I have probably told this to every client I've ever had, and every seminar and workshop I've ever delivered: never commit more than you can actually deliver!
Selling more work than you can do is nothing but a recipe for disaster -- a guarantee that you will walk smack into a very hard stone wall and break an essential body part.
I was very lucky in the last 30 days. I thought I had sold more than I could deliver, but discovered that I had actually, somehow, sold only exactly as much as I could deliver. In essence, I had walked up to that wall and barely grazed it with the tip of my nose -- no blood, no bruises, no broken cartilage!
One project was delayed a month by the owner; one project couldn't start for another week because the client's project manager had other commitments; one project moves by fits and starts because the client is always slow to respond to draft designs and text. Another project got dropped into the mix to fill the week left by the client with project manager commitments.
Every project I had taken on, I had agreed to with (I deemed) thoughtful consideration of time and my own capabilities, but without any hint of the delays that would occur. So I had no way of knowing, when I said "yes," what the ultimate schedule would actually look like.
My mother used to say, "God watches over blind men and idiots!" I don't know which of the two I was during this period, but He was certainly looking out for me.
Three of my five projects are now out the door; the fourth is moving along smoothly and is due next Friday; the fifth is due on July 3 and one major section is already complete.
In the future, I must always remember to leave "wiggle room" in the schedule!
In the future, I must always remember to leave "wiggle room" in the schedule!
In the future . . .
