7.1 Why product rules are necessary
7.1.1 In agri business, products are easy to add and very difficult to remove.
7.1.2 Every new product:
• Demands attention,
• Consumes management time,
• Adds operational complexity, and
• Increases risk.
7.1.3 Without clear entry and exit rules, businesses slowly become overloaded — and eventually fragile.
7.1.4 This Article exists to ensure that products serve the business, not the other way around.
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7.2 When a product may be considered for entry
7.2.1 A product may be considered only if:
• It fits existing or planned infrastructure,
• It strengthens core capabilities, and
• It does not overstretch systems.
7.2.2 Before approving any new product, the following must be clearly understood:
• Sourcing feasibility,
• Post-harvest handling needs,
• Quality control requirements, and
• Cost behavior across seasons.
7.2.3 Products that look attractive in the market but demand completely new systems must be treated with caution.
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7.3 Products must earn the right to exist
7.3.1 No product is automatically approved for scale.
7.3.2 Every product must pass through:
• A learning phase,
• A pilot phase, and
• A validation phase.
7.3.3 Only products that demonstrate:
• Consistent quality,
• Predictable costs, and
• Operational control
Are allowed to move to scale.
7.3.4 Products that survive only on management attention or firefighting are not considered viable.
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7.4 Separation between experimentation and commitment
7.4.1 This business encourages experimentation — but controls commitment.
7.4.2 Experiments are:
• Small in scale,
• Time-bound, and
• Clearly labelled as learning exercises.
7.4.3 Commitment involves:
• Capital allocation,
• Long-term contracts, or
• Branding and market promises.
7.4.4 No experiment may quietly turn into a commitment without passing formal review.
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7.5 When a product must be exited
7.5.1 Exiting a product is not failure. Continuing a bad product is.
7.5.2 A product must be considered for exit if:
• Our price of procurement is higher than competitor
• Quality remains inconsistent despite effort,
• Systems cannot stabilize it,
• It distracts from core focus, or
• It repeatedly violates the Decision-Making Doctrine (Article 4).
7.5.3 Emotional attachment, past effort, or sunk cost cannot justify continuation.
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7.6 How exit decisions are taken
7.6.1 Exit decisions must be:
• Data-based,
• Calmly discussed, and
• Documented.
7.6.2 The objective of exit is:
• To release capital,
• To reduce complexity, and
• To restore focus.
7.6.3 Clean exits strengthen the business. Messy persistence weakens it.
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7.7 What this Article protects us from
7.7.1 This Article protects the business from:
• Product clutter,
• Brand dilution,
• Operational overload, and
• Decision paralysis.
7.7.2 It also protects teams from:
• Unrealistic expectations,
• Constant reprioritization, and
• Burnout caused by too many parallel efforts.
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7.8 In simple words
This business believes:
• Not every product deserves scale,
• Not every experiment deserves commitment, and
• Knowing when to stop is as important as knowing when to start.
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7.9 Why this Article follows Article 6
Article 6 builds the backbone.
Article 7 decides what is allowed to stand on that backbone.
Together, they ensure strength without overload.
