Understanding and managing your inventory is one of the most critical factors in business success. However, many small business owners fail to ask critical questions about their inventory. Questions such as “How often does inventory turn over?”, “What items are the best sellers and the worst sellers?”, and “What stock do I have on hand and what stock do I need to order more of?” need to be asked by small business owners, in order to effectively manage their inventory. Some inventory management experts believe that companies can increase their profitability 20 to 50 percent more, merely by managing their inventory effectively. That's exactly why we built Stockpile, the world's best free online inventory management software.
There is more to inventory control than simply buying new products. You have to know what to buy, when to buy it and how much to buy. Properly configured and often used inventory management software will allow you to do just that for your small business. You also need the ability to track that inventory, in order to optimize your inventory purchasing practices. Your business's basic stock should provide a reasonable assortment of products and should be big enough to cover the normal sales demands of your business. When calculating basic stock, you must also factor in lead time -- the length of time between reordering and receiving a product. For instance, if your lead time is two weeks and a particular product line sells 5 units a week, then you must reorder before the basic inventory level falls below 10 units. If you do not reorder until you actually need the stock, you'll have to wait two weeks without the product. You could actually lose revenue, by not having enough inventory on hand. Your customers will go elsewhere to get what they need.
The best way to help yourself, is to obtain inventory management software that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. Stockpile is the free online inventory management system, which will help you manage your inventory. Since the application is online, all you have to do is enter in your inventory, using a web browser on your computer, laptop, tablet or other “smart” device. You can then begin to answer those important questions you have about your inventory and how best to manage it. Best of all – it’s free to use, now and forever!
