Very soon I will be in a place to begin seriously investing in growing Ground Score Enterprises a little closer to my vision. Right now, that means expanding my inventory, at least a little. Some items will be purchased wholesale, the craft items sold online will mostly be drop-shipped, and local crafts sold at farm markets etc. I will likely be selling on consignment. One of my flaws that I have to be very aware of as I grow my business is that I am organizationally challenged. When I was running the gallery for the arts center, I was very good at keeping track of inventory, but then, there was already a system in place to do so that I just had to put into use. What's the easiest way to keep track of inventory? Are there computer programs or downloadable forms that might assist me with this? My computer runs on Linux, although I will also have Windows soon too. Does Open Office have any free business software for inventory?
I ran my tie-dye business for about 5 years with no real inventory tracking. Last year, I decided to set up a simple system, since I have all my inventory for sale on-line WYSIWYG. I use an item number which is no more than a sequential number, starting with 001 and going up by 1 from there. I track it in an excel spreadsheet: item#, description, size, pattern, date sold, price. By storing in excel, I can create a version sorted by description (Adult S/S T, Toddler Romper, Women's tank dress, etc.), and by size. This helps me in ordering blank stock when I run low on a particular item and size. I have tried software packages that combine inventory tracking, invoices, etc. I have also tried Microsoft Access. Both were pretty complex for what I am doing. One suggestion: If you are taking in consignment items, add someting to the item number to help identify the supplier; also, make sure that the item number is on your garment tags. Once you set up your system, it should be a big help, as long as you are diligent about maintaining it. It doesn't hurt to schedule periodic physical inventory to cross-check your record keeping. Have fun! Judy
