I have a standing challenge to any bar inventory software company who claims their app and software can count inventory in 15 minutes: Come do inventory for one of my clients and if you can do it in 15 minutes, I will give you $50,000. I'm not kidding. And not with 6 people using 6 devices. Anyone can do that. It still adds up to 90 minutes of labor and bars aren't going to have 6 people taking inventory for them.
Why the challenge? Because companies like these are the result of modern-day inflated marketing tactics and an over-exaggeration of the girth they're carrying under the hood, which always leads to a very unsatisfying experience for the user. This leads me to believe they are compensating for something.
The fact is, inventory software makes counting MUCH faster, it's true. 50 - 70% faster, which is Awesome with a capital "A".
The problem I have with bar inventory in 15 minutes is that it's a blanket promise, despite the fact that some stock-on-hand inventory = $4,000 and some = $40,000. Some managers admit that it takes them 6 - 7 hours to count their gigantic inventory. Now you're going to get that down to 15 minutes? Bring it on. I'd love to see that.
Here's the truth: the inventory software you use is simply a tool for counting inventory. Like a hammer. So this would be like promising: Build a house in 3 days using our amazing hammer, but then you come to find out upon viewing the blueprints that the house is the size of a port-a-potty and that in order to build a 2,000 square foot house it will actually take 3 months or 30 guys with 30 hammers (i.e. multiple devices).
I have no problem with creative marketing, but I am extremely wary of who I crawl in bed with when choosing a product or service that I will be relying on for an extended period of time, and when wild promises are made that are direct fabrications, I wonder what else they will promise that they will not deliver on.
Perhaps I'm just being a drama queen. Perhaps I'm over-emotional because my daughter just turned 13 and I'm having sympathy hormones, but I'm all about being upfront about what your client will get and then over-delivering on the promises we make, not under-delivering and then hoping they won't notice and will keep paying us money every month.
Like I said, $50,000. Standing challenge. Be a company that backs your promises with real action and I will pay up.
Cheers, until next time,
Dave, The RB
