Tips for Effective Business Stock Management, Do MSMEs Need to Implement Them?

Stock management activities are one of the activities that are usually carried out in business. Although some people might find it complicated, however managing stock important work to do. Then, what about SMEs? Does stock management also need to be applied to MSME scale businesses? Is there an effective way to manage inventory?

To answer the questions above, Randy GunawanMore, CEO & Co-Founder Onstock Indonesia, sharing information related to effective stock management tips for businesses, including small and medium-sized businesses.

However, before going into the information, let's look at and understand first what inventory management activities are according to Randy's description.

What is Inventory Management?

Inventory management or stock management is a process in managing inventory so that the stock is always in sufficient quantity (no excess or shortage) so that it will not result in losses in business.

Not only that, Randy also explained that stock management is a process that consists of several activities, including:

• Receipt of goods from beg,
• quality control (process of eliminating goods that are not in accordance with standards),
• Stock storage process (starting from inventory taking, calculate stock inventory in real time, etc.),
• Accurate recording in the form of reports (sales report, purchase reports, goods returns reports, etc.).

Inventory Management Purpose

Why is managing inventory important? Apart from knowing the situation part inventory so that according to consumer demand, implementing stock management in your business can also help you know things other than inventory itself and increase business productivity.

“By knowing the circumstances part inventory, you can find out the health of your business, inventory forecasts and planning, find out the most popular products, products that are low in demand by consumers, and various other important information that help increase your business productivity, and increase customer satisfaction, “explained Randy.

The Importance of Stock Management for MSMEs

From the information presented above, stock management does have an important role in a business. But, what about small-scale businesses? Should SMEs also implement stock management?

According to Randy, inventory management or stock management must be carried out by all business actors, both micro and large scale businesses. Thus, managing stock is also important for MSMEs.

“Inventory management must be carried out for all business actors, be it micro-scale to large-scale businesses. Especially for MSME players, inventory management can help them as a decision-making tool and know the state of their business, "said Randy.

Carrying out inventory management, explained by Randy, can help MSME actors know the future business potential so that the business they run can be more developed and cloud the pace of the Indonesian economy.

Steps to Manage Stock for MSMEs

After knowing that managing stock is legally important for all businesses, including MSMEs, now you may be wondering how to get started. Randy shared information on the steps to manage stock for MSMEs. There are five steps, each of which is detailed below.

Setting Up Storage Warehouse

Placing inventory in one place, such as a warehouse, will facilitate the stock management process. The warehouse here doesn't have to be shaped warehouse which may require a large amount of capital to prepare it.

For MSME scale businesses, you can set up a storage rack or room as a warehouse for storing your inventory.

Apply Barcode on Every Item

Existence Barcode on each item will facilitate the process of data collection and calculation of inventory. If the item you are selling does not have Barcode, you can make Barcode for your own goods with help platform-platform which you can easily access on the internet.

Recording Every Stock Change Activity

Some activities, such as sales, purchases, and returns will certainly affect the number of items in stock. For this reason, it is important to record these activities to facilitate the calculation of the amount part your inventory.

Make a report

The fourth step is to create reports, such as sales reports and merchandise reports. Reports can help you identify how your business is performing over a period of time.

Do Inventory taking

inventory takingis the activity of calculating the amount of inventory before selling it. you can do inventory taking regularly every week or every month.

Effective Stock Management Tips for MSMEs

Some people, especially micro and medium scale businesses, may find inventory management a tedious and tiring activity. Therefore, there are still many SMEs who have not implemented it. In fact, inventory management has an important role in business continuity.

Using a stock management system is a solution that can simplify the MSME stock management process and make it more effective.

“Stock Management System is the key to make stock management more effective and efficient, where currently stock management system is easy to use and reach. MSME actors will not miss anything about the amount of inventory in the warehouse, "said Randy.

onstock is a stock management system that is present as a solution for the implementation of more effective and efficient inventory management activities. MSME actors can easily manage stock, carry out inventory taking, to obtain an inventory report from an Onstock application that can be downloaded via Play Store and App Store.

Apart from the application mobile devices, business owners can also access it via browser at onstock.id.

Inventory management is not just an activity of calculating the inventory of business goods. Good stock management can also help businesses, including MSMEs, to be more developed because many things can be identified from stock management activities.

What's more, with the presence platform like Onstock in the current digital era, all business activities, including inventory management activities, have become easier to do.