The True Cost of Things
In marketing, there’s a concept called carrying cost. It refers to the total cost of holding inventory, such as storage, staff, shipping, depreciation, and opportunity cost.
Carrying costs are decreased when no excess inventory is held at all, effectively working as a Just in Time production system.
Carrying costs also exist in our personal lives.
The maintenance of everyday things means losing time to understand how products work, putting it away after using, regularly check in if they are still properly functioning, and cleaning every now and then.
And it goes even beyond products: relationships and hobbies, for example, constantly require our time, focus, and money.
In tech, you minimize carrying costs by reducing technical and product debt by zeroing in on core features. In retail, your goal is to build a Just in Time system.
But how can we reduce the carrying costs in our personal lives?
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