Who else could do it for you?

Every Monday, we used to set priorities and to do's for the rest of the week. I used to spend sometime making sure that everyone was clear on what they needed to achieve that week but also that they had the resources to make it happen.

We were driving massive growth. The amount of tasks we wanted to get done was overwhelming.

Usually the logical questions to organize yourself will make the trick: do we really need to do it? what is more important? what needs to happen earlier? what ball do we pick to drop?

If we weren't satisfied with the final result two follow up questions will emerge: Who else can do it? What can we offer to get it done faster?

I now believe that "Who else can do it? What can we offer to get it done faster/better/cheaper?" is a philosophy of life.

There is always someone, somewhere, with more expertise (faster/better/cheaper) willing to do it for you and for less than you think.

What you need to balance is the overall cost, the impact in your cash flow, any potential barrier to enter the deal and how much you trust those you want to engage in your business/life. And if you ask me, this is the real key to enable wealth distribution.

The obsessive leader of this way of living is Tim Ferris (http://www.ted.com/speakers/tim_ferriss.html) who is always fun to read and listen.

Below there is a real life Case Study in case you want to dig deeper. Enjoy.


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Case Study: what is the best way to get to work everyday?

My feasible options are: bicycle, bus, taxi and own car. I am aiming to get there (1)safe, (2)on time, at the (3)lowest financial risk and with (4)comfort everyday.

In Costa Rica, from my perspective, bicycle is not a safe option, so it is discarded.

The other options are Bus($1 per day, 2hr trip, low comfort), Taxi($10 per day, 20min trip, middle comfort), own Car($9,50 per day, 20min trip, high comfort).

Assumptions:
-The case is only about transport to work
-About the car: price 12500USD, 6250USD first payment, 72months, 6,25%rate, 4years tenancy, 75% end of period value. Aprox maintainance, insurance and gas daily expenses. Parking subsidized, accidents not considered.
-Every minute that I spend travelling decreases my salary ROI. For example, if you make 10USD per day and each day has 8hrs, that is better than making the same amount but investing 10hrs.

When you make the calculations Bus is the worst option! (That's why urban design has such big impact on social development and why transport systems are a good way to lift people out of poverty: less transport time equals less poverty).

The car and the taxi are very similar. Actually Taxi drivers make their profit out of tax subsidize and maintainance savings, not price.

Summary
- Bus: high daily investment (due to opportunity cost) but low cash flow impact (1USD), variable cost (only pay when you work).
- Taxi: medium daily investment (reduces opportunity cost when compare with Bus), medium cash flow impact (10USD), variable cost.
- Car: medium daily investment, medium cash flow impact(9,5USD) BUT high barrier to enter(cash/credit for first payment) and fix cost(4 years in this case).

Conclusion
In my case, due to the variables I selected as more important, the taxi is the best option.
What is interesting is that after I shared this logic, I got a better offer from somebody in my family, so I decided to outsource the task of driving me to work to a family member which increased comfort and kept finances under control :)