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Imagine this.

2 plumbers show up at your house.

The 1st tells you the right way to fix it. Costs more. Takes longer. Holds for 20 years.

The 2nd will patch it today. Half the price. Done by lunch.

Most people pick the 2nd guy.

3 years later they're paying double to fix what they should've done right the first time.

I saw this not once but twice this week with clients.

Example #1: New Or Modify?

The first was a Salesforce data model decision. A small choice between building a new custom object or just modifying what was already there. Modifying is faster.

…also cheaper… and done by Friday.

The problem is that "modifying" creates technical debt the moment you ship it.

In year 3, when the business needs something the structure can't handle well…

Someone is rebuilding it from scratch.

That someone is:

• the next consultant
• the next ops hire
• or the next COO

Trying to figure out why the system can't do the thing it's supposed to do.

Example #2: What’s the price again?

The second was a CPQ build from years back.

The pricing math doesn't line up anymore. Nobody remembers why they set it up that way. The person who built it cheap is long gone. The bill is now ours to pay.

Same pattern. Different problem.

Here's what I've learned watching this play out over and over...

The cheap option doesn't just cost more later. It costs more to a different person.

The contractor who picks cheap moves on. The exec leaves. The agency closes the engagement. Then you're stuck with the patch and a problem you didn't create.

I'm learning the same lesson hiring for my own business.

You hire someone cheap… you get cheap results. You pay more for A+ talent and you're glad you did 6 months later when the headaches never come.

There's a reason "hire A players" is the most repeated business advice in the world.

The expensive hire isn't expensive. The cheap hire is.

So here's the test I run before any decision now...

Ask the person quoting you: "What does this look like in 3 years?"

A players have an answer. They've already thought about it. They'll tell you exactly what breaks, when it breaks, and what you should do instead if you can't afford to do it the right way today.

Cheap quotes don't have a year 3 answer. They have a today answer. That's the tell.

Next time you're staring down 2 quotes... 2 candidates... 2 paths...

Remember the plumber story.

The cheap option is rarely the cheap option.

Talk next Friday 👋