Fast, Quality, Cheap - Pick any Two

How many times when talking to potential customers have you heard “I want it fast, I want top quality, but I only have a limited budget.” Well early on in my career a wise manager explained the phrase “Fast, Quality, Cheap – Pick any Two”.

Basically it boils down to;

• If you want a top quality job done fast, then it won’t be cheap.
• If you want a top quality job done cheaply, then you are going to have to put in a lot of time.
• If you get a job done quickly and pay very little, then the quality will be suspect.

He also told me that it was important to keep this in mind when dealing with both Customers AND Suppliers.