Author: Staff

Forecasting Sales Seasonality

Inventory management is an art that can elevate your business to new heights if done well. It is highly variable, and the optimal system is different for each dealer. There are many tools that can be implemented to improve your inventory management – and cash flow!

Techniques such as First-In First-Out (FIFO), setting par levels, having a contingency plan to address unforeseen issues should they occur, auditing regularly and classifying inventory so you have a system to prioritize the most important stock are all vital parts of inventory management.

Successful inventory management involves balancing the costs of inventory with the benefits of inventory. Many dealers fail to fully appreciate the true costs of carrying inventory, which includes not only direct costs of storage, insurance and taxes, but also the cost of money tied up in inventory. This fine line between keeping too much inventory and not enough is not the only concern. Others include:

  • Maintaining a wide assortment of stock — but not spreading the rapidly moving ones too thin;
  • Increasing inventory turnover — but not sacrificing the service level;
  • Keeping stock low — but not sacrificing service or performance;
  • Obtaining lower prices by making volume purchases — but not ending up with slow-moving inventory; and
  • Having an adequate inventory on hand — but not getting caught with obsolete items.

Perhaps one of the most important elements to finding this balance is accurate forecasting.

A huge part of good inventory management comes down to accurately predicting demand. Make no mistake, this is incredibly hard to do. There are so many variables involved and you’ll never know for sure exactly what’s coming, but you can get pretty close. Here are a few things to look at when projecting your future sales:

  • Trends in the market
  • Last year’s sales during the same week/month
  • This year’s growth rate
  • Guaranteed sales from contracts and subscriptions
  • Seasonality and the overall economy
  • Upcoming promotions
  • Planned ad spending

If there’s something else that will help you create a more accurate forecast, be sure to include it.

A helpful planning tool would be to graph product sales from last year by month so you have a picture that serves as a rough forecasting tool to help stay ahead of ordering and marketing.

Accurate inventory management incorporates what you know about customer and product demand from the past and present to (ideally) predict your best course of action in the future.

Optimize the value of such information by coupling your inventory management and marketing promotions to work together (More on page 10). For example, such insights can reveal potential opportunities to leverage quantity-based pricing suppliers may offer, while at the same time empowering you to offset times of lower demand with promotions or ‘packaged’ deals that strategically drive sales.

It is always best practice to ensure you have product on the floor at least 2 weeks prior to the beginning of selling season for each product and then use the forecasting tools above to prepare for restocking throughout the season.

June/July 2016 – Letters from Lisa

Proper planning and implementing best practices can help relieve stress due to the seasonality of our industry. From ice-cream stands and landscapers to hotels and feed stores, many small businesses are seasonal — meaning they don’t rake in much cash for some portion of the year. While making seasonality work in a business isn’t typically easy, there are ways to alleviate some of the stress.

Plan Ahead

“Measure twice, cut once” is an old adage that still rings true, especially for a small business. Look ahead at least six months to plan appropriately. To carry the business through slower periods and complete lulls, consider saving cash during the busy months. Look hard at every element, from inventory to staffing, to avoid tying up cash unnecessarily during slow months. And, don’t forget to take advantage of slow stretches to prepare for the peak season.

Work Year-Round

One issue for many seasonal businesses is that they lose visibility in the off-season. So part of the challenge is keeping customers connected, and using downtime as a time to regroup, re-evaluate the business plan and expand customer relations.

Many businesses choose to stay open year-round by switching their focus to a different niche. Many ski shops, for instance, sell bicycling gear or kayaks in the summer. Not only does this supplement revenue, but it also hedges the risk since mild winters may inspire people to ride bikes. Other seasonal entrepreneurs start a new business altogether in the off months. Nancy Swenson and Craig White, owners of Beach Farm Inn, a Wells, Maine, bed-and-breakfast, earn 75 percent of the $75,000 to $100,000 of the inn’s annual revenue between the Fourth of July and Labor Day. A rainy summer, Ms. Swenson says, can take a sizable bite out of revenue. While the couple offers various off-season promotions (like cooking-class weekends) to rev up the inn’s guest numbers, they’ve started another venture in the winter months. Mr. White turned a woodworking hobby into a business making wooden furniture. He now makes $30,000 to $40,000 between December and March selling his handmade furniture — or nearly half of the total revenue generated annually by the inn. He uses the inn to help market the furniture, since the rooms are furnished with many of his crafts. “There are years where the weather is terrible or things happen in the world that you just can’t control,” Mr. White says. “Having that extra income…acts as a buffer.”

