The holidays can be chaotic for brand operators. Orders surge, systems stretch thin, and teams are pushed to their limits. For a lot of brands, it’s the ultimate stress test of how well your operations actually work.

When we sat down with Charlie, head of finance and operations from Poncho, he summed it up perfectly.

“The holidays used to feel like a dumpster fire as we raced to keep up with growth”

That’s an honest answer. Most operators have been there. The good news? It doesn’t have to be that way.

Over the last two years, we’ve worked closely with Poncho to help them simplify their operations and build a foundation that could handle their accelerating scale. What stood out most to me wasn’t just how much more efficient their systems ran, but how differently their team approached growth once the chaos faded away.

Here are a few lessons that stuck with me from that conversation:

1. Simplify before you scale.
Poncho didn’t overhaul their entire operation. They focused on tightening and scaling what was already working. Growth doesn’t need to be about adding more complexity; it’s about making sure your core systems clean, connected, and reliable.

2. Build for your busiest days, not your easiest ones.
When everything hits at once, like holiday sales, wholesale orders, and last-minute shipments, your process should still feel steady. Poncho’s ability to treat peak season like “any other day” is the result of building systems that hold up under pressure.

3. Don’t let your systems limit your ambition.
At one point, we talked about how often brands hold back because the backend feels too fragile or isn’t adaptable enough for the brand. As I said in the conversation, “What if the systems weren’t the reason you didn’t do it?” That shift from reactive to proactive is where brands unlock real growth.

Poncho’s story is a reminder that calm isn’t the absence of activity. It’s the presence of structure. When your systems work quietly in the background, your team can finally focus on the work that really moves the brand forward.

You can watch the full case study below. It’s an honest look at what operational readiness looks like in the real world and how a few smart changes can turn the hardest season of the year into a good one.

Watch the full conversation here: 

‍