6 Signs Your Business Could Benefit from Professional Help
Expert support leads to inventory excellence - scale sustainably & sleep easy knowing you’ll always have the right product at the right time.
Admitting you need help can be tough—especially as a business owner. After painstakingly pouring your heart, soul, sweat, and tears into your storefront, admitting you don’t have a handle on things can feel like defeat, even if that overwhelming feeling is the result of a good thing, like your product selling out or your opportunities expanding.
But asking for help can be the best decision you end up making for your business’s bottom line—not to mention your own sanity. Waffling on if it’s worth it to bring in professional help to support your sales and inventory planning? We’re sharing six early warning signs the Boon team has experienced first-hand in an effort to save you the headache and encourage you to reach out for help.
Your budget guru is concerned (way more than normal)
Your CFO (or whoever deals with budgets) might always be chirping about money concerns to some degree, but if their stress level is especially high or they’re talking a lot about cutting costs, an expert opinion can help ease that tension.
Since this person often has the most insight into the company’s full set of expenses, they’re able to spot early warning signs before they ripple across other parts of the business. So if they’re concerned about how to make everything work together, it’s time to reach out. Working with a partner like Boon allows you to take a deeper look at your inventory and sales numbers and find cash-flow solutions.
2. You’ve added an inventory planner role to your Careers page
There are a number of reasons to post a job opening for an inventory planner. But whether it’s because someone has moved on from the company, a new parent is taking leave, or it’s a first-time posting to reflect your growing inventory, not having someone actively monitoring inventory is a business risk.
Active inventory planning is a must-have role for any product-based business, so a lag in attention can lead to costly mistakes. Luckily, with Boon able to provide short- and long-term fractional support, we can give your product the attention and expertise needed so your team doesn’t miss a beat during the hiring process.
3. You’re ready to expand
Whether you’re adding a new sales channel, expanding into a national chain, adding a second warehouse, or adding to your current SKU list, growth is exciting—but it can also be intimidating. Even if you don’t feel like you’re in over your head yet, trust us, it will come!
Changing up your process comes with new demands on your team and a large learning curve. Inventory mistakes are expensive to fix, so rather than rolling the dice and hoping you’ve planned accordingly, seek support from experts who’ve done it before.
4. Your search history is full of tough-to-answer questions
“What’s the fastest way to get a product back in stock?” “How do I find a reliable 3PL?” While Google can be a helpful resource for some topics, it shouldn't be a go-to resource for more complicated issues that can drastically affect your business. Schedule a discovery call with one of our planners to discuss your business’ unique needs and the options available to you as your business grows.
5. Your tech solution is on life support
Dealing with an outdated sales planning tool? Or using a new one but it doesn’t give you all the information you need? Even if you love your inventory planning software, not having the proper time or expertise to manage it could be a major red flag. Whatever tool you’re using to forecast and understand your sales, it needs a human counterpart to properly interpret its outputs.
Teaching someone inventory planning strategy AND how to use software is time consuming, but with a collective 200+ years experience across every tech solution out there, the Boon team can provide insightful calculations and the support needed to help plan for your business’ future.
6. Your sales are declining
While many retailers may look to short-term solutions like promotions to counteract soft sales, you can benefit from looking deeper into the issue. While Boon can help plan sales so that your business has a healthy inventory foundation, we may also be able to help you identify root causes to the challenges you’re encountering. Even if they are out of our realm of expertise, we set you up with some of the best branding, marketing, and strategy advisors out there.
The good news is, once you accept help, it doesn’t take long for things to fall into place—just look at these examples from actual Boon clients!
An outdoor apparel & accessories brand with an insane SKU count
This client had been using an inventory planning software solution for over a year, but felt continually disappointed by how difficult it was to manage. After wringing their hands for months, the client reached out to Boon who has since created a customized supply planning tool (it works with that tricky software they bought) that allows them to manage their thousands of SKUs across e-commerce, wholesale, and in-store channels. Not only has it made it easier for our client to digest large sets of data, but it more quickly alerts them to out-of-stock risks.
An omnichannel oral care + CPG brand dealing with a double whammy
An inaccurate demand plan AND an open demand planner role could easily lead to out-of-control inventory issues, but luckily, this client found Boon just in time. The client had struggled to find a candidate who could navigate its massive amounts of data and present it in a usable and repeatable manner, so the team built a from-scratch demand-planning tool that not only handled all of its data, but looked at 20+ retailers across 50+ SKUs.
This enabled their team to make better, more informed decisions quickly. When the client finally found someone to fill their demand planner role a year later, Boon remained an integral part of the monthly actualization and re-forecasting process until the client was able to get their internal support up and running.
A home & accessories brand looking for first-time inventory support
This client identified that they needed strong demand-planning and inventory management expertise for the first time, but they weren’t ready to commit to a full-time team member. With Boon’s support, we were able to create this role on a scale that made sense for their business.
With our fractional support, we were able to support their existing team of buyers, build initial templates, and create processes to ensure accurate inventory management. Over the course of two years, our team created a full scope of best practices, continuing to refine them as the business grew. When finally they were ready to hire a full-time planner, we were there every step of the way, not just with demand-planning and inventory management support, but also hiring support!
We built a sample case study they could use with potential candidates, conducted interviews, and found this client the perfect in-house candidate. We assisted the newly placed planner in getting up to speed, and we continue to work together as needed on larger projects and process improvements.
A mission-based CPG brand with a major business opportunity
It was our client’s dream come true—they were awarded business with a major retailer and had the chance to showcase their product in stores across the country. But how much product they needed to support that opportunity was a BIG question they needed to figure out.
An agency provided insight on the retailer, but they still needed a fully vetted inventory plan. Boon built them a tool that used the inputs provided by the agency, including store count, facings, and presentation minimums, as well historical data from similar brands that could help estimate sales volume by store for the launch.
This dynamic tool helped them scenario plan in order to align on the right amount of inventory so they could confidently support their launch and initial reorders. Today, our relationship continues as we work to build a reorder tool to help them read and react to sales results.
Did any part of this post feel like it was an excerpt from your diary?
If parts of this article sound like similar scenarios you’ve encountered with your business, let us help you eliminate some of the stress from your life. Set up a call with one of our experts to discuss what a customized solution could look like for your business. We’re here to help!
