Wednesday 11 September 2013

Keeping Excess Inventory in your Business

Planning your inventory sometimes can be very tricky. As an entrepreneur, you base your inventory levels on past sales, inventory movements and projected demand. However, there are so many factors that also affect what is at present – changing tastes, the environment of the business, and other factors that most of the time are out of your control. No matter how you plan it well, it is either you end up with less supply of your products or just too much of these on hand. Having fewer items on hand tends to make your customers unhappy and very impatient, and you are in the danger of losing them. Most of the time, you are inclined to over-order or over stock and you end up with a lot of excesses. But having excess inventory could be answered right away, especially if the kind of products you carry does not have any expiration or non-perishable. All you have to do is to find a temporary self storage in Sydney near your business and you could store these until demand picks up. This is good for seasonal non-perishable items, which you could keep for a period of time.

While many businesses try to clear out excess inventory through sales and other promotions, some items can be kept until the market picks up. This is indeed true if the items you carry are non-perishable like clothing, accessories, or even pieces of furniture. We see a lot of similar businesses that have clearance sales in order to clear out the excesses. If you are in the same business, the first thing that you would usually think is to look at the storage space you have in your warehouse. But while storage space in your shop or warehouse may be incredibly tight, you can immediately consider extending it for a short period of time by simply engaging a self storage facility near you. It is not that expensive to simply hire more storage as a short-term or medium-term solution, given that the self storage facility is near you, affordable and secured. If you are able to strike a deal with the self storage owner that you would need his business’ services every other time so that it can lower the costs considerably, then it is even better. Apart from that, you can pre-pay some months to make the overall cost even lower. Contrary to popular belief, hiring a self storage facility can be advantageous and inexpensive.

Extending your warehouse space thru hiring a self storage facility is great for seasonal products, including clothes that may be out of fashion for three or four months but can be sold again after. It is better to keep the stock safely stored and be brought back into your store at the right time or season. This is not only true to clothing but also to other non-perishable products that have style that are classic and cannot go out of season for a long time. In other words, higher probability of coming back to the sales rack in no time!

With the changing demands of customers and more and more newer and better business sprouting everywhere to meet these demands, it is always better to be at a competitive edge. Customers nowadays have a wide array of choices of products in front of them and if they are unsatisfied with one, they can easily switch. Given this, it is not wise to keep the customer waiting and that it is better to have too much stock than to have too little. Out of stock items can frustrate customers and you may jeopardise the chances that they will shop with you again. Having extra storage space also allows you to snap up bulk discounts without the fear of having nowhere to put everything. Thus, it is best to manage your stocks well and if there is a high likely chance that you will end up having excess inventory, it is just good to have a back up plan of putting it at a nearby self storage facility. It may cost a little bit more, but in the long run, you keep your customers happy and satisfied.

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