It pays to be specific about what your real goals are and then do the hard thing.
Today’s post is from our Archives at SafeSourcing Inc.
While everyone is still talking about inflation and what, if anything, needs to be done to fight it, the conversation will always go to costs. Do you feel like you’re forever fighting back against cost increases and never making any headway? The job can feel awfully Sisyphean.
That said, many in procurement and many of the larger providers and content creators in the space aren’t talking so much about cost control. Much of what we hear falls more into other areas of procurement like strategic sourcing, forecasting and planning, inventory management, and other topics.
Why then, if the whole world is talking about costs, are we spending so little time on cost control?
Cost control involves managing procurement costs throughout the process to minimize waste, reduce expenses, and prevent cost overruns. This includes identifying cost-saving opportunities, optimizing the use of resources, and monitoring costs in real-time.
My theory is that achieving cost control is hard, especially over the past couple of years. The hard things often take a backseat to the things that are easier to do. If you’re the one who’s job it is to truly control costs, you may feel like Sisyphus and you might imagine yourself a little like the poor person in the image above.
Attaining your cost control goals as part of your larger procurement objectives is not impossible, even if it may be hard and does seem like a stretch. All good goals require stretching and hard work.
SafeSourcing has been delivering for our customers against cost control goals. We know how to do it, including recently and have plenty of great examples, resources, and techniques to share to help you do it For more information, please contact SafeSourcing.
