Most business owners don’t start their businesses because they’re passionate about managing stock on hand. You start because you love what you sell. Or the impact you make. Or the freedom of building something of your own.

But over time, stock has a way of quietly becoming either your biggest support system (or your biggest headache).

If cash feels tight even when sales are happening, or if you’re constantly scrambling to reorder, there’s a good chance stock management is part of the story.

Let’s walk through a few common mistakes, and how to fix them in a practical, realistic way.

1. Guessing instead of tracking

It’s easy to rely on memory when your business is still manageable in size. You feel like you know what’s moving and what’s not.

The problem is that “feels low” and “is low” aren’t the same thing.

A shelf might look empty because products haven’t been unpacked. Or it might look full, even though half the units are damaged, reserved, or already allocated.

For example, a boutique owner keeps reordering a popular item because the display looks thin. Meanwhile, several units are sitting in the storeroom, uncounted. Cash keeps going out unnecessarily.

The fix:

A simple tracking system like iK Accounting gives you clarity. Once you’re looking at actual quantities instead of relying on instinct, ordering decisions become calmer and far more accurate.

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2. Over-ordering “just in case”

This mistake is usually driven by responsibility.

You don’t want to let customers down. You don’t want to miss out on supplier discounts. You don’t want to deal with delivery delays.

So you order extra to feel safe.

The catch is that safety in stock often creates risk in cash flow.

Take a hardware store that buys six months’ worth of a product to secure a better price. If demand slows or another expense pops up, that bulk purchase quickly becomes financial pressure.

The fix:

A more sustainable approach is to think in terms of turnover. How quickly does this product move? How long does it take to restock? Holding slightly less and ordering more frequently often keeps cash healthier, even if the unit price is higher.

3. Not knowing your best sellers

For most business owners, a relatively small group of products can bring in the most profit. But many business owners aren’t keeping an eye on their best sellers. 

Without knowing which products are flying off the shelves (and which aren’t), you might find yourself well-stocked on slower lines while your strongest sellers quietly run out.

The fix:

Identify your best-selling products. When you know which products drive your sales, you can protect them differently. You check them more often. You reorder them earlier. You treat them as revenue drivers, not just items on a list.

4. Letting slow stock sit indefinitely

Slow-moving stock has a way of blending into the background. It just occupies space but, over time, that space represents tied-up cash.

In reality, clearing slow stock is a strategic decision. Bundling it, promoting it, or reducing the price slightly can release cash that’s better used elsewhere, perhaps on products that are already proven performers.

The fix:

Focus on clearing old stock by discounting them, use them as part of bundles, or having a 3 for 2 promotion. The faster you move old stock, the sooner you can get some popular items back onto those shelves.

5. Not setting clear reorder points

If you wait until there are only one or two units left of a particular product, and your supplier needs a week to deliver, you’ve already created a gap on your shelves.

A salon, for instance, that uses 10 units of shampoo each week and waits until there are 2 left before reordering is setting itself up for lost appointments.

The fix:

Figure out when to reorder by looking at how quickly something sells and how long it takes for you to restock. Once those two numbers are clear, you can set a minimum amount that protects you from disruption.

6. Treating stock counts as an annual event

Stocktaking is something that business owners do once a year, usually when financial reporting demands it.

By then, issues may have built up (and gotten tougher to solve). Items could have been damaged, misplaced or incorrectly captured. The count becomes stressful because it’s a correction exercise instead of a maintenance habit.

The fix:

Do smaller, more regular checks. Review key items monthly, or high-value products weekly, so that you keep your numbers aligned with reality. Instead of uncovering problems long after they’ve occurred, you address them early while they’re still manageable.

7. Expanding the range too quickly

It’s easy to fall into a trap of feeling like your business is growing just because you’re adding more products. More variations. More colours. More options. While variety can attract customers, it can also dilute focus.

The fix:

Increase your product range slowly and steadily. You can add higher quantities once you’re able to tell if the items sell consistently. Otherwise, it’ll just be using up your money and storage space.

8. Seeing stock as admin instead of strategy

For a lot of business owners, stock is handled in between everything else on your to-do list.

You place an order quickly because you noticed something looks low. You do a count when a customer points out something’s missing. You deal with discrepancies when the accountant asks questions.

It feels like admin.

But every stock decision affects two big things: your cash and your ability to sell.

For example, imagine ordering R30,000 worth of stock without checking what’s already in the storeroom. That decision doesn’t feel dramatic in the moment. A month later, though, cash is tight and you’re wondering why. The answer is often sitting on a shelf.

Or think about running out of your top-selling item because no one noticed how quickly it was moving.

The fix:

It can be as simple as setting aside 15 minutes each week to ask:

• What sold the most this week?
• What hasn’t moved in the last month?
• What do I actually need to reorder, and what can wait?

Your shelves tell a story…

If you’ve recognised yourself in a few of these mistakes, that’s completely normal.

Almost every business owner goes through this phase where stock management feels slightly out of control. You’re busy, you’re growing, and stock control just sort of… happens in the background.

Luckily, the solve is as simple as paying attention a little more often. Looking at what’s actually selling. Being honest about what isn’t. Ordering with a bit more intention.

And we have just the tool you need to get started: Catalogue. On iK Dashboard, you can upload your products onto your Catalogue, where you can monitor what’s selling (and what’s not). It’s simple to use, and connects to your card machine so you can see everything in one place!

Once you start being consistent with stock control, things feel less chaotic. Cash flow feels clearer. You stop being surprised by your own shelves.

And that alone makes running the business feel lighter.