Running stock and supplier orders with a virtual assistant

The problem is recording, not ordering

Stock runs out in small businesses for one reason more than any other: nobody wrote down what was used. The last box of fittings goes on a Friday job. The last bottle of bathroom cleaner goes at a Sunday changeover. Three customers buy the last of a line on a marketplace the shop does not count. Everybody meant to mention it.

The fix is not a better spreadsheet. It is making it so easy to report what was used that people actually do it, and then having somebody whose job is to turn those reports into orders. That second part is where a VA comes in.

What it looks like in three kinds of business

• Trades: van stock. Fittings, fixings, consumables and the parts you always need on a callout. A missing part means a second visit, or a trip to the merchant in the middle of the day.
• Cleaning companies and holiday lets: supplies. Cleaning products, bin bags, toilet rolls, linen and welcome items, spread across cupboards, cars and properties. Running out means a guest without something they expected, or a cleaner buying at retail on the way.
• Online shops: reorders. The stock figure in your shop is right until a return, a breakage or a sale on another channel. Running out means lost sales and, on some marketplaces, an order you cannot fulfil.

Start with the tool you already have

If your shop, job software or accounting software already tracks stock, use it. Shopify tracks the quantity of each product variant you have to sell, and lets you give a member of staff permission to manage inventory without giving them everything else. Xero lets you give a user permission to view products and services, edit items, or edit items and stock.

If nothing you use tracks stock, a shared spreadsheet is enough. Keep it to one row per item and these columns:

• The item, the supplier and the supplier's product code.
• Where it is kept: which van, which cupboard, which property, which shelf.
• How many are there now, and the date that figure was last checked.
• The reorder point: the level at which you order more.
• How many to order each time, and how long the supplier takes to deliver.
• The price you last paid.

Make recording what was used almost effortless

The person using the stock should never have to open the sheet. Give them one place to say what they used, in the way they already talk, and let the VA do the rest:

• A message in one agreed chat or group: what, how many, and which van or property.
• A photo of the empty box, the last bottle or the shelf, with a word of explanation.
• A short list at the end of each clean or changeover, with anything running low marked.
• A simple rule: say something when you open the last one, not when it has gone.

Reorder points without the maths

A reorder point is the level at which you order, set so the new stock arrives before the old runs out. Work it out as what you use while you wait for a delivery, plus a little extra for a busy week. If you use about ten of something a week and it takes a week to arrive, ordering when you get down to two is too late; ordering at around fifteen gives you room.

You do not need to get these right first time. Ask your VA to note every time something runs out or nearly does, and go through the list together once a month. Raise the reorder point for anything that keeps running short, and lower it for anything gathering dust.

A weekly count that people will actually do

Counting everything every week is a chore, and chores get skipped. Count the few items that matter most every week, the fast-moving and the expensive, and do a full count less often.

Your VA sends the week's count list on the same day each week, to the right person for each van, cupboard or property. They count and send back numbers or photos. The VA updates the sheet, compares it with what was reported as used, and flags anything that does not add up. For a holiday let, the check can be part of the cleaner's changeover, so nobody makes a separate trip.

Who can approve spend

Decide this before the first order, and write it into the procedure. A workable set of rules:

• The VA can reorder anything on the approved list, from the approved supplier, at around the usual price, up to a limit you set per order.
• Anything over that limit, from a new supplier, or noticeably more expensive than last time, waits for your yes.
• New items are added to the list by you, not by the VA.
• Payment stays with you. The VA uses a supplier account in the business's name, or prepares the order for you to pay.

Paying for orders without sharing your card

Some suppliers and wholesalers offer business accounts. Where yours lets you add a user, give your VA their own login rather than yours, so their orders are traceable and their access can be removed on its own.

If you use Xero, it has a draft sales and purchases role, which lets a user create draft purchase orders and bills for somebody else to approve, and a purchases role, which can also approve and pay them. For a VA placing routine orders, the draft role is usually the right start: they prepare, you approve.

Our guide to giving a VA access without your passwords covers the rest, including why online banking is the one login never to share.

Suppliers and deliveries

Once an order is placed, most of the work is chasing. Your VA:

• Gets a confirmation and a delivery date for every order, and chases any order that has neither.
• Keeps a list of what is due and when, so a late delivery is noticed the day it is late, not the day it is needed.
• Asks whoever receives the delivery for a photo of the delivery note, then checks it against the order.
• Raises shortages, damage and wrong items with the supplier, and follows them up until they are put right.
• Matches the invoice to the order and the delivery, so your bookkeeper gets one tidy set of paperwork.
• Every so often, checks what other suppliers charge for your biggest regular items, and tells you.

A short weekly stock note

Ask for one short note a week: what was ordered, what is due and when, what ran short, any price changes, and anything that needs you. It takes a couple of minutes to read, and it is the point at which you find out about problems before your customers do.

Handing it over

• Week one: your VA builds the sheet from what you have, with you, starting with the 20 or 30 items that matter most.
• Week two: the reporting rule starts, and the VA turns every message into a sheet update.
• Week three: the first weekly count, and the first orders placed within the spending rules.
• After a month: go through the reorder points together, and add the next group of items.

How we help

This is part of the work our VAs take on. For online businesses, that means placing the reorders you specify, chasing deliveries and keeping stock counts right. For trades, it means ordering the materials you specify and chasing deliveries. For short-let operators, it means ordering linen, consumables and replacement items before they run out.

If you would like to know whether a VA would work for your business, and which jobs to hand over first, our free plan at /fit takes about three minutes.