Here’s a picture of how the world has changed. On the left you have a tankless water heater system. It provides on-demand hot water and is completely automated in load balancing the output of hot water between four different units.
On the right is the old school. The duct tape says it all. It’s a 300 gallon traditional water heater. This facility pays about $8,000 a month for hot water usage using the conventional. When it broke, the owner looked at his system and thought there must be a better way. He decided to automate. He pays less than $5K per month with four on-demand heaters and there is unlimited hot water. He never runs out. With all of the new equipment, labor and install, it took a little less than 8 months to recoup the investment.
No more duct taping the old system. It’s an eye sore. It worked, but there came a point where he had to make a decision. Does he keep patching the old or invest in the future with much less headaches and much greater efficiency and savings.
We all have this kind of decision in various parts of our business. I can recall spending over $50K for a PBX phone system for a large office space we owned less than a decade ago. That was what was available and conventional.
Today, $30/month does the same job with a cloud-based PBX system. Automation with convenience changed the game entirely.
You may not be dealing with hot water. It may be how you do marketing, sales or servicing your customer. Take a look around. Are you patching with duct tape? What would the savings and lack of hassle mean for you?
Don’t get used to the old. Eventually, everything becomes outdated and costly. Anyone want an old boiler?