Thousands of businesses up and down the United Kingdom of all shapes and sizes share the same problem – dead inventory. In most instances, it’s the kind of problem that doesn’t seem to make its presence known until it has been given plenty of time to develop and intensify. You start out with just a few bits and pieces here and there, but before you know it, half your warehouse or storeroom is taken up by the inventory. Even with occasional efforts to mark down prices or run promotions, it still seems to be accumulating month after month.

Which begs the question – what’s to be done about it?

Well, the most important rule of all is that of getting out of the habit of considering it ‘dead’ inventory. Instead, it’s more productive to look at it as temporarily dormant inventory, which can and very much should be dealt with. And not only dealt with, but turned into cash for your business.

Easier said than done? In some instances, yes. But at the same time, there are certain universally useful tips and guidelines that can certainly help give things a push in the right direction.

And here they are:

1 – Forget About Overnight Results

First and foremost, if you have found yourself in a situation that is the result of several months (or even years) of accumulation, you have to accept that you’re not going to remedy it overnight. If you genuinely believe overnight results will be possible, you are setting yourself up for a big letdown. Instead, it takes a sustained, persistent approach to the clearance of dead inventory to actually get the job done in a beneficial manner. Which in turn means that the very first thing you need to do is to ensure that your expectations are realistic, as opposed to chasing unrealistic goals.

2 – Put A Stop To The Problem

Before even thinking about getting busy with any kind of clearance efforts, you need to identify exactly why you have so much dead inventory in the first place. The reason being that if you do not identify the root-cause of the problem, it is doomed to continue occurring indefinitely. This means carrying out extensive and comprehensive analysis of the way you currently do business. But at the same time, the fact that the problem has been going on for so long quite possibly means you really have no idea why it is happening. In such instances, it may be worth seeking expert advice.

3 – Consider Returns

There’s a good chance you already reached the assumption that you will not be able to return any of your dead inventory to its respective supplier or manufacturer. And there’s also a good chance you might be right, but there’s also an outside chance you could be entirely wrong. The reason being that if you produce a proposal the vendor is interested in, they may be more inclined to accept returns than you think. After all, their taking back of a bunch of low-value items may prompt you to then place a much larger order for higher value items. Rather than just flat out asking for a refund, see if you can negotiate a mutually beneficial deal.

Check out Part Two of our dead inventory post, coming soon!