Doing more with less is here to stay for the foreseeable future. None of us live in the land of plenty today. You need to be good at operating in this world. People who work in a start-up business or a small business learn this lesson early.

With fewer resources, there is far less room for mistakes. There’s little margin for error when budgets are tight, staff is stretched and doing it over can’t be hidden from the bottom line. Doing more with less really implies that you better be doing the right thing, all the time.

So how can you increase the chances that you do it right, all the time when you are strapped for (fill_in_the_blank)?

Get it right (the first time)

Add nothing but value.

Don’t waste resources on stuff that doesn’t matter. When I was a young manager, I had a boss who would put problems into one of two piles:

• a problem, or
• snail shit.  Lots and lots of things ended up in this pile.

“Pivot” as you learn what works and what doesn’t work. Make corrections along the way. Michael Jordon became a great basketball player because he was the best at rebounding. He moved faster than everyone else and didn’t dwell on mistakes.

Surround yourself with marketing people who think like  problem solvers. Those who know to ask “what is the simplest, most effective way to solve this problem/issue?”

Tip:  Don’t be afraid to use free open source resources. Some of the prettiest flowers are wild and free.  For example, WordPress, is a free, open source blogging tool and content management system (CMS). It was built by the best and brightest programmers. It is maintained and serviced by the same smart people.