Black Friday Cyber Monday is not won in a single weekend. For many founders, success begins months before the rush.

“This is our Super Bowl,” says Abby Price, founder of New York embroidery brand Abbode. “Even if we didn’t do any marketing, it would be our best time of year.”

In 2024, Shopify merchants generated $11.5 billion over BFCM, and this season is set to push holiday spending to one trillion dollars. For small brands, the four days can shape hiring, inventory decisions and growth for the entire year ahead.

"As much as you can possibly plan, things will come up, there’s no time off,” says Lindsay Silberman of Hotel Lobby Candle. “All you can do is be nimble.”

Viral moments can help, but systems decide the outcome

Weeks before BFCM, Sabrina Carpenter wore an Abbode piece on Saturday Night Live. Abby’s traffic exploded and followers surged. Even with the perfect timing, she knows a viral moment is not a strategy.

"These one-off viral moments, they’re not changing my whole business,” she says. “Without the right systems, it can be just a blip.”

Since July, Abby has been negotiating with manufacturers, tightening fulfilment processes and defining capacity. Awareness brings attention, but operations convert it into revenue.

From selling out to scaling up

Lindsay remembers when Hotel Lobby Candle could not even participate in BFCM because stock ran out before the weekend began.

"We would completely sell out before Black Friday even happened,” she says. “We had nothing to go based off of other than our gut instinct."

Today she forecasts inventory nearly a year in advance and builds out promotional plans with her team. Q4 now makes up at least half of annual sales.

Learning from mistakes

Last year Abbode over-promised on personalised holiday orders, leaving customers waiting until January.

"We ended up over-promising and under-delivering to our customers," Abby says.

This year she introduced earlier cutoffs and tighter customisation options to avoid repeating the chaos.

Why BFCM matters far beyond the weekend

Strong holiday performance fuels real economic impact. Abby now employs 20 artisans in New York. Lindsay runs a network of contractors and agencies who help keep up with demand.

“The revenue driven allows us to bring more people on, and by doing that, it allows us to continue scaling up," Lindsay says.

Preparation is the real advantage

BFCM may last only 96 hours, but the brands that thrive are the ones that start preparing long before the leaves change. For founders like Abby and Lindsay, the real win is not the viral spike or the celebrity moment, but having a business strong enough to handle whatever the weekend brings.