# Small business inventory management: Know what you have, where it is, and when it runs low.

Hoardo is a free inventory system for small business: shops, salons, bars, kitchens, studios, offices and trades track stock by location and shelf, scan a label to see what's there, and count it with the whole team. It runs in the browser on any phone or computer, so there's nothing to install.

100% free · Nothing to install · Your whole team

## Small business inventory management in three steps

1. **Add your locations and shelves.** Make a room for each place stock lives: the shop floor, the stockroom, the cellar, the van. In each, add a numbered box for every shelf, drawer, fridge or crate, and write the number on the real one.
2. **Add your stock.** Type a product and its count, say a delivery out loud, or take a photo of a shelf and check what Hoardo lists. Or bring in a spreadsheet or a Sortly export.
3. **Label it, scan it, count it.** Print a QR label for each shelf. Scan it with your phone to see what's on it, and count your stock against what Hoardo expects.

## An inventory system for small business, without the warehouse

Warehouse software is built around SKUs, bins and orders. A small business is built around places: the colour drawer, the back bar, the van. Hoardo works the same way, so the list matches what you see when you open the cupboard.

| In your business | In Hoardo |
| --- | --- |
| A location: shop floor, stockroom, cellar, van | A room |
| A shelf, drawer, fridge, crate or case | A numbered box: shelf, tote, freezer, van, plastic or cardboard |
| A product, bottle, tool or roll | An item, with its quantity |
| The barcode on it, or your own SKU | The Barcode / SKU property, with several codes per item if you need them |
| Size, colour, serial number | Your own properties: text, number, date or yes/no |
| What it looks like | Up to five photos per item, and one of the box, so new staff know it on sight |

Call things what you call them: a room's owner can rename “Box” to “Shelf” and “Item” to “Product”.

## Every location in one place

Each place is its own room: the shop floor, the stockroom, the cellar, the van, a second shop. Search looks through all of them at once, so “candle” finds the jars on the stockroom shelf and the ones on the front table, each with where it is and how many.

The same product in two places is two entries, each with its own count. Hoardo doesn't transfer stock between them: when you restock the front table, change both counts, or move the whole item to another box.

## Scan QR labels and barcodes

Print QR labels for your shelves, boxes and products on A4 sticker sheets (Avery and others) or plain paper, or on a label printer such as Brother, DYMO, Niimbot, Phomemo or Zebra. Scan one with your phone's camera and Hoardo opens that shelf, with everything on it.

The same scanner reads the barcodes already on your products: EAN, UPC, Code 128 and more. Add a product's barcode or your own SKU to the item, and scanning it opens that product wherever it is. Scanners that type like a keyboard, over Bluetooth or USB, work in Search and on lists.

[How a barcode inventory system works](https://www.hoardo.com/articles/barcode-inventory-system)

## Stock counts with the team

Start a stocktake list with the shelves or products you want to count. Each line says “− counted/expected +”: tap to count, type the number, or scan each product as you go. Green means it matches, orange is short and red is over.

Two people can count the same shelf at once and both counts add up. When you're done, “Use counted quantities” changes the stock in Hoardo to what you found, with an entry in History for every change. The list's spreadsheet export shows the difference for each line.

## Low-stock emails

Set a level on any item, “Email me when it's down to 3”, and Hoardo checks every day. Once the count is at that level or below, you get an email and a notification in the app, and the count turns red. It emails again only after the count has gone back up.

Each person sets their own alerts, so the person who orders candles hears about candles. Hoardo doesn't reorder for you or contact suppliers: it tells you, and you order the way you already do.

## Your team, room by room

Invite staff with a link, or add their email and Hoardo sends it. For each person and room, pick Can edit or Can view: the people who count get edit, the people who only need to find things get view. You stay the owner, and only you decide who's in.

There are no paid seats. History shows who changed what, room by room, and edits and deletions can be restored.

## Ask your inventory

Ask Hoardo's chat “How many fig candles do we have?” or “What's on the wall shelf?” and it answers from your rooms. You can also connect Hoardo to Claude or ChatGPT and ask there.

[AI inventory management](https://www.hoardo.com/articles/ai-inventory-management) · [Hoardo in Claude and ChatGPT](https://www.hoardo.com/connect)

## Lend, rent out or sell what you have

- **Lend.** A lending list keeps who has the drill or the spare laptop, and when it's due back.
- **Rent out.** A renting list books things out by the day and never double-books them.
- **Sell.** A selling list puts spare stock on one public sale page, where people ask or make an offer by email.

## Export and bring your data

Export any room, or all of them at once, as a CSV file that opens in Excel, Numbers or Google Sheets. Lists export too.

