Your Inventory Isn’t Your Product. It’s Your Cash. And It’s Time We Talk About It.

Hey, it’s Lara.

I’ve been talking to a lot of founders after BFCM, and everyone keeps telling me the same thing:

“I don’t understand why my bank balance is low. Sales were good.”

And every time, I end up saying the same line:

“Your inventory isn’t your product. It’s your cash.”

You can feel the silence every time I say it.

Because no one ever explained inventory properly, not in a way that founders can actually use.

People teach you ads, creative, UGC, email flows… but not inventory.

So for December, I want to make inventory simple.

No formulas.

No complicated models.

Just the truth.

Inventory Is Cash Wearing Different Costumes

When you place a PO, you’re not “buying product.”
You’re moving cash into a different form — boxes.

That cash then gets stuck in places you don’t see:
• Raw materials
• Production
• QC
• Transit
• Ports
• 3PL receiving
• Warehouse
• Safety stock

You didn’t lose your money.
It just moved.

The most common mistake I see?
Founders think inventory equals warehouse stock.
But the warehouse is just one chapter in the story.

Last month, we helped a brand unlock 150,000 dollars of hidden inventory they already owned simply by tracking the full chain properly.

If you want to see how we found it, I broke the case study down here:
👉 How I Unlocked 150K in Hidden Inventory for BFCM
https://youtu.be/dpxhEEl3rZY?si=Je1riRe0rskrr212

If you want to understand how China logistics can freeze your cash too… I just released a new YouTube breakdown:
👉 Upcoming Up To 4 Week Downtime In Deliveries From China
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xQW8TzrI_w

It’s one of the clearest ways to understand how delays choke cashflow long before your product arrives.

Every SKU Has a Rhythm (This Changes Everything)

The moment a founder realizes that each product has its own behavior, everything starts to make sense.

Some SKUs sell fast but restock slow.
Some restock fast but sell slow.
Some spike in BFCM.
Some die in January.

Once you understand the rhythm of each SKU, forecasting and planning stop feeling random.

Inside Move, this is one of the first things we map out for clients during an inventory audit, because once the rhythm is clear, the rest becomes easy:
demand, reorders, cashflow, storage, you name it.

If you want us to do this for your brand, reply with “inventory audit” and I’ll send details.

Also, if you want daily conversations around topics like this, join us inside Supply Chain Lounge on Slack. It’s free, and you can ask anything.
👉 https://tinyurl.com/move-supplychain-lounge

The Part Nobody Explains: Planning, Forecasting, and Balancing

This is a big one, and honestly, it’s the reason most founders feel lost.
People mix these terms together, but they are completely different things.

Here’s the simplest way to understand them.

1. Inventory Planning

This is the big picture.
It answers the question:
“What do I need to buy, when, and how much?”

Inventory planning looks at:
• Lead times
• Safety stock
• Cash availability
• Storage capacity
• Product mix
• Launch timing
• Marketing plans
• Seasonality

Think of it like planning a trip. It’s the master plan.

2. Demand Forecasting

Forecasting is different.

Forecasting is not what you want to sell.
It’s what the data suggests you will sell.

Forecasting looks at:
• Sales velocity
• Year over year patterns
• Seasonality
• Traffic and marketing pushes
• Product lifecycle

Forecasting is the prediction.
Planning is the decision.

You can forecast high and still order low because your cashflow says so.
Or forecast low and order high because you want to be ready for peak season.

Forecasting tells you the weather.
Planning tells you whether to bring an umbrella.

3. Stock Balancing

This is the cleanup step that most brands ignore.

Stock balancing answers:
“How do I move, sell, bundle, or shift existing inventory so cash isn’t stuck?”

This includes:
• Rebalancing between warehouses
• Liquidating slow SKUs
• Bundling leftovers
• Pushing discounts strategically
• Shifting stock for faster fulfillment
• Phase outs
• SKU rationalization

Stock balancing frees trapped cash.
It’s the part that makes your P and L breathe again.

If Inventory Planning is the architect,
and Forecasting is the weather report,
Stock Balancing is housekeeping.

Lead Times: The Silent Killer

Most founders think lead time equals production days.

But real lead time looks like this:

Production
→ packing
→ booking
→ vessel
→ customs
→ drayage
→ receiving
→ putaway at 3PL

What people think is 25 days is actually 60 to 75 days.
Sometimes 90.

This is why founders always feel late.
They’re planning on the wrong timeline.

Inside Delphi.ai, I created prompts exactly for this.
You can type something like:

“Lead time 72 days, velocity 18 units per day, inventory on hand 430. When do I reorder?”

And Delphi answers in normal language, not math.

If you haven’t tried it, it’s worth it. It saves me hours weekly.

Safety Stock: Your Buffer, Your Lifesaver

Safety stock protects you during:
• supplier delays
• viral spikes
• QC issues
• production bottlenecks
• longer transit times
• holidays
• port congestion

If you’ve ever said “I wish I ordered more,”
that was your need for safety stock talking.

Safety stock isn’t extra.
It’s protection.

So Here’s the Simple Truth

Once you understand the basics…
planning, forecasting, rhythm, lead times, safety stock…
inventory finally becomes something you can manage instead of stress about.

And once inventory becomes predictable, everything else becomes predictable too:
your cashflow, your margins, your storage fees, your reorders, your launches.

This whole month, we are going to rebuild the way you think about inventory.

Next week, I’ll talk about visibility and why it’s the easiest way to free up cash without buying anything new.

See you inside.
Lara