A daily routine for running a small shop

Most small shop problems are not dramatic. A product quietly runs out. A delivery is not recorded. The till is a few dollars short three days in a row. None of these is a crisis on its own, and all of them are caught by the same few minutes of checking every day.

A routine also lets someone else open or close for you. If the steps are written down, they get done the same way whether you are there or not.

• Check the drawer holds the right float before the first sale.
• Make sure the till, phone or tablet is charged and working, and any scanner is connected.
• Look at yesterday's sales and today's restock list.
• Walk the shelves. Fill gaps from the back room, especially your top sellers.
• Check any short-life products and pull anything past its date, recording it as expired.
• Turn on lights and signs, unlock, and you are open.

• Put every sale through the till, every time.
• When a customer asks for something you do not have, write it down.
• Receive deliveries properly: count and check before signing. See how to check in a stock delivery.
• Record anything damaged or broken when it happens, not at the end of the week.
• Refill shelves in quiet moments rather than all at once at closing.

• Finish the last sale and close the till.
• Cash up: count the drawer and compare it with the day's cash sales. See how to cash up.
• Leave tomorrow's float, bag the takings and store them safely.
• Check the restock list and note what to order tomorrow.
• Tidy shelves and the counter.
• Lock up and set any alarms.

• Place supplier orders from the restock list.
• Spot-count your top 10 to 20 products and fix any differences. See how to do a stock count.
• Look at the week's sales: what sold well, what did not move.
• Review the cash up log for any pattern of shorts.
• Go through the list of things customers asked for that you did not have.

• Check gross profit for the month. See gross profit for shop owners.
• Review reorder points on your top sellers. See how to set reorder points.
• Look at slow movers and decide what to discount or stop ordering.
• Check costs against supplier prices and update shelf prices if needed.
• Count a different section of the shop each month, so the whole shop is counted over the year.

For counting days, the free printable stock count sheet works alongside this list.

Shopkeepa puts most of this routine on one screen. The dashboard shows today's sales and what needs restocking, the restock list suggests order quantities, and every sale and delivery updates stock as it happens. Damaged, expired and returned items are recorded as their own stock movements.

It works on a phone, tablet or computer, so you can check the day from anywhere. Learn more about inventory tracking. Shopkeepa is in development, and early access shops will help shape it.