If you are a goods based business, then it is important to monitor your stock levels to help maintain your cashflow on a regular basis.
What systems to use to help manage inventory
There are many ways to do this, and we recommend using a system that can be used by your team and easily and quickly checked. Technologies such as Xero enable this feature, so you can know effectively and efficiently how much stock remains of particular items.The reason for using a system that is automatically updated when an invoice is sent, is to eradicate potential human-error. Making sure your business has a system in place from the beginning can help prevent future issues, and improve client satisfaction. With the use of a system, you can also monitor the best selling products and see where you may need to invest in different products, or stop selling a certain product that does not sell as well as others.
Appoint a dedicated stock-manager
The next step in helping to manage your inventory is to appoint a dedicated person within your team who can regularly monitor the levels, alongside your technology. This can be useful to have in your business, as it will help your business make sure the system you are using is working correctly, and this person can manually update your stock levels in the system if you add new stock, new products, and need to update pricing, based on supplier changes or pricing updates.
Establish communication procedures with your suppliers
Customer service in any business is essential for your success, but do you have the same relationship building procedures with your suppliers? When you build long-term relationships with your suppliers, you can build rapport and potentially get better deals and support from them. Make sure there is a person in your team that can be the relationship manager, and that it is part of their weekly roster to contact your suppliers and continue conversations with them. This can also help to ensure that when something may go wrong, the supplier will be more than happy to help in any way they can - because they have that strong relationship with your business.With these three steps in place, you will be able to ensure you no longer have to pay for costly last minute orders, run out of stock, or have too much stock in your business that has to be sold at a reduced price, causing profit losses.
