Archive for the ‘Business Thoughts’ Category

Closing the store is the brave thing to do. …You are daring to imagine that you could have a different life. Oh, I know it doesn’t feel like that. You feel like a big fat failure. But you’re not. You’re marching into the unknown, armed with … nothing. Have a sandwich.

~ Birdie Conrad, from the film You’ve Got Mail, Warner Brothers , 1998

One of the things I find most annoying about the Internet is that it’s constantly changing.   Resources come, resources go, Google changes its rules, new social media appears, web services are created, and just as fast – things disappear.    I have lost count of the number of blogs, feeds, twitter uses I have subscribed to which have just…. faded away.

They don’t end, or stop, or conclude – they just…. fade.

In 2011 I made some big decisions.    I decided to end the development of two software products I had developed, I fired three customers (I tried to fire five but two gave me reason to reconsider) and I called it a day on two or three personal projects (which were not going anywhere).

As Birdie Conrad says (from the quote above), closure of anything can be a tough call, but sometimes it’s the brave (and right thing to do).

As freelancers and business owners, we are told we need to expand all of the time – more clients, better clients, more work, more projects.  Growth (we are told) is good.

But, sometimes all that is really needed is to call it time on the things that are holding us back – the bad customers, the waste of time projects, the pet activities which are distracting us.  When I have taken the difficult decision to make the brave move and cut these things off, I have always found that it creates a vacuum of time and effort which is quickly filled by new customers and new work.

So what are the things that are holding you back, that you need to cut off and close, in order to move forward?

It’s also useful to plan ahead, and know things that will also come to a conclusion at a future date.  This helps us know when we will have spare time and resource in the future which aids in planning.

As an example of this, this blog will end on the last day of December this year (2012) – that’s the date when I will make a final goodbye entry.   There is plenty of time between now and then, but I don’t want it to just fade… it will conclude.   Which will allow me more time to move forward on other things.   But plenty of advice from me between now and then.

And what about you.   Any brave moves you can make this year?

For my small company 2009 was a pretty good year – with the recession just starting and people cutting back, I still managed to increase both my company revenue and profit.  2010 was even better than 2009.  But by far, 2011 was the best year my company ever had.   I doubled the revenue in 2011, and tripled my profit level.  After analysis, I calculated that in 2011, my profit margin was 76.5% of turnover – which is a very good number indeed.

This good year has left me with a couple of problems; (1) A very large corporation tax bill due in the Autumn (so large in fact, I almost cry) and (2) a problem of how to invest the extra surplus money my company now finds itself with (a topic I will cover in a later post).   But in terms of all possible problems, these are two of the nicest problems to be facing.  I would rather have too much money than not enough.

So how did I do it?   How did I have a better year, each year, and expand my turnover massively in 2011?   Well it all comes down to the following 14 simple steps which I have built up over many years freelancing, continue to review and add to from time to time (details of each action in the links below):