Coming from a spreadsheet or another app? Give Hoardo a CSV, Excel or Numbers file, a Notion or Airtable export, a Sortly export, or even a photo of a delivery note. It plans the rooms, shelves and columns first, asks before anything clashes with what's there, and the whole import can be undone.

[Move to Hoardo](https://www.hoardo.com/migrate) · [Sortly alternative for small business](https://www.hoardo.com/articles/hoardo-vs-sortly)

## Who it's for

### Shops and makers

Stock on the shop floor and in the back, materials in the studio, and spare pieces on a selling list. A business inventory app that's set up in an afternoon.

### Salons

Backbar, colour drawer, retail wall and deliveries each as a box, so retail stock stays out of the basins.

### Bars and restaurants

Back-bar shelves, fridges and cellar racks, the walk-in and the dry store. A weekly count is changing the numbers that moved.

### Trades and vans

The van, each case and each job site as boxes. Search says which one has the laser level.

### Offices

Office inventory management for supplies, laptops, monitors and keys: a room per floor or cupboard, a label on each shelf, and a lending list for who has which laptop. An office inventory app the whole office can open.

### Events, churches and schools

Sound kits, displays, props and sports gear in numbered crates, with photos so volunteers know what they're looking for. A packing list per event shows what went in the van, and Roaming shows what hasn't come back to its box.

### Rental side businesses

Party gear, cameras, bikes or tools you rent out, booked by the day on a renting list.

## Simple inventory software, not a warehouse system

Hoardo is simple inventory software for knowing what you have, where it is and when it runs low. It doesn't do purchase orders, suppliers, a point of sale or online store sync, invoicing, payments, accounting, forecasting, or warehouse bins and picking. There's no app to download from an app store: it runs in your browser, and you can add it to your phone's home screen.

If your business needs those, a dedicated inventory platform is the better fit. If it needs a clear list of what's on every shelf that the whole team can count, Hoardo is enough.

## Free for the whole business

Hoardo is 100% free, with no paid plan and no credit card. Every feature is included: rooms, shelves, items, QR labels, barcode scanning, stocktakes, low-stock emails, your team and exports. A second shop or a new member of staff never costs more.

## Questions about small business inventory

### What is small business inventory management?

Knowing what you stock, where it is and how much is left, and keeping that up to date as things come in and go out. For most small businesses that means a list by location and shelf that everyone can open on a phone, a regular stock count, and a warning before something runs out.

### Is there free inventory software for small business?

Yes. Hoardo is free inventory management for small business, 100% free with no paid plan and no credit card. Every feature is included for you and your whole team: locations, shelves, items, QR labels, barcode scanning, stocktakes, low-stock emails and CSV export.

### What is the best inventory app for a small business?

It depends on how you sell. If your stock lives in places (a stockroom, a back bar, a van) and you mostly need to find it, count it and know when it's low, a simple inventory app for small business like Hoardo is enough, and it's free. If you need a till, an online store, purchase orders or invoicing tied to your stock, a paid inventory platform built for that fits better.

### Can I track inventory across multiple locations?

Yes. Each location is a room, and search looks through every room at once. The same product in two places is two entries, each with its own count. Hoardo doesn't transfer stock between locations: you change both counts, or move the whole item.

### Does Hoardo scan barcodes?

Yes. Your phone's camera reads Hoardo's QR labels and the barcodes on products (EAN, UPC, Code 128 and more). Scanning opens the shelf or the product, and on a stocktake it counts one more. Scanners that type like a keyboard work in Search and on lists.

### Can my staff use it?

Yes, at no extra cost. Invite them to a room with a link or by email, and pick Can edit or Can view for each person. You stay the owner, and History shows who changed what.

### How do I do a stock count?

Make a stocktake list and add the shelves or products to count. Count each one with − and +, type the number, or scan each product. Hoardo shows what's short and what's over, two people can count at once, and “Use counted quantities” updates your stock when you're done.

### Can I move from Sortly or a spreadsheet?

Yes. Give Hoardo's chat a Sortly export, a CSV, Excel or Numbers file, or a Notion or Airtable export. It plans your rooms, shelves and columns, asks before anything clashes, and the whole import can be undone.

### Do I need to install an app?

No. Hoardo runs in the browser on any phone, tablet or computer, and you can add it to your phone's home screen. There's nothing to download from an app store.

### Does it handle orders, invoices or payments?

No. Hoardo doesn't do purchase orders, suppliers, invoicing, payments, accounting or a point of sale, and it doesn't sync with online stores. It keeps track of what you have, where it is and how many are left.

### Is Hoardo good for an office?

Yes. For office inventory management, make a room per floor or cupboard for supplies, laptops, monitors and keys, and put a QR label on each shelf. A lending list shows who has which laptop, and people who only need to look can have Can view.

Start free: https://www.hoardo.com/login?signup