Smart IT

The inventory storage in your warehouse is one of the many necessary expenses that you should consider while creating a business plan. It helps in determining the amount of money you would need to start a business.  

How to Estimate a Start-up Inventory Cost?  

Inventory cost estimation is, of course, a difficult thing for the new retailers.  

On your request, vendors and suppliers will send you the catalogs with the dealer price list for establishing your business. Hence, getting an accurate estimate is essential so that you can show it to the bank or finance companies if you are looking for a loan.  

You have to know some basic facts to estimate your inventory cost:  

· What product lines you are going to stock with your business?  

· How many items would you need to stock to start the store?  

· What will be MSRP Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price?  

You should also know that the typical retail mark-up price for a product run between 30% and 40% of the actual cost of the product, depending upon the industry segment. Remember, higher mark-ups are possible with the hand-crafted and luxury merchandise.  

Let us take an example:  

So, you want to stock 20 sweatshirts from popular brands in your inventory.  

If regular selling price of a sweatshirt is $60, the mark-up price will be = $60 x .40 = $24 (as per 40% retail mark-up percentage)  

Wholesale price of the sweatshirt = $60 - $24 = $36  

Wholesale cost of 20 sweatshirts = $36 x 24 = $864  

So, your inventory may cost up to $864 for 20 sweatshirts.  

Now, pay attention to these two points:  

· Be consistent with the above research process and estimates for all the products you are planning to sell.  

· Also, consider factors like shipping, handling, and other relevant expenses to obtain the merchandise.  

Doing industry research and checking out reports from trade associations can help you get an insight into what mark-up price your retail segment uses.  

Always remember that the plan may have differences from actual revenues and expenditures. So, always keep a marginal capital for risk coverage.  

Now, when you are ready with your retail business, I will always suggest you to use inventory management software. It will help you to manage your orders, inventory, bills, accounts, reports, and everything that accounts important and needs security in your business. Here are a few of them that will help you to manage your stocks well, along with providing many other benefits.  

1. TradeGecko  

2. Orderhive  

3. Zoho Inventory  

4. NetSuite ERP  

5. Vend  

You can try any of these according to your business needs and get to the successful management of your inventory, warehouses, and customers.

You should learn DBMS concepts along with establishing the types of data connection methodologies. Also, as you mentioned for competitive programming, you must learn the OOPS paradigm and HLL features.  

There is no dearth of software companies around the globe but finding the right technology solution partner can be a challenging task. So, herein, saving your research time and energy, I'm sharing a consolidated list of top software development outsourcing companies for startup size firms. These companies are bagged by skillful people, easy public policies and service-based economies, making them favorable for mobile and web development.   

Moreover, they cater to a plethora of clients, including fintech, hospitality, retail, automobile, and so on.   

1. Code Brew

If you're looking for quality software development solutions, then Code Brew fits the bill. It aims to provide top-notch quality services at the most affordable rates. Code brew comprises of diligent and enthusiastic app developers who act as building bricks of the company. They have their offices in India, US, and Dubai.   

2. ValueCoders
 

Value Coder has been into offshore software company for 13 years now. Their skill and expertise into software development and proven methodologies make them an ideal partner. They are proactive, professional, and cost-effective. If you're looking to scale beyond local capabilities, then look no further than ValueCoders.   

3. OpenXcell
 

OpenXcell is a team of talented, passionate, and skilled software enthusiasts, technology enthusiasts, and creative designers. Established in 2008, it is a CMMI level 3 software development company pioneering in web and mobile app development, real-time systems, bot development, and IOTs.

They are focused on delivering high-performance and scalable software products to different industries. Catering to a plethora of diverse clientele, they're maintaining successful software products, eCommerce portals, marketplaces, social networks, real-time business analytics, and composite sync and integrations. Openxcell has its development center in India.   

4. Intellectsoft
 

It is a full-cycle software development company providing services to over 800 clients in more than 30 countries globally. It includes development, adjustment, and integration of complex enterprise-level solutions, advanced mobile and web apps. Not just startups, it also serves fortune 500 companies. You can connect with them Application Development, IT consulting, QA and testing, customer support, mobile app development, Web App development, and so on. Intellectsoft is headquartered in the US and the UK.
 

If you want to find more such leading outsourcing companies, click here.

