The holiday season is often the busiest and most stressful time of year for small business owners.
Beyond increased revenue pressure — 60% of small businesses expect half of their annual sales during this period — owners can expect to see higher customer traffic, more pressure to increase marketing promotions, and hectic fulfillment timelines to meet holiday deadlines. And that’s before the additional rising costs and economic uncertainty that this year has brought. It’s no wonder 30% of small business owners are concerned about stress and burnout during the holidays.
The good news? A little preparation can go a long way. For stress-free holiday prep, you can use these three steps — upgrading your tech, cutting hidden costs, and locking in reliable support — to help you navigate the chaos and finish the year strong.
1. Review (and upgrade) your tech solutions
As volume increases during the holidays, minor tech glitches have the potential to escalate into full-blown crises. Even small inefficiencies in your POS or lag times in your WiFi can ripple across operations, costing time, money, and customer trust.
Start by tackling any tech frustrations you have, no matter how small. For instance, if your in-store WiFi already gets a little slow when too many customers are using it, don’t let it become a huge problem during the holiday season when the store is packed. Instead, look for a more reliable service partner now, like Spectrum Business, which offers the fastest and most reliable internet1, making it one of the best business internet providers for 2025. It’s also worth stress-testing your most critical systems and ensuring that all software, apps, and firmware are up to date.
If you live in an area with challenging winter weather, it’s essential to have a contingency plan in place. Spectrum Business offers Wireless Internet Backup to help small business owners maintain internet connectivity even during power outages, ensuring business continuity and reliability. And if you anticipate any weather-related closures or shipping delays, make sure you have a plan in place to communicate these updates to customers, so you’re not scrambling to keep them informed.
2. Avoid budget surprises with smarter planning and better service choices
Small businesses are already feeling the economic strain of this year, with 77% of small businesses in a QuickBooks survey stating that tariffs have affected their businesses. That’s in addition to other unexpected cost increases that can arise during the holiday season, like increased shipping prices or last-minute rush fees from your suppliers.
While most business owners resort to raising prices for customers or absorbing the cost and reducing margins, there are other areas of your business where you can cut costs without sacrificing quality.
This might include auditing your tech stack for unused software or subscriptions, renegotiating vendor contracts, or comparing service providers to ensure you’re getting the best price. Spectrum Business offers budget-friendly deals for small businesses, including bundled services for maximum savings and guaranteed pricing for up to three years, eliminating unexpected costs.
By bundling internet, phone, mobile, and video services with Spectrum Business, small business owners can free up their budget to account for other cost increases.
3. Take a hard look at your tech support options
Even with the best preparation, unexpected roadblocks will inevitably arise: your site crashes on Cyber Monday, your POS system freezes during a Black Friday rush, or your holiday email campaign stalls right as it’s set to go live. The last thing you want is to be digging for a support number or stuck in an endless chatbot loop when every minute counts.
Just like you have emergency contacts in your phone, pull together a business emergency contact list before things go wrong. Go through your main service providers — internet, phone, mobile, POS, web hosting, shipping — and make sure you know the quickest way to reach help. Whether that’s a dedicated account manager, a customer service line, or a live chat that connects you to an actual person, keep all that information in one shared place that your team can access quickly.
If you’re unable to find much guaranteed support, that should be your first sign that it’s time to switch providers.
J.D. Power’s 2025 study named Spectrum Business as #1 in customer satisfaction for small business internet service. Additionally, the My Spectrum app is the highest-rated support app in the US among all national telecommunications providers,3 giving small business owners multiple options for quick support whenever they need it most.
As we all know, it’s unlikely you’ll get through the holidays completely stress-free as a small-business owner. However, with the right preparation and service partners on your side, you can worry less and get back to focusing on driving your business toward its best holiday season ever.
Learn how Spectrum Business can help your small business navigate the holiday season with ease.
This post was created by Insider Studios with Spectrum Business.
1 Based on Broadband Download Speed and Reliability Experience among the top 5 national providers in Opensignal USA: Fixed Broadband Experience Report — May 2025. © 2025 Opensignal Limited.
2 FREE INTERNET ADVANTAGE OFFER: Limited time offer; subject to change; new business customers only (no Spectrum services within past 30 days) and in good standing with Spectrum. Taxes and fees extra in select states. All services must be ordered on same day. INTERNET: Standard rates apply after promo period or if qualifying services not maintained. Additional charge for installation. Speeds based on wired connection. Actual speeds (including wireless) vary and are not guaranteed. MOBILE: Offer requires purchase of 4 Unlimited mobile lines, 2 of which must be ported, and all of which must be maintained to receive free Internet promotion. Mobile service requires per line activation fee, Spectrum Internet and Auto Pay. Services subject to all applicable service terms and conditions, subject to change. Not available in all areas. Restrictions apply.
3 iOS (App Store) and Android (Google Play) average ratings as of September 2, 2025. Apps must have at least 150k reviews through combination of iOS & Android store reviews as of September 2, 2025.
