No matter what line of business you’re in, you’ll have to deal with deadlines at some stage. This much dreaded and doom-filled word is part of any industry out there. While working at your own pace would be a better way of doing things, you have customers to please. And, they need things by a set date. So, whether you’re shipping items to paying customers or trying to fulfill orders for big clients; you need to do it in decent time.
That might not sound like a big deal, but missed deadlines are a leading cause of business failure. Admittedly, one miss won’t end your company. But, it’ll certainly do damage. Do that twice, and you’ll start to build a reputation as an unreliable company. As such, it’s better to avoid missing even one deadline. That way, you keep a clean reputation and make sure you impress every time. But, how exactly can you make sure you don’t miss the dreaded D-day? Read on to find out.
Don’t over commit
Perhaps one of the main reasons for missing the mark here is the temptation to over commit. Especially in the early days, you’ll want to agree to any order, irrelevant of your ability to complete it. This is human nature. After all, bigger orders mean more money and a better reputation. IF you manage to fulfill them. If not, the opposite is true. Admittedly, it doesn’t look great to turn a large order down. But, a company would much rather you were honest about your true capabilities. That way, you can work together to reach an agreement you definitely won’t struggle to achieve. Only then can you avoid burnout and a lost customer. It’s all about being sensible.
Have an emergency backup
When you’re working to a deadline, emergencies are the last thing you need. They alone could ruin your efforts here. Say your computers crash, for instance. Not only will you lose the ability to work, but you may also lose contact information for that customer. To make sure that doesn’t happen, store their contact details in a Cloud system, or keep copies elsewhere. You’ll also want to turn to a company who offers managed IT Services for businesses. That way, you can get your computers back and running as fast as humanly possible. If you use other machinery for production, you’ll want to put similar backups in place for that. In short; you want to avoid any holdups along the way.
It’s all in the planning
Of course, the real secret to this deadline thing is your ability to manage time. If you’re to stand any chance of reaching your goals, you need to get on top here. Playing it by ear won’t cut it anymore. Instead, you need to set strict to-do lists for each day you’re working on said project. You also need to get on top of delegation and forever keep d-day clear in your mind. If you do that, what’s the worst can happen?