If you run a home business and have stock, you know the challenges that come with keeping it all intact—managing web content, marketing, and the inventory yourself. It’s a big undertaking – but you can ensure your inventory isn’t something you have to worry about.
Alongside your point of sale inventory, you need to keep a tight rein on the number of products you have physically. The POS inventory can only work as well as the manual input it is given.
Correct stocktaking is one part of the task – the other is keeping the inventory safe and secure. Only when both are employed, do you have a streamlined process.
Why is inventory tracking essential?
Inventory tracking is the only way to know how much of a product you have and when to place fresh orders with your suppliers. It allows you to keep the availability on your website or in-store up to date correctly too.
But what makes inventory tracking even more important is it can highlight your best sellers and capitalize on them.
As your business grows, comprehensive stocktaking software is the best option.
Why is proper storage for your products essential?
Protecting your products is 101 of running a business. Depending on the product you sell, you might need to keep them in a dark, cool space – or a temperature-controlled environment. One thing is for sure; you probably can’t store everything in your home or garage!
Food items and ingredients can be too enticing for pests, and even raw materials for things like beauty products can be impacted by raised or lower temperatures.
The correct storage for your product keeps them safe, and by doing so, keeps your investment safe.
How can you store your inventory safely?
No matter what your products are, you need to be vigilant. Not all home insurances and even small business insurance will help if your products are damaged and you didn’t take steps to keep them safe.
Here are a few points you need to keep in mind for your products:
- Store safely
- Have a security system
- Off the ground
- Most popular items first
- Labeling
Where should you store your product?
You need to know that the location or the storage unit you have in mind is in a safe location. You can choose to purchase a lot or use the space you have around your home – the latter is usually the best option for small businesses. You can access the inventory 24/7 and implement your security system.
Extra coverage
Once you have your products stored safely, you should ensure that you have the highest level of insurance available. This might feel like overkill – but it is the insurance that will cover the cost of your stock should anything happen.
Before you store anything in your chosen storage facility or have one purpose-built – you need to ensure you have the correct permits for storing them.
Tracking
A tracking system is going to be vital to make sure that you know where your products are. If you have a smaller operation, you will need to know where everything is for efficiency with packing and shipping.
If your business is larger, then stocktaking software can make the process better. Keep all of the storage boxes within the storage unit labeled clearly.
Before you implement stocktaking software in your business, you will need to manually count everything available. If you are on a business budget, you can manually track inventory on a spreadsheet – just remember: human error and manually updating can take a while.
Positioning
There shouldn’t be any inventory boxes kept on the floor, so inside your storage unit, have several shelving units fitted. These shelves need to be sturdy and support the weight of multiple product boxes.
Keeping items off the ground prevents the inability to regulate temperature and avoids dampness and moisture.
Another item that comes under positioning is that you keep the most popular items in the front of the unit and have easy reach – instead of just a few of the most popular things, have at least a box.
Separation
If you have your storage unit on your private property, don’t be tempted to store your personal belongings there. Your business and personal inventory – just like your business and personal finances – should always remain separate.
If you have a storage unit around your home property, you can be tempted to use it as personal storage – avoid this.
