Investing in quality saves time and money, while cutting corners wastes both.
Cutting corners doesn't save time or money in the long-term. It only creates more problems which need to fixed later, undue stress, and a subpar product which is less valuable. All of these things drain both time and finances.
How often have you used a website or app which doesn't work properly? There's bugs, terrible UI/UX flaws, and worse. Sometimes I've used apps shipped in production that barely even work at all, and many people have complained in the reviews about it. This is not uncommon.
One of the biggest reasons for this is because companies try and cut corners, expecting to receive highly functional, beautiful software without taking adequate time or paying the price required to develop it to this degree. It never ends well.
Over the years I've encountered several cases with my clients, where they'd paid someone else less expensive who was not as skilled to do the job. It did not meet their standards, and they were forced to rebuild it (and pay for it) again. And then when I rebuilt it for them, they were very happy with the end result.
I'm not the only person in my industry who has encountered this. This is a classic story I've seen many times over the years.
I've also observed the same attitude in people amongst the economy in general. If you pay for a less expensive product, for example, it often ends up breaking quickly and has a multitude of other problems. Therefore it's wisest to save money and purchase a premium product from the beginning, thus avoiding these problems and securing longevity.
The reality is you can't cut corners without a cost. There's a reason some things are less expensive, and it's because they're worse quality. The product or service is simply inferior to something built by a seasoned craftsman, who spent the sufficient time to do their job properly.
Obviously, not all expensive things warrant a higher price tag. Sometimes there's dodgy products and services which are more expensive. However, any decent product or service will generally be higher priced. Sometimes you may be able to find a bargain, but that's an exception and not the rule.
Expertise generally take a very large amount of time and money to develop, and that's why experts charge high prices. They know their worth.
In attempt to pay less, it means you are paying for less quality. And that means more bugs, more problems, and anything that does work will likely still be inferior to the quality good craftsmanship will achieve.
The design and engineering will be shoddy, and your users won't like it. The product or service will be less valuable and not stand against competitors who built their software the right way.
One of the primary reasons the most profitable software companies succeeded in competitive markets is because their UI/UX is excellent. There's countless examples such as Discord, Todoist, or Basecamp. They all became rich because they did their job correctly.
Cutting corners leads to problems which inevitably need to be fixed down the line, and by then the codebase has often already become an unmaintainable nightmare. You can't build a skyscraper on an unsolid foundation, so make sure to build your software correctly from day one. Otherwise you will often need to start from scratch again later.
If someone is charging less it can be a red flag—not a positive sign. In fact, some cultures make purchasing decisions with this attitude and are suspicious of less expensive products. I've heard of Swiss people having this attitude, and it's no coincidence they have world-famous engineering. I'd also argue this mindset has contributed to how rich their country is in general because they value quality so highly.
If you are serious about investing in your business, you can't cut corners. You need to invest in your people first and foremost, which are the cornerstone of any business. Successful software rests on an excellent team, which costs money.
Not only that, if you want your highly skilled employees to stick around, reach the heights of expertise, and keep producing long-term, then you need to pay them well. Otherwise another company will inevitably come along who is willing to pay them what they're worth, and they will decide to take it because they need to take care of themselves and their families. Money is an important factor in any career and cannot be neglected.
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