Inventory Management for Small Business – Top Tips

Your inventory is the life source for your company. Too much or too little inventory will impact your cash flow. Therefore, mastering inventory management is a key ingredient to succeeding as a small business.

small business inventory management tips

When inventory is constantly moving in and out of your store, tracking your products and estimating future orders can be challenging, especially if you lack the funds to invest in a large inventory management system. However, there are steps to take in order to build successful inventory management for small businesses on a budget.

3 Tips for Successful Inventory Management for Small Businesses

If you’re ready to get started, here are three tips to help you with tracking your inventory.

1. Use Inventory Management Apps

Allow new tech to help your small business succeed. If expensive inventory management software is outside of the scope of your needs, consider the following apps geared towards small companies:

  • Inventory Tracker: Created for the iPad, this app is a comprehensive inventory tracking system. (Free version & pro version $3.99)
  • Retail Inventory: This app goes beyond being just an inventory management system. The tech will scan barcodes to link with point-of-sale purchases completed with your Cashier Live account. (Basic: $20 per month; Premium: $75 per month.)

2. Take Time Each Week to Analyze Your Inventory

Each week, you should spend one or two hours concentrating on your inventory to identify any current or possible future issues arising with your inventory and products. This will help you to stay updated on the current state of your inventory and to hopefully catch any issues before they become large-scale problems.

3. Forecast Future Needs

A very important aspect to maintaining a successful small business is to anticipate future needs.

Creating a six-month forecast will help you to make a very well educated guess when planning future inventory needs each day/week/month. Reevaluating your inventory (mentioned above) will help you create a more accurate forecast.

Inventory management for small businesses is just one of many useful tools to help your company succeed.

If you would like more information on inventory management, contact the finance experts at ARF Financial today. We’re here to help!