1. Adwords as marketing – The vast majority of my marketing was carried out using Adwords.   In 2011, I spent £780 in adwords, and the projects generated from the adwords generated me £179,000 of revenue (I had additional revenue from projects from elsewhere, plus support and change revenue).   Now that is a good return by anybodies standards.
2. Respond to enquires FAST – I have seen various reports that suggest more than 50% of work is awarded to the company that responds first.   I made sure when I received an enquiry, I responded within the hour – faster if possible.
3. The never ending question sheet – As I have described previously, I have a ‘never ending question sheet’ which I build up over time to tease and pull out the exact project requirements.  This has helped me with a lot of work over the years as I seem more knowledgeable than my competitors.
4. Repeat the Requirements back to the prospect – In a recent post, I talked about the power (and additional revenue) of creating a Summary Of Understanding.   In 2011, my analysis shows that I generated an additional £19,000 of ADDITIONAL revenue through this technique, above and beyond the additional project scope.
5. Creation of very good proposals that deal with their needs and desires – I would like to think that I now have an almost perfect quotation template for projects that I have developed over time.   Plus, I have recently started utilising tools to create proposals and estimates much faster
6. Reward yourself – I treat myself with a little reward at various milestones, with biggish rewards when I win a contract (I even do a little dance) and also at the end of the project.  But I also reward myself at other times when I do a good job to keep my motivation going forwards.
7. Cloud Based project management – Once the project has been awarded, I used cloud based project management to control projects, which means I have less administration to do, and can run multiple projects at the same time whilst saying in control
8. Keeping control of my company finances – Other than adopting cloud based project management, switching from a standard accountant to on-line accounting has really changed my business.  I know my finance picture immediately with every invoice raised, bill paid or payroll payment.  Its so easy to do, I regularly mentally kick myself for paying my old accountant so much for so long when a child could do it.
9. Watching the cash flow – Coupled with the company finances using a cloud based system, tracking cash flow is a must.   I selected Float for cash flow and budgeting, and this has allowed me to see what my finances will look like next week, next month or next year and so make sure I am on track with my budgets.  This in turn means I no longer have to think about money, and can simply get on with generating it.
10. Increased productivity on the next project – I now cannot imagine a world without my two favourite free productivity tools; Dropbox and Evernote.   Dropbox makes the transfer of files between computers seamless, and Evernote means I am so much more efficient.   I use Evernote to piece together work I have done in the past for new customers, save any new routines which may be useful and so become a Professor Frankenstein of development with terrific results for all concerned.
11. Review and learn the lessons – At the end of the project, I do a review.  I review my project costs against my estimates (how profitable was the project, should I quote more next time), I review any problems to review this action plan, review my tools and review my documents to see if there were any holes which need to be plugged.
12. Offer follow up and bolt on services – After this internal review, I then create a project completion document for the customer, with suggestions for next steps, considerations and suggestions.   This generally leads onto more work and sometimes nice lucrative support contracts.
13. Upgrade LinkedIn – I also make a point of updating my LinkedIn profile with any new experience.  Whilst LinkedIn rarely produces any work directly, I have lost count of the number of times that somebody has told me that they Goggled me before awarding the work, only to find my LinkedIn profile near the top, and then viewed all my experience which gave them more faith in my company’s ability.
14. Repeat – And finally, repeat the cycle.  Of course, my marketing is always running (unless I am really overworked), so the repeat may loop back to step 4, 5 or 7.

Here in the UK, there is a great divide between Freelancing and Contracting work.   Whilst there are a multitude of differences between the two types of work, for me, the difference is fairly clear:

Freelancing – Working with a customer, to provide a product or service.  This will consist of an agreed project, where the work if quoted, agreed, and fixed by way of a final delivery.  This delivery can be a product, a report, a site visit, a web site or anything else.  BUT, something agreed upon is delivered.  You get paid for the delivery rather than the time.

Contracting – A contracting role is where a resource is provided to a customer for a fixed length of time, and during that time, the resource works on the activities dictated by the customer which will typically vary during the contracted period.  You get paid for the time (normally paid by day at an agreed day rate) rather than upon completion of a delivery.

Now both of these activities can be carried out at a customer’s office, or can be carried out at your home/business office.   Both can be provided to the customer directly, or through a third party agency.  Both can be based on a hand shake, or can be nailed down with complex contracts.   Other than the product delivery Vs resource difference, the lines defining freelancing and contracting can be fuzzy.

Bread and Butter verses Meat

For me and my own business, the majority of the work I perform can be classed as falling into the Freelance category.

But here is a confession…… now and again, I love to do some contract work.   Generally, I like to do some contract work at least once a year.  More if time allows.

The way I view it is that contract work is the Bread and Butter of my business.   It pays pretty well (but no where near as good as a nice juicy freelance job), is nice and dependable, and the money is regular.  However, Freelance work is the Meat in the freelancing-contracting sandwich.   It is (generally) more interesting work, you have all the benefits of (generally) working from home (or a location of your choice) and you are the boss of your time and schedules.  Plus with freelancing, you have the option to run multiple freelance projects at the same time.

Given a choice, Freelancing for me is far juicer than contracting.

Why I love to Contract

So you may then ask, if I love Freelancing work, why then do I make sure that I do some contracting work at least once a year?   Well, there are many advantages to doing a contract stint for a few months for your average freelancer.  For me, the advantages outnumber the disadvantages:

1. Contracting for a short while forces me back to a regimented routine of 9 to 5.   It is terribly easy to fall into the easy working days that freelancing allows, so contracting reshapes my days
2. Contracting allows me to make more connections out in the field.   There is nothing better than picking a contract with a high flying company, and working with their teams for a solid block of time to build those connections for future work
3. Allows me to refresh my ideas of what commercial companies need.   As time changes, so the demands of companies change.  When sitting in an isolated environment of a home office, it is too easy to miss the subtle changes going on in the real world (such as technologies now being used, what products are starting to be shunned, etc)
4. Contracting can fill the void (time wise and cash wise) between freelancing work and so reduce the unpaid ‘sitting on the bench’ time
5. Whilst contracting, this for me is the perfect time to ramp up the freelancing marketing activities, and land freelance work ready for the end of the contract
6. I always find the mixture of ‘regular’ type office work when combined with a dynamic work approach (as demanded with a contract) together with working on new customer projects a way of ‘blowing out’ the cobwebs.   When I return back to freelancing a few weeks later, I am generally more energised and productive.