Market Creatively

Some seasonal businesses are able to extend their season by finding creative ways to get customers interested in their offerings year-round.

Wayne Bronner, owner of Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland, a Frankenmuth, Michigan, Christmas decor store with 260 year-round employees, finds he can keep visitors buying Christmas goods all year by tying promotions and marketing to timely holidays and seasons throughout the year. In the days leading up to Mother’s Day, for instance, he decks out the front of the store with ornaments displaying messages for mothers. In summer, the store plays up wedding-inspired gifts, such as Bronner’s Newlywed’s Ornament Collection, a gift set of 12 ornaments for newly married couples that sells for $67.99.

He also offers sales and discounts in the off-season to spur more sales. For Valentines Day, he has a “14-14” sale — 14% off any item that costs more than $14. The store uses quirky advertising on billboards to attract summer travelers who might be looking for a fun stopover. The store “markets the novelty of shopping for Christmas decorations in July,” Mr. Bronner says.

Seasonality doesn’t have to mean no cash or nothing to do. In fact, if you look at it as a time to turn up your workload it can mean new products. HEAT is a perfect BioZyme® example. Historically in June and July our sales would drop to about 20 percent from normal. HEAT has almost gotten those months right up with all the others.   

Go get ‘em tigers!

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Volatile Fatty Acids for Horses

Volatile fatty acids (VFAs) are a group of fatty acids produced by the cellulose digesting microbes in a horse’s hind gut. Interestingly, the microbes that produce VFAs cannot use them; they are simply a by-product of the fermentation process employed by the microbes to degrade cellulose found in forages. Instead, the horse absorbs them through the cecal and colonic epithelium, and they are distributed throughout the body as energy for a wide array of biological processes.

The most common VFAs are acetate, propionate and butyrate. Collectively, these account for the majority (approximately 70 percent) of the horse’s energy supply. At a basic level, this allows the horse to survive as an herbivore and contributes energy to the general maintenance of the horse including body condition, hair coat, hoof health and the immune system. Additional burdens, such as competition, stress, and lactation, require additional energy supply and, therefore, additional VFA production and absorption.

Acetate is arguably the most important VFA as it is the only one that can be directly absorbed in the bloodstream and used directly as energy. Propionate and butyrate can also be used as energy, but must first be converted into other compounds. Acetate also has significance for broodmares because it is an important source of fat in a lactating mare’s milk. As such, studies have shown that mares on a high forage diet have more milk fat than mares on a high concentrate diet.

Several components of concentrates are also broken down by microbes in the hind gut. However, the type of microbes responsible for concentrate degradation produce a different ratio of VFAs than the cellulose digesting microbes. This ratio, which contains more propionate and less acetate, is less desirable for the horse since acetate is the most accessible energy source. Although concentrate supplementation is necessary in many situations, a diet high in forage content is necessary for the horse to adequately produce enough VFAs to meet its energy requirements.

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Because Amaferm® increases the efficiency at which the cellulose digesting microbes in the hind gut operate, horses supplemented with Amaferm have significantly higher VFA production from forages. This means the horse is absorbing considerably more energy (and nutrients) from the same amount of forage as a horse not receiving Amaferm.

Fortunately, there are several different ways that horses can receive the Amaferm advantage. This chart will help you pick the ideal BioZyme product for your customer.

Identify and Monitor Important Metrics

Dealers must stay on their toes to monitor the ever-changing inventory trends, seasons and customer demands. One way is to proactively optimize your inventory and make sure that you’re stocking the right products, at the right time. To accomplish this, identify and track certain metrics that give you a better understanding of how inventory is moving through the dealership:

A. Inventory Turnover [cost of goods sold / average inventory]

Also known as stock turn, this metric refers to the number of times that product has sold out for a particular time period.

Example: To keep numbers simple, a dealer’s average inventory costs $10,000 and it sold $50,000 worth of goods within a 12-month period. In this case, the dealer’s stock turnover rate is 5.0, which means that it sold out its inventory five times that year.

