Alongside the question of “Do I want to be more, or better?”—the classic quantity vs. quality debate—I often find myself wondering, How can I become more efficient? Efficient in business.

A sales manager friend once shared a story about how he inspires his team to work more efficiently. His question:
“Can you imagine earning 1,000,000 forints a month? No? Have you ever earned 1,000,000 forints? Yes? How long did it take? Three months? Then you’re capable of it—you just need to figure out how to be three times as efficient to make it happen in a single month.”

Is it really that simple?

Money vs. Time?

In my first 27 years as an entrepreneur, I often saw, heard, and experienced the notion that business efficiency primarily boils down to two dimensions: money and time. In other words, if you want to succeed, you need to make more and more money in less and less time. (Yes, I know… there are plenty of other metrics to measure business efficiency, but most of them eventually boil down to figuring out how to make more money while spending less—and, of course, meeting deadlines!)

Let’s reflect on three key elements: Is money important? Why is time such a tricky issue? And what exactly is efficiency?

Is Money Important?

Yes, it is. Let’s acknowledge that generating money is one of the primary goals of a business founder. We can debate this, but starting a business is, at its core, about taking risks today to earn more tomorrow than what you’ve invested. (If your goal is to create value without profit, you might want to consider starting a foundation, an association, or a social club instead.) But still, when we talk about efficiency, why do we often only examine time as a resource?

What’s the Issue with Time?

The problem is that we always perceive it differently. Over the years, my relationship with time has evolved. You could say it’s “complicated”—complex and multilayered, reflecting my current life situation. My fears and misconceptions about time have often influenced my daily decisions and overall well-being.

“I’ve got plenty of time; I’m still young. There’s no need to rush. Time is money. The early bird catches the worm. The latecomers get the scraps. Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today. Time is endless. Time is on my side…”

Are we afraid of missing out? Afraid there won’t be a second chance? Afraid of growing old and not being able to do what we can today? Right now, immediately… And, of course, our time is finite, and we don’t know when it will run out. So yes, we have issues with time—perhaps we even take it more seriously than we should.

What Is Efficiency?

This question is particularly relevant for me right now as I’m contemplating re-entering the entrepreneurial world. A quick Google search tells me that efficiency refers to how well an organization or process can achieve its goals by maximizing available resources and minimizing waste. (In short: Don’t waste anything!)

But what should I factor in when planning my operations? How do I envision the next 3–4 years? What criteria should I include in my spreadsheets when calculating the resources needed to achieve profitability? After all, these are the resources I’ll need to use without wasting them.

What Lies Beyond Time?

The first thing that comes to mind, beyond time, is us—the leaders of the business. Our belief in our future is one of our most critical resources. For me, belief is what gets me to put on my shoes every morning and continue down the path. Belief that I can overcome obstacles, recognize opportunities, and belief in my future. If my belief runs out, it doesn’t matter how much time I have—I won’t want to go anywhere. And if I don’t move forward, no matter how much time passes, I’ll remain stuck in the same place in life and business.

Then there are the people around us—our family and friends. What are my successes worth if the people I can share them with drift away? No matter how efficiently I reach my goals, if no one who matters to me is there to care, it’s meaningless.

And then there are the colleagues who walk this path with us. If I focus on time-based efficiency and rush, they might not be able to keep up with me. And if they can’t, what happens? I’ll either have to wait for them—which makes me question why I rushed in the first place—or I’ll end up alone at the front of the pack. But then, why do I have colleagues if we’re not walking together? And if we’re not aligned, how will we know we’re still heading in the same direction? The system becomes strained, and I start wasting the very thing that makes all of this worthwhile:

I love my work.

Don’t get me wrong: of course, time matters. Money matters. Efficiency matters. But time is just one element of the success and business efficiency equation. The formula that produces our profit—and the factors we use to calculate efficiency—are made up of many elements. What are those? They stem from the leader’s values, awareness, and life situation.

It’s worth keeping in mind: if even one of these elements that truly matter to us becomes a zero, then no matter how great the partial results, the outcome will also be zero.

The article was originally published on the vendler.hu blog.