February 13, 2017

Meet Brandon Helfer of Mr. Jingles Christmas Trees, Mr. Jack O’ Lanterns Pumpkins and Proper Parking in Hollywood

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brandon Helfer.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
My business partner, Scott Sanchez, and I met in college down in San Diego, becoming roommates right away. I attended The University of California, San Diego and Scott attended San Diego State University. After meeting his family in Colorado during one winter break, it was brought to my attention that his family was involved in the Christmas Tree business. Scott was eager to move to Los Angeles and establish a Christmas Tree operation post graduation, and since I grew up in Los Angeles, we decided to start looking into any parking lots where we could potentially start a business. One of my dad’s business contacts knew of a property in Los Angeles that was available for lease, so Scott and I took full advantage of the opportunity right after graduation. We moved to Los Angeles together and worked our way into the parking business. We were able to convert the land (which was a non-parking lot) into a parking lot business by going through a long process with the city to get a change of use permit. It was right then when everything began for us. We started Proper Parking by doing daily parking on the lot, along with private valet gigs and parking lot management.

From there, we began to fully utilize our space at the parking lot by selling Christmas Trees since Scott knew the business very well and it was ultimately the reason why we moved to LA. We reinvested our earnings from the first year of our parking business and bought out a local Christmas Tree business in San Diego. That is when we decided to expand Mr. Jingles Christmas Trees. Within the last 5 years, we were able to open 3 locations in San Diego, 3 in Los Angeles, 1 in Colorado, and 1 in West Palm Beach, Florida. Our business has been growing ever since.

Our Pumpkin Patch business, Mr. Jack O’ Lanterns Pumpkins is our baby. Last year was our first year in operation and we are excited to see what happens in the future. Our business model here is to make our pumpkin patch fun for all with food trucks, games, activities, a petting zoo, music, and more.

Has it been a smooth road?
This journey has definitely not been smooth by any means. It truly has been a roller coaster. It is hard to find reliable people and you have to work really hard to make a buck. If one person messes up, it looks bad for the whole company. Also, there is an extreme amount of competition and if you want to become successful, you have to differentiate yourself. There are thousands of Christmas Tree lots, Pumpkin Patches, and Valet/Parking companies, so why would somebody choose us?

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Mr. Jingles Christmas Trees, Mr. Jack O’ Lanterns Pumpkins, Proper Parking story. Tell us more about the business.
The quality of our products, our customer service, and our marketing is what sets us apart from others. We are able to maximize revenue by doing seasonal businesses, events, and parking on undeveloped properties that are in the entitlement process. Online marketing, advertising and incorporating standard operating procedures into our company has kept us ahead of the game for quite some time now. I personally specialize in bringing in business and obtaining client relationships as well as operating our parking lots and managing them too. Scott and I always have our hands in everything. We get out there and cut trees put stands on the trees, tie the trees on to peoples’ cars and greet customers. We valet park cars, hold up street signs, direct cars where to park at our lots and seek business daily for parking. During pumpkin season we work in the hay maze, restock pumpkins, organize field trips, and collect tickets just like the rest of our staff. What kind of example would we be setting as owners if we were to just sit back and relax?

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
The major changes in our industries are all based on the systems. Having the right system in place and standard operating procedures can really help our companies go a long way. Marketing to the right target audience is key in this industry as well.

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