Monitoring stock turn is a must, since it lets you see how fast merchandise is moving in your business. Generally speaking, a high stock turn rate is good, because it means you’re not tying up too much capital in your inventory.

You can also compute for stock turn at a per product basis so you can figure out how fast different products are selling out. If product A has a turnover rate of 1.0, and product B’s turnover rate is 7.0, then you know that B is selling much more quickly. This serves as an indicator that you’ll need to order more of item B, and less of item A.

B. Gross Margin ROI [gross margin / average inventory cost]

The GMROI measures your return on the amount you invested in stock. It basically answers questions like, “How many gross margin dollars did I make from my inventory investment?” or “For every dollar invested in inventory, how many dollars did I get back?”

Example: A dealer’s average inventory cost is $25,000 and has gross margin of $60,000. The GMROI would be 2.4. In other words, the retailer earns $2.40 for each dollar spent on inventory.

When computed at a store-wide level, GMROI can give you insight on the overall health of your dealership. This metric can also be calculated at a per-product basis so you can determine whether it’s worthwhile to carry certain products.

Say you recently started selling a product in your store. You run the GMROI on it (by taking its gross profit then dividing it by your average inventory at cost) and find that the result isn’t as great as you’d like. You can then use this data to decide on what to do with the product (i.e. take it off the floor, put it on sale, etc.).

C. Sell-Through Percentage [units sold / (units on hand + units sold) x 100]

The sell-through percentage pertains to the number of units sold versus the number of units you had at the beginning. It’s a metric used to assess product performance. It illustrates how fast merchandise is moving and how many more units you have to sell to unload your inventory.

Example: A dealer received 200 units of Vita Charge® Liquid Boost®, and proceeds to sell 145 after a month. That item’s sell-through percentage is 73 percent. Sell-through gives you an idea of which products are selling and will allow you to make better decisions when it comes to what to stock up on, what to put on sale, etc.

Tip: Check to see if your point-of-sale or inventory system provides these metrics for you. Before pulling out your calculator to compute for these metrics, see if you can find the insights you need using your inventory or POS software. Some systems can generate reports on popular products as well as your margins, so you won’t have to do math yourself.

Alternatively, you can download Retail Calculators, an app that has several preset calculators in one program, allowing you to compute for common business metrics without having to memorize any of the formulas.

Inventory: Your Single Largest Asset

For any business, inventory is a major asset.

Just ask Kevin and Sandra Warnken, owners of Rockin W Ranch in Schulenburg, Texas. The couple manages the family’s Hereford and commercial cattle operation and work as on-farm dealers for BioZyme® with the company name of High Hill Supplements.

Sandra Warnken says the biggest misconception of inventory might be that businesses do not place enough priority on managing the items they have in stock. Because they recognize inventory as their single largest asset, the Warnken’s consistently utilize inventory management to also improve their bottom line.

Though every business has different needs Sandra says all businesses could benefit from being strategic about inventory. For High Hill Supplements, inventory rotation is an important aspect of their store. The Warnken’s believe it is vital for a business to have quick turnover of products on the shelf.

“Inventory on the floor for more than four to six weeks ties up valuable operating capital that may be needed to grow the business or purchase new equipment,” Sandra says. “In an effort to reduce inventory stock, demand is up for timely deliveries. Retailers do not want to overstock on products so when ordering they expect to have the product delivered within a certain time frame.”

Sandra says this equates to a big part of High Hill Supplements success, which is also its delivery service. Many times the Warnkens can be found delivering products before or after hours because they know a customer needs it right away. Many of their customers are ranchers just like Rockin W so the Warnkens believe they understand what those customers need and when.

“We know what works best for the particular area they may be in – for instance, our customers along the coast have the best results with consumption when their cattle are on a mineral that has a lower salt level,” Sandra says. “It’s all about personally knowing your customers and their operations and what works best for them.”

The Warnkens carefully watch product inventory, which they say is determined by the demand in their area. In order to keep product fresh, they try not to allow inventory on the floor more than three weeks. They keep staple products in stock at all time, including VitaFerm® Concept•Aid® 5S, Concept•Aid POWER Tubs, VitaFerm Cattleman’s Blend™, Sure Champ® Cattle and the entire Vita Charge® line.

