
Ask HN: Any examples of successfully applying Pareto principle in life? - soheyl
Personal or professional. That is also known as the 80&#x2F;20 rule by the way.
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ziddoap
When I was taking a Construction Engineering Tech degree (fancy name for
quantity surveyor) this was a guiding principle of many of my teachers.

Estimating as a General Contractor is quite intricate. You're soliciting
quotes from surveyors, excavation crews, concrete crews, forming crews,
electricians, plumbers, masonry, flooring, structural, etc. There is a _lot_
of things that go into a building to make it functional.

So, given that you have X amount of time to produce a comprehensive,
profitable quote - you really have to manage your time. If you spend all your
time counting the nuts and bolts on a project but forget about the 3rd floor
framing, you're going to go bust pretty quickly.

The solution is to apply this principle. Focus on the 20% which will give you
80% of the cost. The big ticket items. If you have time, fill in the rest of
what you can.

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helph67
A firm selling paper to (commercial) printers ensured the sales force
(internal and external) used Pareto in this way. Customers that were listed in
the top 20% of revenue providers were designated as KEY accounts and vital to
the existence of the company.

