Keep Track of Your Inventory

Keep Track of Your Inventory

Keep Track of Your Inventory : Multi-thousand tips to make your life easier.

Your business requires you to have a good stock of inventory to sell. Having too much means your money is tied up in unsold merchandise. Having too little means your potential customers will leave you and buy their supplies from another business.
Here are tips to help you keep track of your inventory.

• Organize your stock physically in the store and in the stockroom. Anything cluttered will confuse you and your employees when you do inventory checks. Place similar items together, preferably within view. Installing shelves, filing cabinets, drawers, and proper storage boxes will make inventory easier for you and for anyone you hire to do it.
• Determine how to label each item, and use stickers or tags to label them. Knowing your items like the back of your hand is not enough in business. Proper inventory tracking means proper labels for each and every item. Having only one item is simple, but what if it comes in different sizes and colors? Establish a coding system that all employees can easily understand. Barcodes usually have numbers and letters below the vertical lines, so even without a barcode machine, you can still determine what an item is. Diligently label stock as it enters your store or stockroom.
• Use predetermined formats for data entry. Data entry in the beginning may be a grueling and boring task. It can also be confusing, so it is best to have one person do it and another person double-check it. This can be done manually in a logbook with pen and paper, or in a simple spreadsheet. Whatever you decide, you must be consistent to avoid confusion. If you realize later that there is important data you need but did not consider initially, you will have to redo everything. Determine what kind of information you need to know first; this will guide your labels and formats.
• Purchase computer software for inventory systems. The POS, or point-of-sale, system is computerized software that uses barcodes. It may take several days to install it in your store. However, the advantage is real-time inventory checks at any time. Every sale made is updated in the system. Every new stock item brought into the store is entered. At any time, you can check stock on hand and its equivalent monetary value in inventory. With just a few clicks, you can have all the information you need to make informed business decisions. It can quickly answer questions such as, “What items sell fast? What should be put on sale? What items should we order again?” Knowing the answers to these questions can make or break your business.
• Do manual inventory checks. Even with a very efficient inventory tracking system in place, a physical count is still required in most businesses. Data entry could have been done incorrectly, and the information you read on your computer may not match the actual inventory you have. No one can attest to the physical count of boxes in your stockroom. Do this periodically and update the system if necessary. As a business owner, do this unannounced so you can determine whether your employees or suppliers are shortchanging you.

Selling and buying goods to sell is not enough to manage your business. Keep track of your inventory, and you will keep your business targets on track.