Trust me, I’ve learned the hard way…
Most people won’t know this about me.
I’m a keen home mechanic.
And this week, I’m back under the ageing Yorkshire D-Max.
It’s the pickup truck that just keeps on trucking; through rain, snow, floods and more rain, it refuses to give in.
The job is a bottom ball joint. For the non-technical, it’s a small but critical part of the suspension that, when worn, squeaks like a good one and slowly turns every bump in the road into a major irritation.
It’s not the hardest job in the world, but it is fiddly. The hub must come off, the brake calliper and disc off, various bolts, clips, and components need persuading – a blow torch and expletives usually do the trick.
The frustrating part is this; I did this exact job around this time last year.
Same side. Same joint.
Back then, when I went to the motor factors, they only had the cheaper brand in stock. I hesitated. I knew it wasn’t ideal. But convenience won. Time mattered. “It’ll be fine,” I told myself and on it went.
For a 2.000 KG truck subject to Yorkshire Dales terrain and weather, it was never going to end well.
Fast forward less than twelve months and I’m back on the drive again, rain threatening, ground cold, tools laid out and as I start stripping everything down for a second time, the wise words of my parents are ringing loudly in my head…
“Buy cheap, buy twice”.
The joint didn’t fail dramatically. Nothing snapped or collapsed. It just wore out far sooner than it should have. Quietly and predictably. Any saving I made last year has been completely wiped out by the cost, time, and sheer inconvenience of doing the job again.
And standing there, spanner in hand, it struck me how closely this mirrors a conversation I had with a potential Cotton Associates client last week.
We were discussing a proposed day rate for a soup to nuts risk review. There was some to-and-fro. The rate felt “expensive” at first glance said the client. As often happens, the temptation was to extrapolate a day rate into an annual figure and compare it to the cost of a full-time colleague. A colleague that doesn’t exist in the organisation and certainly not with the knowledge required.
On paper, that comparison can look uncomfortable.
But paper rarely tells the full story.
What an experienced pool of consultants brings is not just time. It’s focus and years of hard-won experience applied immediately. There’s no long bedding-in period, no learning curve charged to the client, no distraction from internal politics or competing priorities – just laser focused program aims and objectives.
When consultants are engaged, they are engaged for a reason. There are no off days. No drift. No, “I’ll pick this up next week”. There is a clear objective, a defined plan, and momentum from day one.
Good consultants bring structure to problems that have become blurred over time. They bring challenge where organisations have grown comfortable. They bring clarity to decisions that have been circling for too long without landing.
A cheaper option always feels attractive in the moment. A lower rate. A lighter-touch approach. Something that ticks the box and keeps immediate costs down. But just like that ball joint, the real cost often shows up later. In rework. In delays. In problems that were never quite fixed properly, only managed around.
Before long, you’re back under the car again. Same job. Same frustration. Slightly older and wondering why you didn’t do it properly the first time.
There’s nothing wrong with controlling costs. But there’s a clear difference between cost discipline and corner-cutting. One is deliberate and strategic. The other is reactive and usually ends up costing more.
As I fit a better-quality joint this time – torqued correctly and built to last – the lesson feels obvious. Value isn’t found in the cheapest line on the invoice. It’s found in durability, focus, and not having to do the same job twice.
Now then. Where’s my 10mm socket?
Why is it always the 10mm that vanishes!?!