In our last few blogs, the theme was efficiency in purchasing gear.  This is still the case. As more and more gear outlets are moving towards less phone time and a heavier reliance on the site doing the work, this either makes things more difficult or harder.  Many are completely at home at ordering gear online and others aren’t.  There are many reason for this, but for the sake of streamlining the process, let’s assume the comfort level is high enough to shop online for your rigging gear.

There are couple of elements you should consider before pushing the Buy Now button..

1. Have A Vision
2. Have Objectives
3. Allow your Shopping Cart to be preeminent in your plans.
4. Have a Budget
5. Constraints

The Vision is vital to growth.  Growth as a person. Growth as a leader.  Growth as a business. Growth as steward.  Vision also must deal with a whole new learning curve.  Where vision is best used is as a compass bearing.  Innovation, inspiration and transformation are my benchmarks.  Profitability, sustainability and scaling options are mixed in as well.  As a “solutions” organization, there is always a mixture being made. But we need to understand what we are looking for first in order to understand if we are hitting the mark or not.

The Objective: Rescue teams are essential to providing aid and support during times of crisis. As such, they need to be well-equipped, organized, and have clear economic objectives in order to effectively do their job. Leadership within the team needs to prioritize what economic objectives should be put in place for each mission. These economic objectives will help ensure that rescue teams are able to meet their goals and complete their mission successfully.

• When it comes to economic objectives, profit is often thought of as an increase in revenue over expenses. This doesn’t necessarily mean that money needs to be involved; instead it could refer to practices that reduce costs or increase efficiency in order to make better use of resources. For example, if a business implements practices that open up new markets for its products or services without needing additional money then this could be seen as profitable even though no additional money was spent.
• Profit can also mean achieving good outcomes from the use of resources available at hand. This could involve careful decision-making processes or innovative thinking when it comes to utilizing limited resources efficiently and effectively. Achieving positive results with limited resources can be seen as a form of profit even if no money is exchanged or earned during this process.
• Overall, profit should not just be looked at through the lens of earnings but also leadership, economic objectives and resource utilization as well. Making decisions with respect to these areas will help ensure that organizations are operating at their highest potentials while still achieving maximum returns without the need for large investments or expenditures. Companies should look beyond traditional notions of profitability when making decisions and consider all aspects mentioned above in order maximize their potential gains without using money.

The Shopping Cart: Using the Shopping Cart function, while seemingly is a no-brainer is your best opportunity to say no.  There are no limits as to how many products you can stuff into your Shopping Cart.  Let it build up.  Once you have accumulated all the equipment you could possibly afford, start trimming it down.  You likely don’t need tons of models of any given widget.  You don’t hear this very often, but try to stay with as few options as possible.  Vendors, normally, if they are worth their weight, will have a large and generous selection of many options if the have one.

Shop with a strategy in mind.  An example might be Helmets, then Harnesses, then Rope, then Pulleys, then Carabiners etc… until completed.  Normally a Shopping Cart will list the products in order of your selection.  Simply go from top to bottom.  Alway refer to your original goal to make sure you have covered all the bases.

The Budget: This is also a very difficult element of purchasing to practice unless a budget and or limits were already given to you.  This is also an amazing gift that is bestowed on the purchase agent or technician because it limits the amount of pain that can occur when spending has overflowed the banks and thus creates problems for others that were not ready for it.

The Constraints:  This is normally considered a negative concept, but for those who are wise… constraints are even better than budgets.  Constraints limit most overages before they start.  Constraints could be things like…

• No one piece will have a single purpose.  A multi-purpose gear list eliminates many problems and builds a more well rounded team. Small teams greatly benefit from this.
• All systems in place must have scalability and parts (including personnel) must always be replaceable. Specialization has its place but as a general rule, don’t do it.
• Significance is not Sacred. Never rely on any one piece of equipment (multi-purposed or not) to be “the way we do things”.  Eventually this will bite you hard.  Cross training is essential for a well oiled team to function.
• Always let training determine the factors of purchasing.  If you don’t train with it, don’t buy it. If you don’t need it, don’t buy it.
• Stay with reliable gear and systems before branching out into the unknown.

So while this is a limited list as best, if you aren’t at least following these elements in one way or another, chances are very high you have purchased gear by mistake and have either tried to return it or it is just sitting there in the cache collecting dust.  I have helped thousands of people with their purchases, so  I know full well what works and what doesn’t.

Give us some thoughts and feedback on how we are doing at info@rescueresponse.com. Also, make sure you check in at www.rigginglabacademy.com for upcoming courses for this topic and many others.

Peace on your Days

Lance