Starting a business involves a long list of “to-dos” – choose a location, hire employees, obtain building or operating licenses, advertise, etc. Once you are up and running, you must manage employees, organize shipping and receiving schedules, handle inventory, deal with customers, and more. With so much work to do, many businesses are utilizing inventory management software to make at least one task easier.
The traditional image of inventory is one of a big warehouse filled with multiple shelves holding a wide range of items. When items are sold, they are moved, whether it’s to a delivery truck or a sales room floor. In reality, inventory is a lot more chaotic, and small errors in moving product, counting product, shipping product, receiving product, etc. can lead to serious financial losses. If, for example, an employee under-counts an item, the corrective shipment will cause over-crowding in the stockroom. If one over-counts an item, there may be shortages on the sales floor, which can lead to dissatisfied customers.
Inventory management is also a very lengthy, time-consuming process -- another reason for businesses to use software. Good inventory management software accurately maintains and reports data about a stockroom, allowing business owners to focus on other tasks, like employee training and expansion.
Good inventory management software is also customizable; it can be configured to fulfill your very unique inventory management needs. You can use the software to track how well items sell, analyze purchasing trends, forecast future orders, and make decisions that will keep your customers happy and provide long-term business growth opportunities.
Another important feature of good inventory management is scalability. Your business is a certain size now, but it – hopefully – won’t be forever. As you get more customers and sell new and different and more products, you need software that will grow with you, not software that needs replacing every time you make a change.
Inventory management software with automation capabilities simplifies the inventory management process and offers you not only the opportunity to make fewer mistakes, but also the ability to make better decisions.
Contact Oates & Company today for more information about inventory management software.
