Many of you will be familiar with this business triangle, and you may use different words, but for simplicity (and design) I’ve simplified this paradigm. This is often called the balance act in the business world, and when people refer to the balance act, they’re often referring the struggle to balance between Quality, Cost, and Efficiency. We’re going to look at the Balanced Triangle and identify what it takes to keep your business balanced and running smoothly.

High Costs

If money isn’t an object, then quality and efficiency are easy for a business. You can pull an any amount of resources needed to get the job done with this triangle. The problem is that high costs are usually only justified in the consulting industry (lawyers, doctors, advertising, etc) because the consumers looking for these services have been brought up by society to know that you get what you pay for, which can be really practically worthless if a consumer “cheaps out” in any of these services.

Long Wait

If the consumer isn’t in a rush, it’s often easy to find a company that will provide high quality at cheaper prices. This may be hard to see in the retail industry at first, but think of video games for a great example.. When Halo first came out for XBOX it was around $60 at most outlets. After 6 months the price had dropped to $40, and you can now find Halo in the $10 bins at Walmarts around the US. The quality didn’t lower, and the game became more affordable over time.

Poor Quality

In my opinion, this is where 90% of America shops, with retail especially, because we are impatient and cheap. Following the paradigm, if you want something fast and you want it for cheap, you will of course get poorer quality. This is obvious in retail (think of knock-off brands), as well as services, and so on. If you buy tools at Walmart, they’re likely to break with heavy use.. if you go with the first and cheapest lawyer you look up in the phone book, you’re likely to lose whatever lawsuit.

Overall the concept is pretty simple really, but a better understanding will help you become a better consumer. None of the three are better or worse, it all just depends on the situation and preference.