For the first time in 18 Christmas seasons, I’m putting a cap on how much Christmas lighting work we sell.

Not because the leads aren’t there. Not because I don’t want to make money. Because I finally understand that every crew has a capacity, and constantly saying yes to more work has a cost.

I’ve spent Christmas seasons waking up at 4 AM, working until 8 PM, answering calls, selling jobs, fixing problems, watching crews turn into Christmas zombies, and trying to squeeze one more job onto an already packed schedule.

I’m not doing that this year.

In this episode of Captain’s Quarters First Class, I break down what I’m doing differently for this Christmas lighting season and why I think Christmas is one of the biggest opportunities of the year to change the way you run your business.

We get into:

• Why I’m intentionally capping Christmas lighting sales this season

• How I’m calculating actual crew capacity instead of just selling everything we can

• Why more Christmas revenue does not automatically mean more Christmas profit

• The trap owner-operators fall into when they have to sell AND install

• Why Christmas is one of the easiest times to make your first hire

• Why seasonal employees can be the perfect way to start building a team

• When you should hire installers and when you should hire a salesperson

• Why Christmas lighting is easier to train than permanent lighting or landscape lighting

• How separating sales, installation, and office responsibilities changes the entire business

• Why getting yourself off the ladder can actually help you sell more work

• How some of my original seasonal employees eventually helped us become a full-time company

Christmas has built-in urgency. It has nostalgia. Customers already want what we sell.

That makes it a great time to make money, but it also makes it easy to convince yourself that you need to take every single job that comes through the door.

You don’t.

Know your capacity. Build the team. Protect the operation. And stop creating a business that requires you to personally do everything.

If you’re still the person answering the phone, selling the job, climbing the ladder, installing the lights, fixing the lights, invoicing the customer, and trying to make payroll, this episode is for you.

This Christmas season can be the season you finally start building something bigger than yourself.

Now go make some damn money.

Lights. Legacy. Living. Captain’s Crew. Sink or Swim.

Ready to build a real outdoor lighting business?

🔹 Work with Captain Matt: https://www.captainmattoutdoors.com/

🔹 See Barefoot Lighting projects: https://barefootlighting.com/

🔹 Learn landscape + Christmas + permanent lighting: https://lightingtradeschool.com/