Stock Control Tips for Small Businesses
Stock control is essential whether your business is new or established. For small businesses inventory management is an integral part because it helps the owner to evaluate how well the business is doing. Taking note of bankrupt stock is necessary to for proper management of stock. The following are stock control tips for small businesses:
Find Good Software
An inventory management software is one of the ways of controlling stock for any business. Many software is available to help digitize the inventory in a way that can aid in keeping track, forecast demand, and analyze inventory from various devices such as your smartphone.
Ensure that the software you choose is suitable for a small and growing business that is easy to understand, adaptable and affordable. Software that supports barcoding, QuickBooks, serial number tracking, and multi-location is a good option. Go through different websites to review the best software. Carefully research the software platforms that are most suited for your business needs.
Identify Low-Turn Stock
A low-turn stock is a stock that has not been sold in the last 6-12 months. It is high time to reconsider restocking them. Keep in mind that there are products that have higher sales velocity at different times of the year such as Halloween costumes and bathing suits which can only be worn in spring and summer.
Identify the product with low sales velocity and stop stocking them. Strategize on how to get rid of the remaining stock and there are several options to do so. You can create sales discounts and promotions to move the products off the shelves. This will help the business create space for other high-velocity items and return its capital.
Organize Your Inventory
Small business inventory is not complicated and should be easy to organize. All you need to know is the particulars of your business for example a business that sells one thing over and over will require less management compared to a business that deals with one-of-a-kind items that require more specialized management.
The most important thing is to have a system organizing the products step by step in the same place and type for easier identification. You can label your inventory on the outside if they are stored in boxes or by placing digital photos of the product on the boxes.
Outsource Sometimes
As the business grows, it might become difficult and tiring for a business owner to keep up with all stock. Hiring another person to be in charge of inventory makes perfect sense. The person should be responsible for managing and storing inventory in an organized manner.
Business owners can focus on other components of growing the business. Hiring an extra person depends on the business cash flow, you might hire a full-time or a part-time employee. There is also a list of subsidiary companies and individuals that specialize in managing inventories, their work is excellent and they use modern technology to store and move products.
