Most companies suffer loss of inventory, theft, and damage. As a small business, this can be devastating and costs more money. So, here are five ways to reduce shrinkage at your SMB.

Manage and Track Your Inventory

A good inventory management system can help you keep track of your stock. To do this, you should do regular physical counts of your inventory and compare them to your records to find any differences. To keep track of vehicles, you can also get systems from a reputable commercial GPS supplier. Then you can figure out what is missing or where it went and fix it. You can also keep track of items as they come and go with inventory management software.

Enhance Your Security

There is never a bad time to make your business safer. Install security cameras, anti-theft devices, and alarms if you don’t already have them to keep thieves away. This will help find possible criminals. Also, if you need to, think about hiring security staff to keep an eye on your property. But make sure that your security measures are up-to-date and that your employees know what they are. Reviewing things will help you fix issues and highlight staff training issues.

Reduce Shrinkage at Your SMB With Employee Training

From there, training employees is a must if you want to stop stock from going missing. One study found that employee mistakes account for almost 20% of lost sales. But if you train your employees, you can help them understand how important it is to keep things from going missing. And then, they can spot and report any strange behavior. But you should also teach them how to handle cash and any of your merchandise in the most secure manner possible.

Limit Access to Valuables

Limiting the number of people who can get to valuable stock or cash is a very good way to stop theft. So, you should make sure that only trusted employees can access cash and put in place controls to make sure that all cash is accounted for. Use cash registers or POS systems to keep track of sales and stop employees from stealing. Modern POS systems have user logins. And, like a PC, these can be set up to stop people from opening tills, limiting it to senior staff only.

Regularly Audit Your Assets

Audits are one of the more complex but still useful ways to cut down on theft at your company. If you can, you should do regular audits of your financial records and business operations to find any mistakes or problems. This will help you figure out which parts of your business are most likely to shrink, so you can fix them. When doing an audit, you should look at all financial records and transactions, such as sales, purchases, stock, and how company cash is handled.

Summary

You can improve your overall bottom line if you reduce shrinkage at your SMB. You can manage your stock better, train employees and limit access, and conduct regular audits of your assets.