I love free and I’m sure you do too. We all love free things.

Sadly though, free (or even “cheap”) is often given too much importance when looking for a solution. In the end, paid solutions are sometimes “cheaper”.

Here are a few examples/considerations:

• How much is “support when you need it” worth to you?
• How much is the extra two weeks you or your team will need to customize the free solution worth?
• How long will it take for you to do it Vs a paid expert?
• How much is not being able to customize the solution exactly the way you want worth to you?
• What’s the price of a single paid solution with all the tools you need Vs 50 different free solutions? Does it matter?
• How much is “not having to worry about it” worth to you?
• How much is reliability worth to you?

You get the idea. Free has a price and it often is your time and/or the limitations you are willing to accept.

What can we potentially do better than any other company, and, equally important, what can we not do better than any other company? And if we can’t be the best at it, then why are we doing it all?

- From the book “Good to Great” by Jim Collins