Guide to Setting up an Inventory Business

Setting up an inventory business involves all of the normal challenges that face any business start up. For all the necessary assistance in starting up a business, go to Business Link.

As with all businesses, it is imperative that you focus on the selling points that appeal to your target audience i.e. landlords and estate agents. This will help you stand out from your competitors.

Here are some key points to consider for an inventory business. This list is not exhaustive.

• Invest in your relationship with Property Managers as they will be key to smooth scheduling and ensure on time payments

• Suppliers Commission: consider a competitive rate to secure the coveted estate agents in your area.

• It is imperative to have a decent operating system. Things to look out for: appointment scheduler so you don't double book, an accounting system, a diary, a report creator/database, client database, letter creators (for marketing to clients) etc

• Services: If you have the manpower and resources and want to bring in even more capital consider expanding your services to include floor plans, inspection reports, snag reports and energy efficiency reports.

• Report Delivery Time: Getting the report to the agent as soon as possible can be a selling point. There are a number of systems which guarantee less than 24 hours turnaround. Assuming you produce a comprehensive report in the property it is likely that your inventory / check-in / check-out report will get to the office on the same day. Of course you may want to check spelling and grammar before you do this. Also before you get the report off to them you will want to get the invoice out. It is important to choose a solution which works for you, but more importantly will generate reports and invoices simultaneously.

• Reports: Detailed, high quality well branded reports is the way forward. Also consider a 4 column report which includes the previous job data, making it easier for the client to analyse the information.

• Payment Terms: decide on a strategy to ensure that your instructors pay you. Ensure you include payment terms with all invoices, the last thing you want to is to take a client/agent to a small claims court to resolve payment issues. When dealing with agents find out how they operate and process payments. In my experience larger agents can follow a certain process and if you don't fit in with their process (that all of their contractors adopt) you may end up not getting paid on time or at all.

For example once a job is complete some agents put physical invoices that they receive into a property pack which represents the property. If some agents only receive their invoices by email, they don't print it, the invoice doesn't get filed and hence doesn't get paid. Maintain a good relationship with property managers so that nudging them for payments isn't a problem.

• Data: however you decide to undertake your Inventories it is important that you maintain your own database, or file a system of reports. Don't adopt a system where your reports are stored independently of your business. This leaves you with less control and a greater dependency on another company. Service providers that control your data may go bankrupt or decide they want to use information without consent that should be owned by you. More importantly you should always keep a backup of all of your data separately of the tablet / laptop / computer which stores the data. Ideally, storing your data offsite in a data centre protects your business in the event of theft, fire or an unpredictable event that may occur.

• Quality Control with Multiple Clerks: as your business expands you may wish to take on additional clerks or out source some work. Ensuring that you maintain the high quality that you have established with your clients is important, otherwise you may find yourself leading into disputes with the very clients that instructed you.

In the case of having multiple clerks in the business, this can be achieved by employing meticulous clerks (do a few test inventories with them) and providing them with the proper training. Second, you can provide them with a checklist of common considerations on the job that you have built over your experience as a clerk. If your clerks achieve a 0%-3% dispute rate (i.e. in every 33 jobs they carry out at a maximum they have 1 dispute) you may want to offer them a financial bonus incentive.

In the case of having outsourced work, primarily ensure that the inventory clerk is someone who you are prepared to have or already have a long standing relationship with. Ensure that they are properly trained and check their reports on a regular basis to ensure consistent quality. Consider selecting the people who use the same inventory methodology (Property Inventory Software or Dictaphone etc) so that you can obtain the source of the inventory for your library of reports. Get references from their current clients to check their punctuality and quality of inventory reports.