Getting a Jump on Jewelry Business Inventory Management

by Andrea.

I’m a rookie beader that’s taken a few steps toward starting a jewelry business.

I’m also a retired business attorney, a bit of a nerd, and a happy user of Jewelry Design Manager.

Once I decided that I wanted to try to sell my handiwork, I decided to get a jump on the inventory management: I wanted to track what I was spending, make sure I knew what I had, become smart on costs, and — thanks to having worked with a grunch of small business owners over the years — I wanted to stay right with the IRS and the state tax department.

I actually had fun setting everything up and am amazed about how much I learned about beads, findings, jewelry making supplies, and even jewelry photography while entering the info.

Today, I spent the afternoon checking out all the cool reports that the software produces and identified some new and important ways to use the information. I did my own bookkeeping when I owned my law practice and had a background in inventory control from my days in the Navy, so I absolutely want to stress this point:

You get out of your bookkeeping system what you put into it.

Whether you use a software program or pen and paper to track your inventory and to calculate your cost of goods sold, you have to work the system continuously, consistently, and accurately.

Otherwise, you may as well throw your receipts in a shoe box and buy a lottery ticket instead. Thus endeth the lesson!

Like I said, I enjoyed setting the program up so much that I have toyed with the idea of hiring myself out to jewelry artisans who don’t have the time to get started.

(Finding the target market for that idea has thus far escaped me.)

Cheers
Andrea