The following Venn Diagram should look familiar, whether you’re a buyer or a seller.

Essentially, it lists the three most important criteria every buyer is looking for; they want something done fast, at a cheap price, and of a good quality.

There’re basically two worlds; the Fantasy / Ideal World (which doesn’t exist), and the real world (which is the existing world we live in). Unfortunately, these 3 criteria only exist in the former. In a nutshell, what this diagram depicts is that you can only choose two at the expense of the remaining criteria. So:

• If you want something good and fast, it won’t be cheap.
• If you want something fast and cheap, it won’t be good.
• If you want something good and cheap, it won’t be fast.

Useful information to keep in mind for the next procurement exercise. 🙂