April 17, 2012

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Does your small business carry inventory or stock? Is it a hassle to manage your current paper-based inventory process? Is excel-based inventory management contributing to errors? Are back-orders a common concern?

If you answered “yes,” to any of the above scenarios then you may need to simplify and upgrade your inventory management process. Not to worry — these are all common place problems for small businesses that can be solved with the right tools.

Managing raw materials, goods in process or finished goods (inventory management) is one of the ‘unglamorous’ yet essential elements of many small businesses. But the reality is that inventory is money tied up, so it should be managed carefully to maximize your bottom line.

Like most small business owners, you likely don’t want to commit to laborious and costly enterprise-level software, yet you realize that excel isn’t the best solution either. If you’re overwhelmed with time-consuming, pain-staking and old-fashioned inventory management systems –paper-based, excel-based or ‘simply not at all’ approaches — you have more options than you may realize.

Hassle Free Online Inventory Management Tools

If you’re in the market for a web-based inventory management solution without the overpriced complexity and tedious learning curve, here are six tools to consider:

1. Skyware Inventory

Created by Open Sky Software, Skyware Inventory is a free web-based inventory management solution for small to mid-sized businesses. Learn more at skywareinventory.com.

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