Inventory reordering doesn’t seem like an emergency. Until it is.

Read on if you’ve ever been late reordering from your factory…

We’ve faced our own inventory reordering pains with our brands:

➤ Ordering too much

➤ Ordering too little

➤ Ordering for profit and feeling cash flow pain

➤ Failing to anticipate shipping delays

➤ Failing to anticipate factory delays

Does any of that sound familiar?

But the one thing that makes it all easier—and more profitable—is having enough time on our side.

There’s this trick with time. The more of it, or the further a deadline is away, the more comfortable we are with procrastinating.

Think back to high school or college, the late nights before projects were due…

The same can be true when it comes to reordering inventory.

So, here are two important considerations:

(1) Take the emotion out of it

It’s easy to get excited or disappointed about sales and make emotional decisions. For example, if sales are up 40% this month the immediate reaction might be to increase the factory reorder size!

Whether you are using an inventory management software or spreadsheets, have a data-based system tell you when to reorder. Review it frequently.

Moreover, be disciplined to drown out the emotion and believe the data.

(2) Start your factory reorder talks early

Because factories can get busy, raw material shortages happen, world events affect shipping routes…

By talking with your factories 2-4 weeks BEFORE you anticipate needing to reorder you can:

A. Have enough time to negotiate effectively. If you’re in a rush then you lose major leverage in talks. Usually it takes multiple discussions to come to an agreement on pricing, terms, and other important details.

B. You can pad in the time of any unexpected delays. Business is always full of surprises, and the same is absolutely true—possibly even more true—for your supply chain.

The bottom line? Time is your friend.

As small business owners sometimes what’s in front of us gets the most attention. But when our product based businesses are just that—product based—inventory management and correct reordering are extremely important.

After all, we can’t sell if we don’t have anything to sell!

How about you? Have you ever felt inventory reordering pain? What’s another tip or practice that’s worked well for you?

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