Standards and uniqueness in the same company
Across the more than a thousand sales projects I’ve worked on, I’ve heard the same sentence again and again:
"Well, we’re quite unique."
It’s usually said with a smile — but also with an underlying assumption that standard solutions don’t quite fit.
And that’s understandable.
Many companies — especially small and mid-sized manufacturing and trading businesses — have their own nuances. It might be specific customer relationships, complex supplier networks, technical products, or highly specialized employees.
That’s exactly the complexity CEOs, supply chain directors, and procurement leaders must navigate — and that any good advisor needs to understand before real value can be created.
But that doesn’t mean everything is unique.
When you break a company down and analyze the underlying structures, you’ll often find that certain elements repeat across most businesses — regardless of industry.
There are fundamental building blocks that every company must address if they want scalability, efficient operations, and improved profitability.
I’ve worked with IT and SaaS in many forms — from online job platforms to e-learning, from Enterprise Architecture to now Supply Chain Intelligence — and one pattern keeps repeating:
There are core principles and processes that can and should be implemented based on best practice — even in companies that consider themselves “special.”
At Inact, we often apply the 80/20 rule when working with new clients:
Yes, your business has unique characteristics — but up to 80% of the structural challenges can be addressed with proven solutions, tested processes, and standardized technology.