Managing inventory can be a real pain when a business is just getting off the ground. Sometimes, tracking and sourcing can continue to plague even seasoned sellers. From underestimating sales to forgetting to check inventory to dried out supplies, there are several things that can go wrong, leaving you out of stock and out of luck. Your business may be based on a stellar concept and have all the support it needs to thrive, but if you do not have an effective ordering system in place, you are going to find your profit gears all mucked up before you can get up high. Fortunately, we have all the technology today to help get that system in place and keep it running smoothly without too much fuss.

From start to finish, here are the basic areas that need to be kept under control for effective inventory management that facilitates the smooth flow of lucrative orders and happy customers.

Open Supply Options

It is always good to have a trusted supplier who has been able to provide you with the product you need when you need it. A good relationship with a supplier is gold. It is always better, though, to not get stuck with a single supplier who may at some point fail to come through for you. Cherish your best supplier, but maintain at least one or two others to whom you can run just in case things with your main man go south.

Balance Your Stock

Two main stock issues are overstocking and running out of stock. Balancing stocks very early on is essential to maximizing your potential for profit and business growth. After a business has experienced running short on stock, there is a tendency to go overboard and order too much the next time around. This can result in huge losses if the items are perishable, easily degrade over time, or might quickly become unpopular or outdated. Even if they can be kept long-term, however, you can still lose out because of increased warehousing costs and a lack of capital needed to purchase other stock items or new product to add to your inventory.

If you find yourself out of stock on certain items, it is important to take the time to immediately reevaluate. Do a quick investigation and note the reasons why this happened. The aim here is always to look for ways to improve, and not to beat yourself – or anyone else – up over the issue. It does not have to be a huge drama if you can act on it right away.

If the problem rests in not having enough financial resources to reorder, consider working out a deal with your long-term supplier, or even a new one. Either way, they will probably be willing to cut you some slack. Once the pressing issue is resolved, don’t forget to trace your steps so it doesn’t happen again. Rethink and rework your sales so you can avoid overstocking slow-moving items and be able to better fund your best sellers.

If the issue is the result of an increase in demand, figure out whether you were unaware because of a failure in your tracking system or because it happened suddenly. If the former, rectify the supply issue then sit down with your team to make adjustments to better keep an eye on things. Communication is essential to the smooth flow from supplier to warehouse to sales to shipping.

If your problem stems from inaccurate estimates for peak seasons or a lack of research into buying habits, you will find your backup suppliers very handy. Peak season will often mean that supplies are running low because your competition has stocked up. If you are not able to make late orders for additional stock, you may have to accept the lost opportunity. You can take this time, however, to do a thorough analysis of your individual products, how they have moved in the past – not only from your experience but as you can observe from other sellers – and which ones are likely to be in high demand during different times of the year. This way, you can also plan to distribute your capital accordingly so that you don’t miss out on holiday fever again.

Leverage Technology

Many problems with managing inventory stem from an inadequate system. Tracking is really the bulk of the work when it comes to maintaining proper stock levels. Once you get the supply, warehousing and logistics worked out, you will need to track at a high level to make sure that none of these links break down. Remember that a break anywhere along the line will often mean that business is going to stall.

Several professional software and online systems exist that can help you keep accurate records and automate many of the processes involved in managing stock. Using specially designed software instead of manual counts and spreadsheets can greatly reduce errors in receipts, fulfillment, and stock damage that can throw a big monkey wrench into everything. It is a great help for bookkeeping as well, since you can easily export and send monthly reports to your accountant. Backups are very important, and you can easily schedule them for security or download them manually anytime you need them.

This kind of system is also designed for multiple users so that you can reduce the number of problems caused by people getting out of sync. The system will furthermore keep you and everybody else concerned properly informed. For instance, even if someone still has the guts to steal from you with so many eyes on and such pristine records, you will notice it right away. It can take a while to move everything over to a new system, so prioritize you’re a item – usually 20% of the total – and your problem items, slowly adding a manageable volume at a time so things don’t get out of hand.

If you need help sorting out warehousing, shipping, logistics, labeling, or any other aspect of working the kinks out of your business, contact us today. Add to Cart Consultants can work with you to get your business running like a well-oiled machine so you can jet to the next level.