The one phrase that will lose you sales and customers is the saying “Sorry, it’s out of stock”. Consumers want what they need right away and are willing to go where they need to get it. If you don’t have it, then they’ll go to your competitors. This is why inventory management is so important and rely on a “mental count” won’t cut it. You’ll need the accuracy of a quickbooks scanner or some other way to keep an accurate count of all the products

If you’re a small business you may start out with using an excel spreadsheet or free small business inventory software you downloaded somewhere, but eventually you’ll need to upgrade to legitimate manufacturing inventory software, because you’ll need to utilize your data in several ways. Fishbowl provides one of the best inventory management solutions because it allows you to view your data from various angles (like a Fishbowl *light bulb!*).

If you don’t know how many products you have then you’re waiting for a disaster to happen. It’s important to know the consumer demand and to be able to match that with your inventory control capabilities. This is the lifeblood of a manufacturing company and worth investing in the right tools and in the right inventory systems.