Running a food distribution business isn’t easy! As a distributor there is often a thousand different things to do in such a short space of time. Mistakes do happen, but the way you limit and action your mistakes will determine your businesses success.
Whether it be inventory management, invoicing or payments there are many different avenues for error. Here are 5 of the costliest food distribution mistakes and how your business can avoid them.
Let’s get into it.
Mistake 1: Invoicing customers manually
How long do you spend creating invoices? Manual invoicing is a frustrating task! Not only does it waste your time, but it also leads to costly errors.
Above else, Manual invoicing increases the time it takes customers to pay their invoices. With the food distribution industry facing long payment wait times, you need to make your invoicing process as fast and simple as possible.
The solution for Food distribution business is to implement a Payment Gateway. A payment gateway provides business with an automated payment solution. Everything from invoicing to receipting is automated – giving you more time to focus on other areas of your business.
Using a Food Distribution management software like EasyVend with a Payment Gateway the following processes are automated.
- Customer invoices are generated and sent automatically at the correct interval
- The payment is taken automatically at the agreed time
- The payment is automatically allocated and receipted to the correct invoice
- Complex discounts, rebate structures, multiple price levels and price adjustments.
The benefit of a Payment Gateway is it increases your cashflow and gives you back hours of time!
You never have to create or allocate invoices again!
Top 5 Food Mistakes Fixed by Invoicing for Small Business
Managing a food or beverage business isn’t always easy. Increasing ingredient prices and mistakes from manual tracking can quickly cut into your profits. The great news is that invoicing for small businesses can help you avoid common errors that waste time and money.
When you have the right software invoicing system, you gain clarity over what’s paid and what’s pending. This lets you focus on serving your customers instead of chasing missing payments or juggling paperwork.
To make it easier, here are five key ways invoicing can fix the most costly mistakes in your food and beverage business.
1. Avoid Stock Oversights
Many food businesses lose money because they overorder or mismanage stock. Without accurate tracking, you could end up over-ordering some items while running short on others.
With the right online invoicing software, your orders and invoices are linked and give you a real-time view of what’s coming in and going out. This ensures you never overcommit to stock and helps you reduce waste and save cash.
2. Stop Payment Delays
Delayed payments can make it difficult to pay your suppliers promptly. When your invoices are managed digitally through electronic invoicing software, reminders and automated tracking keep clients accountable. You’ll always know which invoices are overdue and which have cleared. This helps prevent cash flow problems and ensures your business runs efficiently.
3. Reduce Human Errors
Manual invoicing leads to mistakes such as wrong amounts or forgotten tax details. E invoicing software automates calculations and eliminates these errors. Accurate invoices mean fewer disputes and happier clients.
4. Track Performance Effortlessly
When you use electronic invoice systems, you can see patterns in supplier payments and customer behaviours. Having this level of insight helps you to spot inefficiencies and rising costs. Rather than relying on guesswork, you can make informed decisions that improve profitability.
5. Save Time and Costs
Small businesses often struggle with admin tasks. With affordable online invoicing solutions, you can generate and track invoices in minutes. The automation reduces manual work and gives your team more time to focus on preparing quality products or improving customer service.
Mistake 2: Taking orders by SMS or Email
Many distributors continue to take orders by SMS or Email. The problem with taking orders this way is it reduces your efficiency, cashflow and customer experience!
Let’s face it, taking orders by SMS or Email is time consuming, not just for you but also your customer. Put yourself in your customers shoes, they need to manually type in the order, quantity, and delivery date. There is a high risk for error.
For your distribution business you need to receive the order, enter the order details into your management system, generate an invoice and fulfil the order. Just saying it sounds exhausting!
The reason why taking orders manually is so costly for businesses is because customers turning away from businesses that don’t offer Online Ordering. Customers want to order with ease, they don’t have the time to sit down and manually type their orders anymore. If you want to stay competitive in the food distribution industry you need to implement an online ordering website.
To learn more about EasyVend Online Ordering websites click here.
Mistake 3: Products expire before they are sold
There is nothing worse than having a product expire before it is sold. You have to write off the product – which only impacts your bottom line. There’s only a certain number of products you can write off before you find yourself in a cashflow hole.
To reduce the risk of products expiring before they are sold, your business needs to forecast sales. Using a food distribution management software, you can analyse customer buying lifecycles and forecast the sales you will receive. The benefit of forecasting your orders is you limit the risk of over or under stocking products.
Mistake 4: Providing paper POD copies
We’ve all been there! Losing a POD docket. It’s frustrating and causes all sorts of issues. For your distribution business having a frustrated customer is the last thing you want. The old way of carrying a docket book, filling in the docket, ripping it and providing it to a customer is over. It’s time consuming and costly.
To stay competitive your business needs to provide electronic POD copies to customers. The benefit of recording PODs electronically is you can email copies to your customer instantly! This way you can avoid the common customer POD docket loss issue.
Mistake 5: Not offering card payments
How long do you spend chasing payments? Arguably the biggest mistake distributors make is not giving customers the ability to pay by card. As the industry faces long wait times for payment, you simply can’t afford to not accept card payments.
To get customers to pay their debts faster you need to make their payment process easy. Give your customers the ability to pay now. Using a pay now feature, your customers can instantly pay their invoices electronically by pressing a pay now button attached to the standard email invoice. All they need to do is fill in their card details and press submit.
For what was once a long, complicated process, a pay now button simplifies your customers payment process, increases your cashflow and maximises profit.
To conclude,
In any business there is going to be mistakes but what will determine your success or failure is the way you minimise the impacts they have. Using the tips mentioned above your business will go a long way to removing the common mistakes made in the food distribution industry.
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About EasyVend
For food vendors and distributors, EasyVend supports and automates every part of your business, freeing you up to grow your sales unlike other ERP systems that are designed more for wholesale suppliers than for distribution businesses like yours.
EasyVend includes all your everyday needs like Inventory Management, Online Ordering, Invoicing, Receipting, Route Management, Payment Gateway, Customer Reminders, Xero Integration and so much more.
Want to learn more about EasyVend? Call us today on 1300 473 744 or click the button below to get a no-obligation Trial EasyVend of EasyVend.
FAQs
What is the best invoicing system for a small business?
The best system is easy to use and integrates with your accounting software. Look for e invoicing software that automates reminders, tracks payments, and provides reports.
What are common invoicing mistakes?
Common mistakes include late or missing invoices, incorrect totals, duplicate entries, and poor record-keeping. Using online invoicing software can prevent these errors and ensure smooth payment processes.
How do I set up invoicing for a small business?
Setting up invoicing is simple. Choose invoice software online, input your business details, create your client list, and customise invoice templates. Automated systems make sending and managing invoices effortless.