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Business Articles

Practical thinking for owner-run businesses on pricing, inventory, cash, customers and getting found, and on making better decisions with the data you already have.

4 articles on Inventory, A to Z

How Much Inventory Should You Order at Once?

Inventory5 min

Ordering costs fall as orders get bigger and carrying costs climb, so there is a quantity where the total bottoms out. Finding it takes three numbers, and checking your habit against it takes two.

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Inventory5 min

How Much Safety Stock Do You Need?

Safety stock is insurance, and certainty is priced like insurance. Going from 95% to 99% sure costs about 40% more stock, and doubling your lead time grows the buffer by 1.4x, not 2x. The dial is worth choosing on purpose.

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Inventory5 min

The Two Inventory Questions Nobody Actually Runs

How much to order and when to reorder are arithmetic, not instinct. The answers are close at hand, the mistakes are expensive, and one of them probably describes your storeroom right now.

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Inventory5 min

What It Costs to Hold Inventory

The 20-to-30% carrying cost rule is a shrug standing in for five real numbers: money, space, spoilage, insurance, and markdowns. Adding up your own version takes twenty minutes and moves every ordering decision.

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