Buying & Stock Control

Training › Small Enterprise training

Buy better, and account for every item of stock

Paying too much, running out of your best sellers, or finding stock missing at the count? Part of your profit is made, or lost, when you buy. You leave with a simple buying procedure and stock records you can hand over to staff as the business grows.

▶▶ Watch the short introduction to the course on YouTube

What you walk away with

• ✔Written quotations compared, and better terms negotiated
• ✔Stock Cards and reorder levels for your main items
• ✔A stock take that finds and fixes the differences
• ✔A written buying procedure with controls that stop mistakes and fraud

See the prices Start the course

Choose how you want to learn

Already have the self-paced course? Add a webinar or a live class on the course page and pay only the difference. Pay by EcoCash or Paynow; the self-paced course opens as soon as your payment is confirmed.

Where two prices are shown, the first is for paid-up Small Enterprise, Medium Enterprise and Corporate members, and the second is for everyone else, including Standard members, Start-up members and non-members. Sending your buyer or storekeeper? On the course page, choose Buying for your staff?: pay once for as many seats as you need and receive one code per person, which opens the course on their own login. Each certificate carries your business name.

About the course

Buy better and account for every item of stock.

For owners and managers of businesses that buy and hold stock. You follow eight buying steps on your own purchases, from finding and checking suppliers and comparing written quotations to negotiating, ordering, and checking every delivery and invoice before you sign or pay. Then you keep Stock Cards for your main items, set reorder levels, count your stock and correct the records, and rate your suppliers. You leave with a dated Buying and Stock Plan, including a written buying procedure that you can delegate as the business grows. Adapted for Zimbabwean conditions from the International Labour Organization’s Improve Your Business programme. It is one of the six Improve Your Business modules, each of which can be taken on its own.

Who it is for

• Owners and managers of small or medium-sized enterprises that buy and hold physical stock
• Buyers, storekeepers and managers sent by their employer: the plan is agreed with the employer, and the certificate carries the business name
• Members whose Action Plan includes internal control systems (Accounting Systems)

What you will do

About 12 hours in all: roughly 5 on screen and 7 on your own buying and stock (quotations, a week of Stock Cards and a stock take). Most learners finish within two to three weeks.

1. Welcome (30 minutes). Why buying and stock control decide part of your profit, and a picture of how your business buys today.
2. What your business buys (45 minutes). Equipment, raw materials, finished goods and services, and what to ask before buying each.
3. Buying well (45 minutes). Common buying mistakes and the four rights: quality, quantity, price and time.
4. Find suppliers and ask for quotations (1.25 hours). The eight buying steps, finding and checking suppliers, and a written enquiry.
5. Compare, negotiate and order (1.5 hours). Comparing quotations, negotiating on what matters most, contracts and the written order.
6. Receive, check and pay (1.25 hours). Checking deliveries and invoices, paying safely, and buying rules that stop mistakes and fraud.
7. Stock and stock control (1.25 hours). What stock control does for the business, and how to set reorder levels and order sizes.
8. Stock records (1.5 hours). Stock Cards for a shop, a workshop and a service business, and stock on a computer.
9. Stock taking (1.5 hours). Counting stock in six steps, correcting the records and finding the reasons for differences.
10. Manage your suppliers (1 hour). Supplier records and ratings, good relationships, disputes and ending a contract.
11. Your Buying and Stock Plan (45 minutes). A case to solve, a check of your practices, a dated action plan, and review.

What you leave with

• Your Buying and Stock Plan: a written buying procedure with basic internal controls, quotations compared and an order, Stock Cards and reorder levels for your main items, a stock take, your suppliers rated, and a dated action plan
• The SMEAZ Buying and Stock workbook (Excel): quotations with VAT, an order form, Stock Cards with reorder warnings, reorder levels, a stock-taking list and supplier ratings
• A Certificate of Completion when your plan is approved, and a Certificate of Competence once it is in use in your business

How the self-paced course works

• Work on your phone or computer, in short sessions. Your answers are saved as you go.
• Every exercise is about your own business, not a textbook case.
• An AI coach comments on your key answers and asks the questions a consultant would ask.
• A SMEAZ consultant reviews your finished work and replies with comments.
• Your certificate carries a number and a QR code that anyone can check on our website.

Ready to start?

Start the course Join the live class list

You will be asked to log in to your SMEAZ website account first. No account yet? Registering is free and takes two minutes.

What comes next

Put your plan to work with SMEAZ: find suppliers through B2B matchmaking, and fund bigger orders and stock with order and working-capital finance. Then turn your figures into a plan in Business Planning, on the Small Enterprise training page.

Questions? Message us on WhatsApp.

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