There are many times throughout the year that your business will have to meet the high demands for your products, namely holidays or seasonal rushes. These times are the most lucrative parts of the year and set the tone in terms of growth and success for your business. Making sure that everything is set and ready to go in advance is vital to the profitability of any given holiday.
These are the times to make the most of increased traffic to your business and being prepared will ensure that no customer will leave empty handed. If you want your rushes to run smoothly for your business, then make sure you take some time to get everything up to speed in these few key areas of your business.
One of the most important steps in preparing for the holidays is to make sure you have a sufficient stock of the items being sold. You can’t sell something you don’t have! Perfecting inventory can seem like a daunting task but it’s worth every bit of time as it will fine tune your business in a variety of ways.
Organization
It all starts with an organized warehouse or stock room. This seems cliché in terms of “how-to” for a business, but the results are striking. Having an organized and orderly warehouse will severely limit the risk of stocking up on items that you already have. You will know where a certain item is at all times and have a clear sight on where you are in terms of supply—a place for everything and everything in its place.
Once the warehouse is in top shape, it will be easier to implement more sophisticated inventory systems. Linking your sales and inventory systems will keep you one step ahead in terms of warehouse management and you will know how much stock you have of any given item at any given time with perfect accuracy.
Knowing what to expect during a given holiday can also be to your advantage. You can’t just stock up on everything in your inventory or else you may end up with a lot of overage once the rush quiets down. Remember to be prepared for a particular holiday when putting a purchase order together. One way of doing this is to look at a specific timeframe in your sales from previous years. Even the smaller holidays mustn’t be overlooked. If one item sold very well for Mother’s Day, you should make sure to have a large number in stock the following year. If customers liked that product, they will be looking for it again and most likely with a general increase in demand. Check out our popular bulk wood cutting boards that could be a hot seller for your business on Mother’s Day.
All in all, being ready in these key areas of your business during these points of concentrated sales throughout the year will prove to be of great value in the process of enhancing your business from one holiday to the next.