In business and in product there is always a cost. Every decision carries one. Every inaction carries one. There is no free lunch. Ignoring this fact is the fastest way to waste time, energy, and opportunity.
Cost is not just money. It is time, effort, attention, willpower, and energy. Any finite resource must be spent deliberately. Every choice redistributes these resources, and the question is whether the cost is going where you want it to go.
The temptation is to pursue what looks cheap or easy. A feature can be built in a day. A tool can be integrated in an afternoon. A budget can be trimmed be reducing hiring. But building is only the beginning. Rollout, training, adoption, support, and long-term maintenance are never free. Costs are simply moved elsewhere, often where they are harder to see. In that sense, capital is sometimes the cheapest way to pay for things.
People often prefer the path of least resistance. It feels like progress without effort. It is seductive, but short sighted. The real costs, the meaningful costs, are rarely easy. They are slow, unglamorous, and require attention to detail and discipline to recognize and pay.
To lead well is to see costs clearly and make them intentional. Every action and inaction should be understood in terms of what is being spent and where it is going. Free lunches do not exist. The price is always paid. The question is whether you decide how it is paid or let circumstances decide for you.
Good strategy is about paying the right costs at the right time, deliberately, with clarity. Everything else is a gamble in ignorance.
