A stall stock-take in 15 minutes

To a stall holder the word "inventory" sounds heavy: a committee, paperwork, trade at a standstill. In fact on a small stall (socks, cosmetics, phone accessories, dried fruit) counting all the goods once a week takes fifteen minutes. You need neither software nor an assistant. You need two things: a sheet prepared in advance and the same routine every time.

Preparation: the sheet and the standard level

Sit down once and write on an A4 sheet every kind of goods on the stall; you will usually end up with 20 to 30 rows. Add three columns: "standard", "now" and "bring". The standard is the smallest quantity that should always be on the stall and in the box under it. For example, 10 of each type of phone cable.

Make several copies of the sheet: a new one is used each week, and last week's lies beside it for comparison. Before counting, photograph the stall with your phone. If the numbers do not add up, the picture shows what you missed.

Fifteen minutes, in order

• 3 minutes: get the sheet, a pen and the calculator on your phone ready, and divide the stall into three zones: the front row, the side shelves, and the box or bag underneath;
• 8 minutes: count zone by zone and write the numbers in the "now" column;
• 2 minutes: compare the numbers with last week;
• 2 minutes: whatever is below the standard, copy into the "bring" column.

With 28 items, eight minutes works out at about 17 seconds each. Count small goods (chocolates, cables, pencils) in little piles of ten. The commonest mistake is to count what lies on the counter and forget the spare bag below. That is why the box under the counter is made a zone of its own: it is hard to forget to count it.

Comparing with last week

The formula: last week's balance + brought in − balance now = sold.

An example (one type of socks): last week there were 120 pairs, 60 pairs were brought in during the week, and now there are 94. Sold: 120 + 60 − 94 = 86 pairs, an average of 12 pairs a day (86 ÷ 7 ≈ 12.3). At 15,000 so'm a pair the expected takings are 86 × 15,000 = 1,290,000 so'm. Compare that with the actual takings in your notebook. If the gap is large, look for the cause: a reduced price, a pair given away, a lost or unrecorded sale.

The result is useful in itself: if 12 pairs go each day, 94 pairs will last about eight days. You no longer decide when to order the next batch by guesswork but by the figure.

What to do when you find a gap

If the sheet and reality disagree, do not panic. Check in this order:

1. recount only that item;
2. see whether it is left in the box under the counter or in another zone;
3. think whether there was an unrecorded sale, a gift or a returned pair during the week;
4. if the gap remains, write it in the note column and watch that item separately next week.

Set the fast sellers aside in advance

At the bottom of the sheet each week, write a "top five": the five best-selling goods. Set the fast sellers aside in advance: give them the most visible place on the stall and always keep the reserve under it at the standard level. Raise the standard for the top-five items: if 12 pairs a day go, keep at least three days of cover, that is 12 × 3 = 36 pairs. Conversely, mark goods that have not moved for two or three weeks and put them on a promotion or move them to another spot.

Common mistakes

• not counting the spare box under the counter;
• counting at the busiest hour: do the count before opening or after closing;
• counting from memory, without a sheet;
• writing one item under two names;
• not comparing the result with your records straight away, putting it off "until later".

Conclusion

Fifteen minutes a week is a full stock-take for a stall. A ready sheet, standard levels, zones and a comparison with last week show what to bring more of and what to bring less of. If you have several stalls, a storeroom at the market or a large reserve and there is no time for counting, the Sanab team can count the goods and hand over the result in an Excel or PDF report.