For me, a mixture of Freelance work, with some contracting thrown in from time to time is the perfect combination.

One year ago today, I evaluated a number of cloud based project management systems to help reduce my administration effort for my customer projects.  In the end, I boiled this down to 2 strong candidates (having discounted such products as BaseCamp as being very light on features for a typical freelancer or small business), and finally selected TeamworkPM as the solution I would use.

Having used this system for a year now, I thought it would be useful to re-review TeamworkPM, and explain why it has transformed my business.

Providing a Customer Project Portal
Initially, my main requirement was to introduce a cloud based project system which in turn would provide an easy to use method where my company and my customers could communicate whilst working on projects.  I wanted a system which would allow my customers to keep track of their deliveries, to be able to track progress, communicate any design/time issues and so ultimately reduce the amount of administration I would need to provide.  I thought such savings should lead to reduced management time, therefore reduce any risks and associated costs.

Whilst a number of project management systems provided a customer portal, I initially selected TeamworkPM as my preferred solution because not only did it tick all my client portal boxes, but the use of the client portal was crystal clear and could be fully branded with my company domain, colour scheme, logo and titles.   As far as my customers are concerned, the project portal is part of my own web site.  I even provide a link to my branded TeamworkPM login screen as part of my main company web site.

All of the customers who have used the portal have commented how easy it is to use, how clear the information is, and how they can find the information they need.  Most of these comments were given to me generally as part of a project wrap up process.  For customers to report this to me as part of general project meetings proves to me that TeamworkPM most definitely is an asset to my communication with my customers.

Clarity, Focus and Time Saving
Beyond my initial requirements, I have continued to find more and more uses for TeamworkPM when working both on internal projects (I have a marketing project in TeamworkPM) and with my customers projects.

Whilst initially intending to use it only for external customer projects, I found that the reporting, alerts and screens were so clear, it was actually easier to use TeamworkPM for tracking other internal projects within my business.  The whole process of having a clear list of tasks, with tracking, alerts if not completed, and a central associated file store ( for specs, designs, scripts, delivery files, etc) brings clarity and focus.   It really helps when juggling multiple projects at the same time.

Whilst I initially hoped that TeamworkPM would help reduce the amount of project updates my company would need to produce, I am happy to report that it virtually eliminated project based discussions.  In my last four fairly complex projects, once the project was defined and included in the portal, I cannot recall a single email or phone call regarding dates, status updates, slippage or next actions.  All communication could therefore be focused on the design and delivery, so administration time and costs associated with running the projects virtually vanished.   Customers could simply log into the portal and see for themselves what was being delivered, when, and what the current status was.

We also ended up using the TeamworkPM file storage system for delivery of all files associated with the project (designs, source and run-time).  All of my customers loved the fact that they were automatically notified when files were available, and that they could retrieve them at their leisure.  They also loved the fact that all previous versions of files were retained, and so they could go back to older versions should they be needed.

The only feature currently missing from TeamworkPM in regard to using it as a file store for projects is the ability to see when a customer downloads a file.  This would be a nice feature, but having checked, none of the other cloud based project management systems I originally looked at recorded or audited this information.

Real Benefits
There has been no doubt that using TeamworkPM has been a real boost to my company.   In terms of reduced administration for project management, it is equivalent to having an additional member of staff who is running the projects for me.   Certainly, the reduction of time spent updating customers on project status or emailing files has meant that TeamworkPM has paid for itself many times over.

But in addition to the time and money that has been saved, it has made my company look more professional and has made the flow of information between my company and my customers virtually seamless.  I cannot praise TeamworkPM in this regard high enough.

Summary
TeamworkPM is a near perfect cloud based project management administration system.   I say near perfect, as there are still a few options which I would like to see introduced.   Whilst it produces lots of nice reports and gantt views for project overviews, it still lacks project task gantt views – but this is only a small consideration as the task list works well enough and standard MS project files can be uploaded and viewed.  As I say, I would also like to see a flag (or get an email) to say that a customer had downloaded or viewed attached files – but that is just me being picky.

