Many founders notice this pattern. The site team calls: “Material nahi aaya.” The vendor says it
was dispatched. The accounts team says payment is pending. Three people, three versions,
one stalled project.
Nobody planned this. It just evolved.
I’m Milind Bibikar, and I work with mid-sized B2B engineering and project companies.
Why does this happen?
First, there’s no single source of truth. The site engineer checks his WhatsApp. The
procurement person checks his notebook. The vendor has his own delivery register. When a
crisis hits, everyone’s information conflicts. “Boss se pooch lete hain, confirm ho jaayega.” So
the founder becomes the database.
Second, accountability disappears in the handoff. Procurement says they ordered. Logistics
says they dispatched. Site says they never received. Each person did their part. Nobody owns
the outcome. The gap between departments becomes the place where responsibility dies.
Third, problems surface only at crisis point. The site doesn’t flag material shortage until work
stops. By then, it’s too late for planning. It becomes firefighting. “Site pe issue aa gaya hai”—so
everything else gets dropped. Urgency replaces process every single time.
Fourth, information flows up, not across. Site tells the founder. Founder tells procurement.
Procurement tells the vendor. Meanwhile, site and procurement never speak directly.
The founder becomes the router. Every material delay lands on your phone.
One founder’s day is constant interruptions—morning material crisis, afternoon vendor call,
evening site explanation. Another founder’s team has a shared tracker, direct site-procurement
Contact and escalation only for exceptions. Same projects. Entirely different daily reality.
The question isn’t whether your team is capable. The better question is: does your system
assume you’ll always be the central node? Because if it does, scaling becomes nearly
impossible.