Majority of small businesses are affected by operational challenges such as sales decline, high client attrition, and misalignment between corporate revenue targets and sales person’s commission policies. Hence, using a client tracking and management tool becomes essential to streamline the entire business process. Top players in this niche offer affordable and effective all-in-one CRM systems that give small businesses operational superiority in all key areas. Let us review some of the most powerful and reasonable CRM software solutions that are in huge demand among small businesses and start-ups.

1. ActiveCampaign

You can get started with ActiveCampaign for a little investment of $9 per month. The best thing about ActiveCampaign is that its price increases gradually with the growth of your business and contact list of customers. It can be called as the most popular and feasible CRM software that offers a comprehensive set of email marketing, marketing automation, and sales CRM features.

2. HubSpot

HubSpot is hard to beat as a leading CRM app. The best thing is you can use this CRM for free. It can create an impressive contact list and company profiles. It effectively tracks your deals, offers a single detailed dashboard, and controls the performance of your agents with keeping track of the company’s activities. Additionally, HubSpot CRM is one of the best integrated CRM platforms. It integrates with Microsoft Dynamics, Salesforce, Zapier, Shopify, and many other popular apps.

3. SuiteCRM

SuiteCRM is an open source CRM platform. It offers an extensive collection of robust and highly customized processes and features. Here, you can create your own templates and pipeline models that too, for free. Only certain complex customization options are chargeable. The open source feature lets you explore endless opportunities to modify the software source code according to your preferences.

4. Zoho CRM

Zoho offers both free and paid versions of its CRM platform, and the paid version is also very cost-effective i.e. $12 per month. The platform provides you with a robust set of email marketing, customer feedback, user tracking, and social media features. Automation features are available in the upgraded Professional ($20/month) and Enterprise ($35/month) versions. Zoho CRM Plus is another higher version that charges $50 per month for more complex features.

5. Insightly

Insightly takes care of its customers from the first ‘hello’ to delivery and beyond. It is a modern customer relationship platform. It offers powerful CRM features and reporting procedure at very reasonable prices and so, it has been a favourite choice of small businesses. The paid version of the software start from $29 per month that is a bit higher than other similar options. Insightly’s Professional and Enterprise versions are available at $49 per month and $99 per month respectively.

6. Agile CRM

Agile CRM is an all-in-one, affordable and next-generation CRM that is trusted by more than 15,000+ customers. It is free up to 10 users and 1,000 contacts. Thus, you get plenty of opportunities to explore the platform and see how it suits your business. In terms of features, this version is quite limited. You will have to opt for the enterprise version of the software to acquire the automation features. The latest version: 63.3 of the software were released in June 13, 2019.

7. MailChimp

You can get very basic CRM functionality for free with MailChimp. GDPR compliant MailChimp CRM comes with built-in security tools. This platform gives more emphasis on email marketing process and connects you to 300+ integrations. The paid version of the software can be obtained at $10 per month, but for automation and segmentation features, you need to opt for a higher version charging $299 per month.

8. OnePageCRM

OnePageCRM works with a different approach to manage your customers. It reduces the complexity of the job providing a to-do-list. The company offers no free version of the software, but its entire pricing structure is as simple as paying $12 per month per user. Here you can add and manage an unlimited number of contacts and set up deals faster and smarter. It just takes 30 seconds to build and email quotes to the customers and prospects.

9. CapsuleCRM

For small businesses, CapsuleCRM helps in making their customer relations simple. This CRM software is available in both free and paid versions. The free version is available up to 2 users and 250 contacts. The paid version of the software costs you $18 per month per user for up to 50,000 contacts. Contact management, task & calendar management, sales pipeline, and tracking users are some of the functional features of the software.

10. Apptivo

Apptivo is categorized among the most basic CRM software solutions, but it also offers some features that you get while using HubSpot and ActiveCampaign software programs. The basic version of the software is free up to three users. Though the software comes up with restrictions in its free version, the paid version is available at just $8 per month per user with pretty reasonable features of the software. Apptivo CRM is trusted by more than 200,000 organizations and has been gaining popularity for the power of its integrated software.

There are many more CRM software solutions available on the Internet that are most suitable for the start-ups and small businesses and are in huge market demand as well. But, you have to wisely choose one for the benefit of your business.