The Warnken’s use Intuit QuickBooks for tracking inventory, including purchases, sales, adjustments, damages and margins. They enter accounts payable the same day product is received and invoice customers the same day product is delivered. Sandra says this process keeps their book inventory accurate with physical inventory. She also does a physical inventory count every six months to ensure computerized inventory is accurate.

High Hill Supplements also works to pass along product promotions to its customers. For example, when there is a promo Warnken will stock up on that item and in turn, offers every piece of inventory purchased to their customer base at the special price, even if it’s past the promotional deadline.

Sandra knows inventory management can be a balancing act between having too much cash tied up in inventory yet maintaining adequate product so the business doesn’t lose sales. Her advice is to take time to implement good inventory management practices including studying sales history, knowing the customer base and knowing the need for seasonal products.

Biozyme’s south Texas Area Sales Manager, Jay Willingham, helps the Warnken’s keep track of livestock shows, which in turn means they have Sure Champ products on hand during a busy show season.

“On the show side, we keep track of all the local, county and major shows as well as tag-in dates,” she says. “This helps us manage our Sure Champ line and helps us ensure we have what our customers need.”

High Hill Supplements also relies on sales reports from previous years to manage the inventory they need. These reports take into account projected growth, and help them personally understand what their customers will need and when. Sandra says it’s also critical to pay attention to the seasons. In her area of Texas fly season starts as early as March. This means they keep fly control products in stock beginning March 1.

Warnken says good inventory management is vital to the success of her family business.

“Proper inventory management keeps our products fresh,” Warnken says. “It enables us to meet our customers’ needs, reduces overhead and increases our bottom line.”

Welcome Sure Champ® Summer Interns

BioZyme is excited to announce our 2016 Sure Champ summer interns: John Reasor, Sales Intern, and Victoria Osburn, Public Relations Intern. The Sure Champ summer internship program offers college juniors and seniors a variety of experiences related to sales and marketing in the livestock nutrition business, both in an office and field setting. Interns travel to various junior nationals and trade shows across the country promoting BioZyme’s supplement brands, as well as spend time working with current dealers.

John grew up outside of Chattanooga, Tennessee, in Wildwood, Georgia. John is heavily involved in his family operation, Reasor Farms. The operation started as just a small commercial cow-calf operation but quickly grew into a Shorthorn and Angus herd that relies on embryo transfer technology for continue growth. John is expected to graduate from Oklahoma State University’s Department of Animal Science in May of 2017.

Victoria hails from Celina, Texas, and has shown cattle for more than 10 years. Primarily showing Shorthorns, she has served as the National Shorthorn Lassie Queen and President of the Texas Junior Shorthorn Association. Victoria is currently attending Texas Tech University working toward a degree in Agricultural Communications with a minor in Animal Science.

If you see John and Victoria at events throughout the summer, please introduce yourself and say hello!

Welcome New Area Sales Managers

Welcome New ASM, Trent Gabler

BioZyme would like to welcome Trent Gabler of Madison, Wisconsin, as a BioZyme Area Sales Manager for the supplement division serving Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa. “What excites me about working for BioZyme is the opportunity to work with the very talented and passionate team of professionals who have made this company the success it is today. I believe in the products, the people and what BioZyme can bring to the modern livestock producer.”

Prior to BioZyme, Gabler worked as a Livestock Nutritionist and Marketing Manager for Complete Feed Service in Sharon, Wisconsin, and as a Cattle East Team Sales Representative for Sedona Ag representing Elanco Animal Health in Dubuque, Iowa. He was also a Calf and Heifer Specialist for NRV Inc. in Ixonia, Wisconsin. Gabler graduated from the University of Wisconsin at River Falls with a degree in Agriculture Marketing Communications and a minor in Animal Science. He is a member of the American Angus Association, American Red Angus Association and Wisconsin Angus Association.

Welcome New ASM, Chris Kyle

Representing BioZyme in the Arkansas and Louisiana areas, is new Area Sales Manager, Chris Kyle.

“Not only does Chris bring a vibrant and energetic work ethic to the table, but he also has a wealth of knowledge in the equine industry. I am extremely excited to see the impact that Chris will make in this territory,” said Alan Lee, BioZyme Director of Sales-North.

