This is a great example of the type of service provided at Winter Auto Repair. No matter the make and model of your vehicle, they know all the tricks necessary to service every aspect and make sure that you’re leaving the shop in a car that is safer than when you came in.
Website – https://winterautorepair.com/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/WinterAutoRepair
Members of Brian O’Sullivan’s BNI group in Rehoboth, Delaware, gather around the toys to be given to the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Delaware. RMHC provides housing for families of children in hospitals so the family can concentrate on healing their child and not need to worry about a hotel or sleeping in a hospital chair. Each gift makes a direct impact on the family and helps brighten their day.
Depending on your industry – and area of focus – the holiday season can be slow for business. In fact, November to January might bring with it a looming sense of doom, not just related to shorter days and cooler weather, but instead, about your business’ bottom line.
In this article, we take a look at the holiday slowdown that impacts some businesses around this time of year, and some strategies for combatting any potential fiscal consequences it may have.
As many professionals know, this phenomenon happens when businesses or industries experience a decrease in activity or a slowdown in operations during the holiday season which can make an already tight time of year even more nerve-wracking.
Of course, not all industries are impacted, some sectors thrive during the holiday season. These include:
Some of the industries most affected by the holiday slowdown season are:
There are a lot of reasons your business might slowdown during the holiday season. Some that might be impacting your business include:
For these reasons, you might find your suppliers take longer to deliver, your clients and contacts don’t return calls or emails, and, altogether, things are just harder to get done. If you’re trying to accomplish work as normal during the holiday season, it might feel like the rest of the world is plotting against you.
Businesses often need to adapt their strategies to navigate the holiday slowdown. Having a plan for this season can often make the difference between starting the new year off strong, or in a deficit. Depending on your industry, there are many tactics worth considering:
Of course, depending on what your business specializes in , these might not be viable options.
There is a lot of advice out there that will tell you to put money and time into marketing campaigns, revamped customer service training, new product or service offerings, and other investments to survive the holiday slowdown season.
In general, spending money to make money makes sense. However sometimes it’s just another added worry during an already stressful season, and it’s not guaranteed to make the slowdown period any more lucrative. Having a plan to ensure your budget isn’t overextended during the holiday slowdown is the best tool available to guarantee a successful holiday season, and an even better new year.
What does this “plan” look like?
We’ve found that it’s not uncommon for businesses to be overspending on expenses like telecom, payment processing fees, and waste disposal by around 25-30%. Maybe that’s not a huge problem during your peak season, but during a holiday slowdown, that could pose some real consequences. The best thing your business can do to survive slow periods , is make sure all your costs are optimized, all the time.
Depending on your industry, holiday slowdowns may become unavoidable. While there’s lots of advice out there encouraging you to spend money on shiny new initiatives or campaigns, one of the best things you can do is look for ways to ensure you’re not overspending throughout the entire year.
Running a business in the Wood River Valley is deeply rewarding — but it often comes with rising operating costs, seasonal rhythms, limited staffing, and the constant challenge of managing vendors, subscriptions, and service contracts.
In my work representing Schooley Mitchell of Idaho, helping local organizations review telecom, software, merchant services, waste contracts, freight, and other recurring expenses, I see a consistent pattern:
Most businesses are paying more than they need to — often by 10–30% — without realizing it.
Not because anyone is careless, but because small fees, outdated plans, and automatic renewals slip by unnoticed.
The good news is that a simple Continuous Improvement System (CIS) can give businesses clearer control over their spending without adding complexity or workload. It’s a structure I use with Schooley Mitchell clients across Idaho, and it works for organizations of every size and industry.
Here’s how any local business can start.
Telecom, internet, software subscriptions, merchant services, shipping, waste, and utilities are often scattered across people and departments.
In nearly every Schooley Mitchell engagement I’ve done locally, simply compiling this list reveals hidden charges or outdated services.
A 90-day rhythm keeps costs from drifting.
During each review:
This is the same cadence Schooley Mitchell uses when monitoring client accounts — it prevents surprises and keeps spending aligned with current needs.
Even small teams can benefit from clear responsibility.
One person watching subscriptions, another watching telecom, someone else watching waste or merchant services.
When nobody is assigned, costs drift.
When someone is assigned, even lightly, waste drops fast.
A CIS doesn’t require software.
