It’s Foodie Friday and this week it’s tool time. As I mentioned in some previous posts, I’m in the process of moving, which means that a lot of stuff is packed up and not readily available for cooking. You never think that you’ll use some kitchen-related item (I won’t be ricing potatoes any time soon, will I? Pack the ricer!) right up until you need it. Then comes the internal debate assessing whether to unpack it (assuming you can find it), try to make do with some similar tool, or cook something else altogether.
One of my absolute mantras is that one needs to have the right tool for a job. You might think that throwing a smoothie into a food processor will work (because you packed the blender), but you’re wrong. Not only does it not yield a respectable smoothie but it makes a horrible mess. Then there is trying to make a roux with a fork instead of a whisk because, well you know where the whisk is, and it’s not in the kitchen.
Another non-food example. I just spent a day and a half trying to wire cat5 plugs around the new house. A buddy of mine had most of the tools to do this save for a punch tool to seat the wires properly. We tried to punch them down using everything from a tiny screwdriver to a pen. None of the connections were solid. An hour back and forth to buy the right tool and suddenly we were flying through the job. The right tool makes all the difference. Was $50 expensive to get it? Not in light of what it would have cost to hire someone to do the job.
You should remember that when you’re running your business. The right tools – and I include the right people in that category – makes all the difference. Spend the extra buck on software that works for you and don’t try to shoehorn your business into some freeware that really isn’t right. Sure, there are a lot of very good free tools out there but most of them begin to charge you as you reach the enterprise level. Make sure they’re worth paying for before you get too embedded in their platform.
Finally, spend more on good people that are right for your company and right for the job. Having a fantastic free design tool is great but you need someone that knows how to use it or the results will look amateurish.
Having the right tool makes an excellent finished product much easier to obtain. Using a shoe to drive a nail rarely works, don’t you think?
Consult Keith 