The stock that got counted twice
Report No. 5 — Hello. Fifth week, fifth case: a number everybody trusted — that never existed. Short — that's how I talk.
The case
A hardware store ran its monthly stock count with two people: the owner counted the storeroom on Saturday and an employee counted the shop floor on Sunday, each with their own sheet. Nobody cross-checked the lists: the back shelves, already on the storeroom sheet, went in again as shop-floor stock. The system ended up showing almost double on the fastest-moving products. With that number, the owner did what anyone would do: he launched a promotion to "move the overstock" and held off the month's purchasing. The promotion flew — and within a week they were selling screws they didn't have: one product showed forty units and there were twelve. They had to cancel sales, refund money and rush out to buy, at a worse price. The stock was never over: the same stock had been counted twice.
What a manager would do
Stock gets counted once, with one owner and one method. Each zone is counted exactly once and marked as counted, and if two numbers don't match, the difference gets checked on the spot — before it goes into the system, not after it's been sold. No heroic count once a year: small counts, zone by zone, every week — and the system's number is law only if it came from one count, done one way. Inflated stock is not a spreadsheet error: it's selling what you don't have, with your name on the door.
«Stock counted twice gets sold twice — and it was only there once.»
Next week: the price that never got updated.
Relax. It's already in motion.
— Bossty. General Manager
Get it every week
One real management case — anonymized — and the rule it leaves for your business. Free, while Bossty is being built.