A simple dashboard works:
It’s the same type of dashboard I maintain for Schooley Mitchell clients — clean, simple, and actionable.
Across the Valley, I consistently find overspending in:
These are Schooley Mitchell’s core specialty areas — and also where local businesses tend to see the fastest improvements.
A healthy CIS isn’t about cutting — it’s about redirecting resources where they make a real difference:
When organizations free up dollars they’ve been overspending on vendor services, that money stays in the Valley — supporting jobs, stability, and community vitality.
A stronger, more efficient local business community benefits all of us:
Every dollar saved from unnecessary vendor waste is a dollar that stays right here in our Valley.
As the local Schooley Mitchell consultant serving the Wood River Valley, I offer a complimentary Savings & Improvement Snapshot to help organizations identify where costs may be drifting.
This includes:
This service is free, fast, and designed to support our local business community.
If you’d like to set up a snapshot or ask questions, I’d be happy to help.
John Rumasuglia works with Schooley Mitchell to help Idaho businesses improve margins and free up resources for growth. From Hailey, he supports manufacturers, nonprofits, and service providers across the Wood River Valley. More information is available at www.schooleymitchell.com/jrumasuglia
This past weekend, I had the chance to hit the sand at the 15th Annual Ranse Classic in beautiful Lido Key Beach — an incredible weekend filled with competition, community, and cause.
What makes this event special isn’t just the volleyball (though we battled our way to a solid 2-2 record!) — it’s what it stands for. The Ranse Classic honors the memory of Ranse Jones, a pro player who suffered a stroke during a tournament, and raises funds for the Ranse Jones Stroke Awareness Fund at Broward Health North.
Proceeds from the tournament help advance stroke education, awareness, treatment, and support throughout the community — and I’m proud to have played a small part in that mission.
Here’s to good competition, great company, and giving back. See you next year, Ranse Classic!
Meet Gwen Forlizzi — Founder of AKT Foundation. They help turn empty spaces into safe homes. They believe no family should go without the basic household necessities that make a house feel like a home.
Meet Adam Wissink — Cofounder of JAAG Properties and a driving force behind helping Canadians build credit and achieve home ownership. From rent-to-own solutions to financial literacy outreach, Adam’s mission is simple: make home ownership more accessible for everyone. Follow along as he empowers families and transforms lives, one home at a time.
In this episode, William and Roger Germann have a conversation about his organization, The Florida Aquarium. Rated among the best aquariums in the US, The Florida Aquarium welcomes visitors to experience a wide variety of aquatic and terrestrial animals – including sea turtles, sharks, lemurs, otters – with the goal of building awareness and inspiring conservation action. William and Roger discuss the ecological goals and effects that the aquarium has achieved through conservation and education.
If your business operates a fleet that is subject to electronic logging device (ELD) usage, it’s important to keep an eye on regulatory updates and changes that may impact the solutions you’re using. To ensure you remain compliant with federal law, staying on top of all changes, or working with a third-party expert who can keep track for you, is key.
In September, 2025 alone, The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) removed four ELDs from its list of approved devices. Fleets were given a tight window of sixty days, during which time they were instructed to “discontinue using the revoked ELD and revert to paper logs or logging software to record required hours of service data,” and “replace the revoked ELD with a compliant ELD from the Registered Devices list.”
Sixty days may seem like a big window, but for large fleets and when approaching a busy season for many operations, this is a huge change that needs to be made quickly. Changing devices, contacting your provider, educating drivers, and potentially sorting through paper logs – these are all time-consuming feats. And that’s if you’re made aware of the device revocation right away. If you miss the memo, you might be racing to implement the necessary changes in time.
The FMCSA doesn’t revoke devices to make life difficult for fleets. In September, the four devices removed – Robinhood ELD, TT ELD PT30, ELOG42 and RENAISSANCE ELD – were done so because they failed to meet technical requirements. They’re not the only devices to face this penalty. Eight other ELDs have also been revoked in 2025. The technical requirements are extensive but readily available, and all the device developers will have the opportunity to revise their ELDs to meet standards. However, that could be a time-consuming fix, and in the meantime, fleets must switch ELDs – and potentially service providers – to remain compliant.
As a fleet manager, you have to be on top of current ELD regulations. Revoked devices can have a real consequence for your operations, and there may be less time than you’d like to make any changes. Working with an expert on current regulations can save a lot of headaches and buy you time when facing this sort of challenge.
