Your best seller is out again. Meanwhile a shelf of slow movers is gathering dust, and you have a vague feeling that margins should be better than they are.
Most owners work hard and pay attention. The problem is that stock lives in one place, buying in another and sales in a third, and nobody has the full picture on any given day.
Free: the Stock and Reorder Checklist. Know what is on the shelf and when to reorder, in one page. Get the checklist
What the disconnect costs you
Missed sales on products you could have had in stock, and cash sitting in products you cannot sell. Neither shows up on a single day, but both come out of your margin.
Why the three loops drift
Having the right product when a customer wants it, buying before you run out, and knowing whether you make money on what you sell are connected. When they are tracked separately, each loop works from a stale picture of the others.
The process: five steps from guessing to knowing
1. Keep a live count of what you have
Record every sale, delivery and return so you know what is on the shelf without walking the floor.
Example: “Delivery of 24 received, 3 returned.”
Pro tip: When you do a physical count, record the difference. Shrinkage becomes visible rather than mysterious.
2. Set a minimum and maximum on products you restock
When stock drops below the minimum, order up to the maximum.
Example: “Keep 20, reorder at 3.”
Pro tip: Review the suggested orders before sending. You know about the sale coming up, the list does not.
Free: the Stock and Reorder Checklist. Know what is on the shelf and when to reorder, in one page. Get the checklist
3. Receive deliveries against the order
Check what arrived against what you ordered and what the supplier charged.
Example: “Ordered 12, received 10, billed for 12.”
Pro tip: Catch the difference before you pay the invoice.
4. Go from quote to invoice without retyping
Build the sale from your product list, then invoice from it so the lines come across.
Example: “Quote confirmed, stock reserved, invoice created in one click.”
Pro tip: Reserving stock when a customer orders keeps you from selling it twice.
5. Match the bank weekly
Once a week match each payment to its invoice or bill so your books are current at tax time.
Example: “Eleven payments matched, one fee noted.”
Pro tip: Your accountant gets clean books instead of a year of unmatched transactions.
Where this runs
All five steps work with a spreadsheet. When it gets heavy, we run the same flow inside the business system we set up for clients (Odoo Community), where stock, purchasing, sales and invoicing share one product list, and your customer list can also be used to send targeted email. The process is the point. The tool just keeps it going when you are busy.
Your next step
Choose one loop to fix first, usually stock counts or reorder points. If you want a walk-through of all five, the free Retail course covers stock, purchasing, sales, email and bank checks.
Free: the Stock and Reorder Checklist. Know what is on the shelf and when to reorder, in one page. Get the checklist