In a previous blog I wrote about how patch resellers need to know their customers in order to figure out what products to stock and when. They also need to tailor inventory to the seasons, holidays, and other special events that might influence sales. In this post I want to follow that up by giving you the most important tip I can to help you better manage your inventory of wholesale patches. Here it is:
Keep good records.
Every time you place an order for wholesale patches you are doing so in anticipation of selling them all out, right? If not you wouldn't be in business. But one of the traps of business is getting so lost in trying to make money that you lose track of how your inventory is moving. Yet it's important to know how your inventory is doing so you focus on items that are selling instead of what's taking up space.
To help you keep track, set up a spreadsheet using something like Open Office or Microsoft Excel. Every time you receive a new order of wholesale patches enter each one into the spreadsheet along with the quantity received. At the end of each day go back into that spreadsheet and enter how many you sold in a new column. If you do that you'll very quickly begin to see which patches are hot and at what time of the year they are hot. This is a good way to figure out what kinds of patches to stock and when.
Without good record keeping, providing a good supply of patches that your customers are sure to want is a very difficult. But when you track what's coming in and what's going out, you're in a much better position to make wise business decisions.
