Many people who start a small business aren't concerned with procedures for ordering supplies. After all, often they are working alone in a home business environment or have only a few employees. However, it is a good idea to start a business, no matter how small, with office supply management procedures in place.
Order Realistic Quantities
It may seem obvious that anyone with a small business should order smaller quantities of items than a big organization. However, people who worked for an entire corporation or a large department in an organization before starting a business of their own are used to ordering massive amounts of supplies and may not realize how many of an item one person uses. Placing an order for a gross of paperclips could be reasonable for a high volume business where employees churn out reports and estimates. Ordering that same number of paperclips for a home business that uses five or six paperclips a week will keep the owner in paperclips until well after retirement.
Create an Inventory SheetSpending an hour hunting for the catalog that carries the right price tag or label so he or she can reorder the same items is an exasperating and time wasting exercise that more than one small business owner has experienced. Avoid this problem by creating an inventory sheet for the business.
Place any items that the business uses, from sticky notes to shipping supplies, on the inventory sheet. Leave space beside each item name for the supplier's name, web site or mailing address and any ordering notes. Then, create a column for items in stock and items ordered. A third column is handy for checking off shipments as they come in.
Order Home Office Products Once a Month
Another way to streamline the office supply ordering task is to only order once a month. Pull out the inventory sheet a few days before the end of the month and do a quick inventory to see which items are running low. Write the number of items to be ordered in the number of items ordered column. Place orders for all of these items, being sure that as many items as possible come from the same supplier. This saves on shipping costs and helps the business owner avoid wasting all the time spent pulling out invoice sheets and box cutters each day as new orders come in instead of unpacking when the shipment comes in once or twice a month.
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