[x-post from /r/smallbusiness] How Do I Decide How Much Inventory to Order For Opening Week?

My small business is opening in the next 3 weeks or so. However, we can't decide how much merchandise to order for opening!

Some considerations:

• We're entertainment rather than retail-based, but expect to do well with our merchandise based on talking to friends in the industry and the amount of press coverage expected with our opening.

• We have somewhat limited funds until opening. So we have to be careful about wasting our funds by crazy overstocking inventory. That being said, we understand that having sufficient stock is an investment towards customer satisfaction.

• We are limiting our initial stock to very few types of items, but a couple are shirts, which means different cuts and sizes. That's where we are really struggling.

• Our printer is a local business. He does great work, but the turnaround is slow, so getting more products within a couple of days is not an option. It's usually 2-3 weeks.

Do you have a formula or any specific metrics you use to guess how much inventory to order before opening? After our first run we'll be able to work from initial sales, but it's tough to gauge before opening.

submitted by /u/VictoriousAttitude
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