There are some things that you just must do to ensure you have a better stocktake; some of them may be obvious and you do them without thinking, but there may be other things that you have not considered before but when you do them you realise how much better, easier and more effective your stocktake can be.

Organisation Is A Must

Before you begin your stocktake make sure that you organise the areas where you will be counting stock; throw away empty boxes, put the same stock together and maybe even label the shelves for even more ease when completing your stocktaking.

Heads Down Is A Must

Avoid the radio and music as it can be distracting when counting and request that employees do not use their mobile phones or chat to others while counting for the same reason. It may seem harsh or over the top, but when the numbers are wrong and need to be recounted numerous times to get the right total number, you’ll wish there had been no distractions and the stock had been recorded correctly the first time.

Preparation Is A Must

Make sure that your employees have the right tools for the job, such as pens, clipboards, write off sheets and more. When you are using your own team for stocktaking instead of a professional stocktaker it is a good idea for different employees to have their own colour pen so you can ensure things have been checked twice and three times by different people. If you’re working with big numbers or there are boxes of products but stock needs to be counted individually then give out calculators too.

Sorry Is A Must Not

If you don’t have the right numbers on the stocktakes it is too late to just say ‘sorry’; you need to make sure you check and recheck to get the right numbers and avoid the risk of discrepancies. It is vital that your stock is accurate as this will help avoid lost sales due to unforeseen stock-outs or costly overstocking.

If you feel the cost of getting your employees to stay out of hours when the business is closed and worry about the risk of human stocktaking errors then why not call in a professional stocktaker from our team and we can take all that worry and stress away from you.