Even in the soulless world of business, there are cosmic forces at play

Let’s be honest from the start. Business is about making money, and the more money you make, and the quicker you make it, the better you are doing. Sometimes, however, in that rush to the bottom line, the people you end up trampling is yourself. Funny little story…

A couple years ago, we did some cost analysis, and determined that a function of our business we were outsourcing could be done cheaper inside. We drew up the business case, crunched the numbers, and generated a plan. One little thing – we didn’t bother to tell our vendor until we executed the cancellation. 

This left them in a bit of a lurch. They had a number of customized consumables on hand, and although the loss of business wasn’t enough to really hurt them, it was big enough to put a little pothole in their financial forecast. 

Legally, we were well within our contractual rights, and the end-game transaction was done on the “up and up” and without problem. Everyone remained calm and professional, although one could tell on the phone calls that the friendship was strained.

Fast forward a couple years, to present time. Things have changed, and we find ourselves in a place where we have toonce again, go to this vendor to assist us. This time, however, the conversation has taken a different tone. 

“Well, why are you not doing this work yourself?” asked the sales guy, “We know you can, you did it before.”

“We are out of capacity – this is new work, and we can’t take it on with the existing equipment.” state I.

“How do I know that a year or two down the line you won’t drop us again?” 

Well, here’s where I switch the subject to the technical. Truth is, there’s no saying we WON’T dump them again. The conversation continued, and he is digging up the numbers for us (after all, even if short term, it IS new revenue)

Looking back, it would not have hurt us to give them a chance to come back with a better price. If they couldn’t, then they would have probably understood why we were departing, and likely let us go with their blessings. They might actually respond to future inquiries like a long lost friend, instead of a jaded lover.

We didn’t do that then, and I wish we did.

Lesson learned.