Chris, his wife, Lacee and two children, Coree and Kit, are active in the rodeo community and love to hunt and fish. Kyle has a degree in Ag Business from the University of Arkansas at Monticello.

By Helping Kids in the Show Ring, We are Helping Our Future

The makers of Allied Feeds and the Ful-O-Pep brand are proud of their product and their customers’ successes with feeding their product. Just like any feed store, they work to build strong relationships and provide products people want for their livestock.

What’s unique about Allied Feeds is that nearly one-third of its customer base is livestock show families. The Allied Feeds brand, Ful-O-Pep Feeds, is specially formulated for show cattle, swine, sheep, goats, poultry and rabbits. Their product is sold across Texas and into Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas and North Carolina thanks to their nearly 150 dealers who recognize and sell BioZyme® products.

Allied Feeds is owned by the Greg Gossett family, who also owns the Ful-O-Pep trademark. The company has been in business since the early 1900s, first as a Quaker Oats brand. Then it changed ownership to Wayne Feeds and eventually Continental Grain. Greg Gossett’s father, Dr. J.W. Gossett, acquired Continental Grain and continued the Ful-O-Pep Feeds reputation for being a quality full-line commercial feed manufacturer. Today, Allied Feeds manages two storefronts, one in San Antonio and one in Cuero, Texas.

It was just after the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo in 2012 that Dennis Delaney and Jay Willingham came to see Dennis Jemelka about selling BioZyme products. At the same time, the Cuero store was receiving calls for Sure Champ®. Since Ful-O-Pep Feeds already produced its own full-line of livestock show feed, Jemelka says BioZyme fit well with the store’s commitment to quality and fit the company price niche as well.

Allied Feeds and the BioZyme line of products offer something for everyone. Ranchers will use quality feed and supplements because they increase performance and maximize efficiency. Livestock show customers are willing to invest in top-of-the-line products because they want the best for their animals, and their goal is to win.

One of the Ful-O-Pep Feeds sales managers had children who showed steers. Naturally, they began using the products, which gave Jemelka a first-hand testimonial on how Sure Champ products work. He says the prebiotics and organic minerals all add up to be worth the investment. The selling point came when Jemelka could tell families they didn’t have to add any other top-dress supplements to their show feeds if they used Sure Champ from the beginning.

“Show feeds are a big part of our business,” he says. “As our salesman fed his own steers Sure Champ he paid special attention to the animal’s manure to see what was being digested. He came to trust what BioZyme says is true, you do get that added digestion with these products.”

Better digestion equates to more energy. As the calves mature, feeding Sure Champ will keep the animals in shape and they won’t go off feed. Jemelka reassures customers it has a high trace mineral content, which adds to the value of the product.

Allied Feeds recognizes the value of its show customers and offers several incentives to reward them for their business. One program is called Jackets for Champions. The store offers a jacket to any customer who earns a Grand or Reserve Grand Champion title at the local or state level.

The store also participates in the county level premium auctions. Jemelka says there are so many winners that use Ful-O-Pep Feeds products that it’s hard to reward them all, but Ful-O-Pep Feeds does give add-on premiums to as many as possible.

“Our show feeds are important to us but we look at it as a niche market,” Jemelka says. “Not everyone can buy higher priced feeds. You have to have a good product and if you produce winners then you’ll keep those people as a customer forever.”

There are occasions where the store is asked to visit with 4-H groups and FFA chapters to show livestock exhibitors what and how to feed. Jemelka says Allied Feeds wants to teach them about new products with the goal that a younger generation will learn the benefits of the Ful-O-Pep Feeds line.

Ful-O-Pep Feeds encourages its dealers to attend livestock shows and be among the people who need its products. He says the Rio Grande Valley is a specific area for livestock show families and the company’s San Antonio store makes textured feed and grains, which caters to more of the Valley’s show market. At one time, Jemelka says the store was making 80 tons of pelleted show goat feed in one week.

“We definitely have a show market and we try to give them, and all of our customers, the latest and greatest feed technology so they can succeed,” he says. “We think that by helping kids in the show ring, we are helping our future.”