I am very glad that I took the plunge a year ago to start using a cloud based project management system.   I dare say that one of the others would have done the job equally as well, but TeamworkPM has proved itself to be the right choice for me.

In fact, two of my customers who used TeamworkPM to track the projects I did for them have now adopted it as their own project management system for their own customers.

If you or your business runs any form of projects, I can really recommend using a cloud based project management system.  And whilst there are many products out there, I can highly recommend TeamworkPM.

I am sure that by now, your twitter stream, blog streams and email inboxes are stuffed full of posts and articles telling you that now is the time to review all your freelance and small business achievements in 2011 and plans for 2012.  I know I have seen countless such items.

Well, I am here to suggest to you that now is not the time to do an annual review or plan setting exercise.

The reason for this stems from when I was employed as a senior manager in a software company.  I was told each year to carry out a yearly performance review of all my team (around 35 people) and review what they had done well in the last 12 months, and review any mistakes for areas to consider for improvement.

Well that instruction did not make sense to me.  Why would I review somebody once a year, and talk about things that had happened 11 months ago?

So yes, I did the annual review (as instructed), but I did it only for the purposes of a salary review.

Instead, my management style was to review every month – tell people there and then when they did a good job, and also pick up on mistakes as they happened.  After all, people should be told when they do a good job at any time, and why leave mistakes to fester until the next annual review before corrective steps are taken?

And that is why I suggest if you do go ahead and make plans, budgets, goals, targets or even new year’s resolutions this new year, do yourself a favour.  Go to your diary and pencil in the same reviews at the end of March, June and September 2012.  If you can manage it, also include mini reviews at the end of each month.

Trust me, you won’t regret it.  It will be worthwhile time working ON your company, rather than working FOR your company.

Oh, and a Happy New Year to you.  And I wish you, and your business, the best for 2012.

Last month, I went on holiday to China.  It was a good holiday. It was a great holiday.  But I was puzzled about the flights to and from China.

I flew with British Airways both ways, and noticed that the plane was 25% empty.   Economy was packed – not a free seat to be had, but premium, business and first class were practically empty.   Not surprising I guess, seeing we are teetering on the brink of another recession and people are cutting back.

But what surprised me was this – why were BA not upgrading passengers?  By moving people up one or two grades, they could get more people in the plane and therefore could make more money from the flight.

What is the cost of the Upgrade?

Ok, so maybe I am being optimistic.  After all, upgrading somebody from economy to business is just throwing money away.  Isn’t it?

But hang on – what is the real cost.   The fuel used is the same.  The cost of handling the passenger and their bags are the same.  They still have to have the same number of stewards.  The plane is going there anyway.   So what are we really talking in terms of cost to BA?   A better meal?

And what about the advantages?  They can fit more people on the plane, the flight is greener (more people equals better fuel ratio per flight/person), the stewards in upper class are not so bored.

But the real advantage is that people who only ever travel economy may find what they are missing from travelling premium or business.  They may like it so much that they may decide to travel in that class in the future.  In a nutshell, it’s a great sale at minimum cost.

Can you give a free upgrade?

So with things being as hard as they are, is it worth thinking about whether you can give a free upgrade to your own customers?  If things are fine and you are over busy, then that’s all well and good.  But if you have spare time on your hands, is there something else you could offer as a free upgrade?

What about the rights to the source code, or designs, or web content?  What about the test data you produced, or access to the specifications, or some after sales support?

Of course, the customer has to know they are being upgraded for it to be worthwhile and seen as good value.  Just handing it over is not enough.   But saying, “here is the agreed delivery, and as a special treat for your business in these difficult times and as a way of saying thank you, please accept (whatever you are giving them)”.

Point out this is provided as an upgraded for this time only, and that you normally provide this service/feature/benefit as part of your premium service.

You never know, your customers may like it up there in the expensive seats and decided to fly your premium service from now on.

Today, I had a run in with another small company.  I know the company name and I know that they sell items via Amazon – but that’s all I really know about them.  I don’t know how big they are, how high their turnover is, or even where they are based.

When I recently purchased an electronic device from Amazon, this company was recommended as the supplier.  The Amazon supplier page gave me an automated delivery date range – fair enough.  The order was placed, and I received a nice order confirmation from the company confirming the delivery date originally presented – all good stuff.

Except the item didn’t arrive.  In fact, by the due date, it had not even been despatched.

