In times like these, it’s healthy to focus on the things that you can control and the positive steps you’re able to take today.
Unfortunately finding that focus can be tough with so many things uprooting your daily routine, so we’ve put together a few tips and resources to help you stay positive and productive in the coming weeks.
Inventory stuff you can do right now
Get started with barcoding
Today is always the best day to get more organized, and using barcodes at your business is one of the best ways to increase inventory accuracy and fulfill orders faster.
If you’re not sure about what barcodes can do for you, this Barcoding 101 post can answer that.
Or if you’re itching to get something done right now, we recommend using one of these free barcode generators to create your own. You might not be able to actually place labels on your products yet, but you can generate the numbers and barcode images in advance so that you’ll be ready to go when you get back to the office.
Study historical sales and create reorder points
Depending on your industry, you may be seeing a surge in some product sales or a large drop in demand for others. This means that you could sell out of certain products over the next few weeks, or invest a little too much in a type of product that’s lower in demand.
If you aren’t already doing so, you can minimize this risk by setting reorder points and safety stock. You can generate reorder points by studying your existing sales data for each product to help you decide the minimum quantity of stock you should reach before reordering a product. Having reorder points in place across all of your products can have a massive cumulative effect on your cashflow, since you’ll only be stocking what you know your business needs.
Focus on physical, not digital self-isolation
A lot of us might be physically self-isolating, but we’re not alone, and it’s really encouraging to remember that.
If you use Facebook, we’ve set up a great inFlow Community consisting of hundreds of small businesses. It’s a great place to learn how other small businesses are overcoming challenges, and share some general small business tips.
But if you can’t make it, that’s ok too—we’ll also be hosting the replay on YouTube.
Helpful promotions from other companies
There are some great businesses out there doing their part to help small businesses stay productive while being sensitive to cashflow. Here are some of the best and most generous offers we’ve found:
Shopify is enabling gift cards for all of their plans, so if you have a Shopify store, this could be a great way for your customers to provide your business with support in the interim.
Serif, which makes some excellent alternatives to Photoshop and Illustrator, is providing extended trials and steep 50% discounts on their software. So if you need to create some promotional images but don’t have access to your usual software at the office, these Affinity products are great.
Keap has put together a $100,000 pool to help American small businesses (so it’s US-only unfortunately). You’ll have to fill out a short form to apply, but if they accept your application you could get a $500 grant.
We’ll be updating this post with new offers as we find them, so feel free to check back in the coming days. Stay safe and healthy, everyone!
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