Small Business Saturday is an opportunity to celebrate local businesses, and to encourage consumers to shop local.
For entrepreneurs, it can be an opportunity to get new customers and increase sales.
But making Small Business Saturday a success isn’t without costs. Creating a financial plan for Small Business Saturday can help you make sure that your business is really ready for the holiday season.
What is Small Business Saturday?
Small Business Saturday is an annual event held on the Saturday after Thanksgiving in the United States. Created in 2010 by American Express, it encourages consumers to support independently-owned local small businesses during the busy holiday shopping season. It aims to spotlight small businesses and their vital role in communities, positioning itself as a counterpart to Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
In 2025, Small Business Saturday falls on November 29.
For local businesses, Small Business Saturday offers a unique opportunity to boost sales and visibility. By participating, small business owners can tap into a national movement that promotes shopping locally. This event often brings increased foot traffic, media attention, and community support, potentially leading to higher revenues and new customer relationships.
Additionally, many small businesses use this day to showcase their unique products, personalized service, and community involvement, helping them stand out in an increasingly competitive retail landscape dominated by large online shopping and box box stores.
Managing cash flow during the holidays
Managing cash flow during the holidays can be challenging. While holiday sales may bring in revenue, expenses often increase — before those sales take place. Your business may need additional working capital for:
- Inventory and supplies,
- Money for marketing campaigns,
- Additional staffing, and/or
- Funds for giveaways or other special offers
Spending on these efforts to promote your business can add up quickly. And while this one day is important, the entire holiday season can be financially stressful if you’re not well prepared.
Types of financing to have ready for Small Business Saturday
There are many types of small business loans and financing available to small businesses. Short-term financing tends to be the best type of business financing for working capital needs. The goal is to pay it back fairly quickly, so you don’t incur a lot of interest charges that cut into profit margins.
With that in mind, here are a few options that can be a good fit:
Business line of credit
When you get a business line of credit, you have a certain amount of credit when you need it. You can use as much as you need, and only pay interest on the amount you borrow. Having a line of credit available for seasonal events can be a smart way to be ready for the unexpected.
Business credit cards
Think about getting a business credit card before the holidays. First, most cards give you time to pay for purchases (as much as two billing cycles depending on the terms of the card and when you time your purchase).
Business credit cards with 0% intro APRs can offer several months of interest-free financing, which can be helpful for financing purchases you’ll pay off with revenue from your Small Business Saturday sales.
As an added bonus, many business credit cards allow you to earn cash back or points which can be used for flights, hotels, and more.
Finally, most small business credit cards are available to sole proprietorships and startups, as long as the business owner who applies qualifies. Many issuers consider personal credit scores (rather than business credit scores) as well as income from all sources, not just the business.
Business loans
Small business loans are also a common financing option for businesses. There are a lot of options so choose carefully. A 5-year term loan, for example, wouldn’t be a good choice if you’re paying for inventory. But it could be a good choice for new packaging equipment that cuts your labor costs.
Business cash advances
Another popular type of short-term financing is business cash advances, or merchant cash advances. Here, the financing company looks at your business’ past sales and uses that to advance funds against future cash flow.
This type of financing can be fast and easy to get, and don’t usually require good credit. But it can also be expensive, so if you think this is the right type of financing for your business, make sure that the ROI justifies it.
Vendor terms
Your suppliers may offer payment terms that let your business buy goods or services and pay for them later. This is a popular type of short-term financing and can prove very useful during the holidays. Vendor terms can range from net-10 to net-180 or longer. (Net-30 terms means you have 30 days from the invoice date to pay.)
A personal credit check is rarely required and if the lender reports payment activities, this financing can help your business establish business credit.
How Dale and Kat prepare for the holidays
Frequently asked questions
How Nav can help
Nav can help your business monitor and manage its business credit and personal credit, along with its cash flow, all in one place.
With Nav Prime, you’ll get a comprehensive view of your business and personal credit with detailed credit reporting, along with tradeline reporting that may help build business credit. Better business credit may lead to more favorable terms for financing and a wider variety of funding options, helping open doors for your small business this Small Business Saturday — and for the next ones to come.
This article was originally written on October 9, 2025 and updated on October 10, 2025.
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Gerri Detweiler
Education Consultant, Nav
Gerri Detweiler has spent more than 30 years helping people make sense of credit and financing, with a special focus on helping small business owners. As an Education Consultant for Nav, she guides entrepreneurs in building strong business credit and understanding how it can open doors for growth.
Gerri has answered thousands of credit questions online, written or coauthored six books — including Finance Your Own Business: Get on the Financing Fast Track — and has been interviewed in thousands of media stories as a trusted credit expert. Through her widely syndicated articles, webinars for organizations like SCORE and Small Business Development Centers, as well as educational videos, she makes complex financial topics clear and practical, empowering business owners to take control of their credit and grow healthier companies.