It needed me to chase the company for them to provide another date.  Now not only did they fail to give a reason for it not being despatched, but they also failed to offer an apology.   They don’t know what the item is for – it could be for me, or for somebody’s birthday or for a work project – they don’t know what impact a late delivery will have.

So I did what I always do, went back onto Amazon and gave them a negative review.  Nothing too harsh, just a “Missed the promised delivery date”.

The request for credit where credit was not due

My negative remark triggered an email from them saying (and I cut and paste here)… “We would like to plead with you regarding your feedback.  We are a small business  and would like to politely request that you consider changing this to a positive review as a negative feedback will adversely affect our small family business should you decide not to”.

So despite them missing their target, they actually want a good review?  They want me to lie?  You note that they don’t ask me to remove the negative comment – no, they want me to replace with a positive.

Price Verses Quality

So this takes us to the point of this transaction conflict and what I did wrong.  I went for somebody cheap, and what  I should have done is find a balance of cheap(ish) and reliable.

This if the difference between consumer spending and business spending.  Consumers are swayed a great deal by price, whereas businesses buy on risk, reliability and then price.  If we do business to business work, being Mr or Mrs Cheap and reducing the quality may put us at risk.

All businesses are at risk of having negative reviews placed against us.  Ebay, Amazon and business review sites makes it very easy for anybody to vent their anger about us.  Even for small shops or companies who think they are too small for such rants, anybody can vent their wrath on a blog site.

For big multi nationals, a few negative posts will get lost in the PR positive noise that they create so will have minimum impact.  But for us small businesses, one negative review can really hurt us.

So is it better to be cheap and let people down, or price for quality and deliver what you promise?  Or as a wise business coach once told me; Quality will be remembered long after Price has been forgotten.

I don’t know about you, but the hardest thing for me about being an independent freelancer is the gap between projects.  At least when you work in a ‘normal job’ with a boss, it is their responsibility to bring in the customers, and make sure that every day, there is something to do.  When you work for yourself, those gaps between projects can sometimes seem bigger than the grand canyon.

Even though the years of freelancing experience has allowed be to become accustomed to them, I still find it hard when one gig finishes, and you wait for the next to start.  The slow time can sometimes make the self doubt and worry creep in, and make you start to look at the vacancy ads at the back of papers.

If you ever find yourself facing the abyss of slow time between work, can I present my list of 5 ways to get through The Gap Between Projects:

• Know you are all right – the most important thing for the slow times and gaps is money management.  Knowing that you have however many months of cash behind you can remove a lot of the panic.  If you have saved as you earned, then you should have a cash reserve behind you (tell me you didn’t spent it all!).   As always, a good accounting tool such as Freeagent can help tell you the real situation.  And once your figures are in order, project forward using cash flow analysis to see exactly when the cash will run out.
• Small Actions – Next, take the time to complete all the small stuff.  All the stuff you put off when you were working 24 hours a day on projects.  Get up to date on the filing, the scanning, the organising, the record keeping, the sorting out of the rubbish that should have been thrown.  It will help you feel more productive and will give you a healthy efficient environment for when the next project starts.
• Marketing – Whilst doing your money management and small action jobs, mix in the marketing.  A clever marketing person I know once told me that between jobs, its very easy to panic and throw lots of money in desperate measures (such as sending out 10,000 mail shots to local companies).  She advised small steady steps.   Maybe look at a small bid adwords campaign, or drafting 3 or 4 letters a day.  Constant, steady, controlled and cost-effective marketing is what wins the day.
• Take Some Me Time – What about taking some You (or Me) time?  If you know a project is coming to an end soon, and there is going to be a delay between projects, why not schedule a short trip somewhere?  The money management and cash flow will tell you if you can afford it, and whether you are looking at a walking holiday close to home, or a around the world cruise.
• Skill Refresh – Take time to learn or refresh some skills.   I recently had 3 or 4 days between projects, so I decided to organise all my filing, install SharePoint, and learn how to use it (through one of those learn in 30 days books).  It had four outcomes; I learnt a new skill (how to program a SharePoint portal), I had a better filing system, my system makes me more productive in my next project, and my time was taken up – I didn’t sit around wondering what to do.

If you plan and organise things right, sometimes those gaps between projects can be the break that you need.

I thought it was about time I mentioned one of the key parts to my small business – my business Server.   If my server was a person, it would be the hardest, most cost effective employee I could imagine.   Without my business server, I would be lost.

Some freelancers and small businesses run very happily from a laptop or PC.  But when I first setup my business, setting up the server was one of the first things I did – and I haven’t looked back.

