The holidays are right around the corner, as they always seem to be. And, while the holiday season means more business for retailers and e-commerce sellers, it also means more busy-ness.

The National Retail Federation (NRF) predicted last year that 2023 holiday spending would eclipse $950 billion, which is about 20% of what Americans spend in a full calendar year. With the uptick in shopping, lines get longer and patience gets shorter—so how do you make sure your business is ready to take on the 2024 holidays in stride?

A business line of credit: The gift that keeps on giving

To cover the elevated cost of working capital required to support your holiday push—including inventory, seasonal staff, marketing campaigns, and store decorations—you might want to consider getting a business line of credit. With a revolving credit line, your business gets ongoing access to capital as needed, and your line replenishes as you make repayments. It can also be a useful tool during any slow seasons you might have, giving you an instant cash flow boost. The best part: You only pay for what you borrow.

Ways to prep for the holidays

Luckily, there are a number of ways to start preparing well ahead of time. Taking the right steps in Q3 can set you up for a much smoother Q4. Armed with access to capital through your line of credit, here are some key areas to put that holiday investment to work in growing holiday revenue

Increase your marketing budget

You may enjoy more business during the holidays regardless, but you might choose to invest in marketing anyway to stay top of mind for consumers, especially if you face a lot of competition in your area or industry. If something is working, do more of it—conservative spending could cause you to miss out on extra revenue. A larger marketing budget also allows you to explore new channels, like paid search and social media, email, radio, or even out-of-home (OOH) advertising.

Stock up on inventory

Before the holiday shopping frenzy begins, you’ll want to expand your inventory so you don’t miss out on the early birds. Think about which items flew off the shelves last year, as well as what you’d like to push this year. Make sure you don’t run out of popular SKUs.

Hire seasonal staff

Increased demand means you’ll need more employees to help deliver excellent customer service to shoppers. By onboarding additional staff a few months in advance, you can train new employees properly so they’re up to speed by the time volume picks up.

Meet your customers where they are

Focus on improving your customers’ shopping experience from browsing to checkout, whether they’re online, on the move, or in your store. To make your checkout process more efficient, you can upgrade your point-of-sale (POS) system ahead of the holidays. For brick-and-mortar stores, a new POS can help cut down the time it takes for staff to do price checks and keep lines moving. For e-commerce websites, a better online shopping experience can reduce cart abandonment and increase sales.

Decorate your store

If you do have a brick-and-mortar location, nothing gets people into the holiday spirit more than leaning into a theme. Whether it’s all the holidays combined, an individual celebration, or a more general winter theme, you can transform your space and offer a memorable shopping experience. You can wait until after Thanksgiving, though some folks decorate as early as November 1st.

Invest in more robust analytics

If your business is interested in learning more about sales and inventory trends, customer segments, and the success of your marketing efforts, it’s a great idea to have analytics technology in place before the busiest part of the year. The right tools can help you track customer behavior and product sales, which lays the groundwork for future promotions, campaigns, and innovation.

This year, you can take what you’ve learned from previous years and build out a strategy that attracts more customers, moves more product, and differentiates you from the competition. Using the tips above—and potentially a line of credit to support your initiatives—your business can set itself up for a successful holiday season.