helped him scale to $2MM.
If you're still managing your crews by gut instinct, you’re leaving money (and sanity) on the table. Here's what to do instead.
Table of Contents
- Why Metrics Matter in a 60-Day Business
- The Numbers Every Installer Should Track
- Unlocking Efficiency: Systems That Scale
- Building a Team That Delivers
- From Hustle to SOPs: The Operational Leap
- Aligning Your Crew Size with Revenue Goals
- Wrap-Up: Your Next Step Toward Systemized Success
Top 5 Metrics Every Holiday Lighting Pro Needs to Monitor
The holiday lighting window is brutally short. Usually you're lighting up your first home in mid-October and your last home in mid-December. That's just 60 days. You can't afford to “look back and learn” in January. Mistakes made now cost you instantly, and recovery isn't possible until next year.
Daniel's Rule: "If you don't know your numbers almost in real time, you'll make mistakes you can't correct until next year."
Here are the core metrics Daniel uses to keep his business profitable and agile:
-
Gross Profit
The take-home profit after all expenses are settled.
Revenue - Cost of Good Sold - Labour - Materials
Bonus Tip: Break it down by residential vs. commercial for smarter forecasting.
-
Utilization Rate
The silent killer. This is the percent of installer time that’s billable. Under 85%? You're bleeding margin.
Total Billable Hours / Total Available Hours
-
Lead Value Forecasting
Estimate lead value and close rates to predict seasonal revenue.
Example:
Average sale value: $1,500 per house
Conversion rate (from lead to sale): 20%
Number of leads: 400
Profit margin: 50%
$1,500 per house * 400 leads * 20% conversion * 50% margin = $60,000
-
White Space
Days when crews aren't booked. Translate this into lost revenue to see why filling your calendar matters. This could be a result of crew members with limited availability, low close rates, and drop-out customers.
-
Close Rate
This is by far the greatest predictor of how great you're selling to and quoting clients.
Number of sales / Number of leads
💡 Pro Tip: Track referral rates, yard signs placed, and door hangers with names for installer-specific bonuses. Small gamified efforts = big morale wins.
Systemize Your Holiday Lighting Business for Peak Season Success
Daniel hit a $250K revenue plateau trying to “just work harder.” His breakthrough? Fixing the process.
Key systems that helped him get past the hurdle:
- Checklists for everything: trucks, tools, safety, job completion
- SOPs covering quoting, install, takedowns, and emergencies
- Automation tools like Text Blaze to handle email responses
- Photo-based comms with apps like CompanyCam to eliminate job site confusion
“One day lost due to operational chaos is 3% of your seasonal revenue gone.” — Daniel Cowan
If you’re not using SOPs yet, start small. Even one Google Doc with checklists can have a massive impact.
Building a Team That Delivers
Efficiency isn’t just about process. It's about people.
Daniel emphasized that in the lighting world, you’re not hiring for resumes; you’re hiring for drive, mindset, and teachability. He looks for candidates with a “winner” mentality, obsessive curiosity, and a natural alignment with the kind of self-starting attitude this business demands.
Once you’ve got the right people, it’s about putting them in the right roles. Someone with great balance and comfort at heights should be your go-to roofline installer. A detail-oriented, lift-certified worker? Put them on trees. The tech-savvy one who loves solving problems? That’s your extension cord wizard.
This kind of alignment turns average crews into all-stars—and allows you to beat your estimated install times again and again.
💡 Pro Tip: Use the 80/20 rule. If someone can do it 80% as well as you, delegate. Fast.
Scale Your Holiday Lighting Business by Improving Your Operations
Systemization isn’t about bureaucracy. It's about investing in your business. Daniel has used the same operating procedures he employed as a pro installer to Big Star Lights. At BSL, we use SOPs not just to reduce callbacks, but to improve customer reviews, build trust, and reduce training time.
Add weekly tailgate safety meetings, regular pre- and post-job reviews, and seasonal debriefs, and your crew will start working like clockwork.
Aligning Your Crew Size with Revenue Goals
How many installers do you really need to hit your target? Use this as a rule of thumb. For one full season (3 months), you should use this benchmark:
| Revenue Goal | Crew Size (2-person crews) | Job Volume (Residential) | Job Volume (Commercial) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $200K | 1 | ~70 | ~17 |
| $1M | 4 | ~400 | ~100 |
If your goal is $1M this season, start hiring and training now (not in October). When you have more than two crews working on jobs, delegate one foreperson so that you can be sure that your jobs are in safe hands.
Ready to Ditch the Chaos?
Daniel’s advice isn’t theory—it’s been field-tested under pressure, on ladders, and in snowstorms. If you're tired of burning out, of white-knuckling your way through the season, there's a better way.
👉 Watch the full webinar for deeper insights, real numbers, and Daniel’s exact SOP blueprint.
Join the Big Star Lights Pro Community to access:
- Free training for new hires
- A holiday lighting load calculator
- Bi-weekly calls with seasoned pros
- Premium tools and resources
- 20% off products (with a Premium Membership)
Code LAUNCH15 gets you 15% off your Premium Membership until July 31.
👉 Sign up for the Pro Community for free here.
👉 Get a Premium Membership here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What’s a good utilization rate for installers?
A: Aim for 85–90%. Anything below 75% will hurt your margins.
Q: Do I need SOPs if I’m a small team?
A: Yes. Even solo crews benefit. SOPs = fewer callbacks, smoother installs, and less stress.
Q: How do I know how many leads I need?
A: Work backwards. If you close 30% of estimates and 10% of leads, you need 10x the number of leads as your desired job volume.
Summary
- Track utilization, revenue, and install times to uncover margin leaks.
- Build SOPs to remove guesswork and reduce burnout.
- Hire based on character and align roles to strengths.
- Scale smart: align crew size with revenue goals.
- Celebrate wins to retain top talent season after season.