This story appears in the November 2025 issue of Entrepreneur. Subscribe »
When the air gets crisp, mosquitoes die off for the winter. Most people love that. But for Chris Snead, who owns five Mosquito Joe territories in Northern Virginia, it once meant that business died off too.
Snead bought his first Mosquito Joe franchise in 2014, and kept expanding. But eventually, the seasonal aspect of Mosquito Joe began to feel limiting. He wanted businesses that operated year-round.
The solution: In 2022, he opened a Wonderly Lights franchise (formerly known as Grand Illuminations). Demand surges during the fall and winter, when people want their holiday lights up, but it also provides year-round service for landscape lighting. It’s why the company’s tagline is literally “Making Every Season Brighter” — reminding customers that it’s not just seasonal. So, what’s it like running separate franchises that peak in the summer and winter? Snead explains.
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How compressed is the holiday lights business?
The holidays really start with Halloween now; it’s become such a big holiday. Everyone wants their installs right around Halloween, and that creates a huge push in a short time — and each year it starts earlier.
Do you cross-sell between Mosquito Joe and Wonderly Lights?
Absolutely. Last year, we did door tags — Mosquito Joe on one side and Wonderly Lights on the other. Our technicians would put them on the doors they were treating.
How do you handle staffing between the two businesses?
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