Toolkit on how to Start and Improve your Business

Staff and Stock Management

• Staff management

• Stock management

 Staff Management   [top]                                                                                 

At the start of your business you might not have wanted to hire more personnel because of lack of financial capacity and/or limited production level. As your business starts to grow, however, you need to employ people to assist you in running the business. On the other hand, you might have employed more staff just at the start of the business. In any case, after the first run of your business you have to evaluate the staff situation. In this connection, you should ask yourself the following:

• How was the performance of the employee(s)? Did their skills fit the requirement of my business?

• How was the salary? Was it too high compared to what similar enterprises pay for their employees? Or was it too low compared to staff performance?

• Did I provide the necessary safety facilities and motivating factors?

• How was the staff turnover? Was it too high?

• How was the number of employees? Was it more than required (hence idle labour) or was it too small (staff overload?)

• How was the productivity of each employee?

After examining the above staff related issues, take corrective actions against the weaknesses before commencement of the next business cycle.

Staff specialisation should also be considered. The more specialised staff you have the more productive your staff would be. Staff specialisation is a situation whereby you assign each member of your staff to undertake a specific task of the enterprise, especially in the production unit. Your staff can specialise in:

• Product development;

• Finishing work;

• Product packaging and labelling;

• Quality control;

• Salesmanship.
   

Organise continuous staff training

If you feel that your staff, including yourself, needs skill upgrade training, try to make the following:

• Identify clearly what type of training is needed;

• Get information on which institutions are providing the training;

• Get information on the cost of the training;

• Get information on the duration of the training;

• Be sure that your employees make proper use of the skills they got through training.

 Stock Management   [top]                                                                               

Stock means all the products your business has for sale and also all the raw materials or parts your business keeps and uses to make products or provide services.

Stock management (stock control) is the way you:

• Receive your stock (quantity and condition);

• Record your stock (write down all goods or material coming into or going out of your business);

• Store your stock (keep the right amount of stock in a safe and orderly manner);

• Display your stock (it entices customers to buy and makes it easy for you to see and count);

• Check your stock (check and count your stock often to make sure that it is in good condition and that no stock is missing);

• Re-order your stock (re-order the right stock, in the right quantity and right time). Re-order level is the minimum level of stock of raw materials and finished goods you need to keep the production process continuous and not to fall short of finished products to meet orders from customers, respectively.

Now, check if you have considered all the above stock control items during the previous period. Take corrective action if you did not do them.

[top]

Accounting  I  Product Development  I  Marketing
Maintenance  I  Finance  I  Summary

Business Development Services (BDS) Forum
www.bds-forum.net edited by Dieter Gagel, freelance consultant, providing information on BDS strategies, networking and practical BDS case studies as well as business information on marketing, business planning, bookkeeping and cost calculation, import-export, trade fairs and access to finance.

New BDS Portal in Senegal www.senegal-entreprises.net .
One of the biggest national BDS portals world wide!

Value Chain Development in Ethiopia www.business-ethiopia.com