Displays that Wow Your Customers

Product displays, if executed well, are guaranteed to stop customers and generate interest. When marketing to the show livestock audience, keep in mind that exhibitors often play more of a role in feeding decisions than you may assume, so your display should cater to a younger demographic. During the breeding season, cattlemen may prefer a display that educates them about the challenges products help them overcome. Every product and audience is different. The following are a few tips to keep in mind as you hone in on your merchandising skills:

LOOKS MATTER
Make sure your display fully embraces the product brand. BioZyme® invests a great deal of money and energy promoting brands to the end customer, and therefore, it would be in your best interest to stay consistent with the respective brand look. Because of the diversity in types of dealers within our networks, we are happy to discuss options in customizing a display to fit your space.

COMMUNICATE EFFECTIVELY
Communicating a clear understanding of what a product does is key to successful selling. Remember that communication is not limited to words: both the visual and written language of a display must also carry a cohesive message. A successful design is one that will seamlessly integrate with the rest of your marketing campaign (and in this case, the national marketing campaign efforts of BioZyme brands).

PRODUCT IS KING!
Ultimately, every display has one goal: to sell product! Displays that overwhelm the product defeat their purpose at retail. Make sure that your display is making the product the star. If your retail area does not have enough space to showcase every product, make sure you are highlighting those small pack products (Vita Charge®, Vitalize and the new Sure Champ® Spark) as conversation starters so you can lead in to telling customers about the larger mineral products available as well.

ADD VALUE FOR YOUR CUSTOMER
Every new display project is an opportunity to create value for your customer. Value can be created through timely placement (putting the right product out at the right time), added education or a sales promotion or bundled products.  Consider a display that can be changed according to time of year so your customer benefits when most appropriate for their business.

For help with your store displays, contact Katie Vaz, Marketing and Communications Manager, at kvaz@biozymeinc.com or 816-596-8782.

Measuring Return from Sponsorship Opportunities

BioZyme® began its youth investment strategy in 2007. That year, we sponsored two Junior National beef shows – Angus and Hereford. Today, we sponsor 13 – World Pork Expo, Hereford, Angus, Simmental, Shorthorn, Gelbvieh, Red Angus, Maine and Chi, Saler, Charolais, Limousin, Mini Hereford, and Brahman. The reason we choose to make this investment is simple. Youth are the future. The next question that always gets asked is how does this investment provide return.

In the ag world, it is common to get calls from the locals – FFA, 4-H, local cattleman’s association – asking for sponsorships or for you to be a volunteer. Association trade shows and exhibitions also turn to sponsors to get their program off the ground. In most cases, these organizations will ask for a modest amount ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars in exchange for some type of advertising, like logos or banners.

Deciding what to sponsor can be tricky, as certain opportunities may be a complete waste of money, while others may pay off in gold (i.e. marketing your company to potential customers). In addition, sponsoring an event for someone who already sings praises about your dealership enhances that relationship, and because you are helping him or her meet a goal, they sing even louder.

Obviously making sure these choices are a good investment of your time and money is important to your checkbook. Whether you’re being recruited to provide time or money, ask yourself the following questions before deciding to invest:

  • What is the target market for this event?
  • What kind of exposure do I get for my investment?
  • Can I get this kind of exposure without this investment?
  • Do I get direct access to the audience?
  • Does it make sense for me to be there?
  • Which business goal does it help me complete?
  • Are other sponsors my competitors?
  • How does this enhance my credibility with who/what I’m helping?
  • Why wouldn’t I do it?

After you decide to invest, don’t forget to assess the results. Some metrics you should consider analyzing include: sales activity, lead generation, lower customer acquisition cost and/or attitudes toward your brand or business. BioZyme looks to Sure Champ® sales as our metric to measure success. The below graph shows the investment is paying off in more than just goodwill.

At the end of the day, the key to managing sponsorships is ensuring you get the “best bang for your buck”, while minimizing risk to your brand or business. I am sure the sponsors of the 2012 ING NYC Marathon did their due diligence. Unfortunately, they could have never predicted an event the magnitude of Hurricane Sandy. City officials, sponsors, as well as race organizers were divided on whether or not to proceed. It was a difficult decision to cancel, but the right decision. So, whether you are a title sponsor for a major event, like ING, or a smaller sponsor at a local event, setting your objectives, ensuring you have the right sponsorship partner, leveraging the association beyond just a sign, will yield better business in the long run.