Setup and re-setup and disk crashes

Just with any employee, the small business server has been a mixture of great moments, productivity, mixed with despair and desperation.   When I first set up my server, I went for the cheapest option possible – no disk replication, no backup media, no thought to what I was going to really use it for.  Which of course meant that when I had a disk fail on me, I had the joy of setting it up all over again.

And my server has been the target of bullies (in the form of hackers trying to break in and turn it into some kind of drone), suffered from memory crashes, and all kinds of other misfortunes.   However, I have learnt from these mistakes, and now have nice redundant disks, virus protection, port blocking and a host of other nice features.

This may all seem like a lot of work (and it has been), but the experience gained of setting up the server (multiple times) and the benefits it brings outweigh the cost and time many times over.

What My Server does

So in case you think you don’t need a server, I thought it would be useful to list some of the things that my hard working server does for me and my business:

1. Exchange – Most importantly, my server runs Windows Server and Exchange.  Which means I can access my emails from anywhere in the world (using Exchange OWA on the web).  It also syncs my emails, appointments and contacts with my phones, and the phones of my employees and contractors.   All emails are stored on the server, so no email is lost, and all can be searched.
2. Trend micro – anti spam and virus – The next important thing my server does is run anti spam and virus software.  This may not seem much, but it means I never have to read emails about buying medications, enlarging myself, or working out which bank I want to deposit the $20million I have just inherited (from the royal relative I have never heard of)
3. Printing and backups – The bread and butter of my company is the crafting of electronic solutions (software).   Using the software features of Windows or Mac, any changes are automatically backed up to the server which means it’s almost impossible to lose work.  Using the Windows or Mac features, the server also deals with all the printing I need.
4. Sharepoint – I use sharepoint (2007) as my office document store.  All scanned documents, office documents, specifications, agreements and customer files are stored on the server by customer and project.  Using sharepoint as my electronic document management (EDM) solution means I, my staff and my customers can access the documents we need wherever we are or whenever we need them.
5. Project Control – Using some software I developed, my server connects to my on-line project system, the email system and the sharepoint server, and ensures projects are on track.  When its required, it sends out alerts, or notifications or documents which needs to be approved.  It’s like a project manager in a small black box.
6. Home and Office automation – My server also runs my home and office automation.  It powers down devices when nobody is at home, switches lights on and off (when it starts to get dark, or when we are away to deter break-ins), monitors power use, and runs home/office security.   Its all very neat.  It also means I can change heating of my home or office from wherever I am in the world.   My server connects to all my devices including heating, light and power using a system called “X10” (google it if you are interested).
7. Monitors all hardware – the server next monitors all other hardware.  It checks all drivers are up to date, installs updates on clients (including Windows updates), checks disks, checks patches, checks virus status, paper in printers, and a whole host more.  Anything found to be a problem is reported or corrected as required.
8. Streams videos  and music – Next we come to entertainment.   My server streams movies around my home and office, and streams music around my home/office using Squeezeboxes.  No more CD, DVD or BluRay cases cluttering up the place.   More information on this can be found here.
9. Holds collections of E-books, music and movies – Connected to my server is an external QNAP T410 4-way external disk array (packing 4 x 2TB disks, giving me 4Tb of storage duplicated for redundancy using RAID).  This means if a disk fails (which can happen), nothing is lost as it’s all duplicated.   Everybody can find the tune or e-book they want from the central store on the server.
10. Records podcasts and radio –As if that wasn’t enough, my server also records podcasts and radio shows for me (using software called replay av).  Radio is recorded from a connected DAB Radio tuned into Radio4 (for money and business shows), and podcasts are recorded from their published internet sites.  I can then listen to the podcasts on my phone when I am working, driving or travelling.  Perfect.

I really do love my home/business server.  Whilst I am busy working, sleeping, or away on holiday, it stays busy ensuring emails get through, viruses are blocked, and projects stay in control.   It is worth its weight in gold.

So how long does a typical project take you?  From initial signing of the contract to delivery to the customer – is it a day?  A week?  A month?  A year?   More importantly, how long do your customers think it takes you?

I have talked in the past about the difference between needed activity time verses the actual amount of effort (including why you should bill for the needed activity).  But the other part of the time equation is how long it is assumed it would take.

Needed, vs Actual vs Assumed

So let’s take an example project which is going to take you 2 weeks to complete.   You have your shortcuts, the code (or designs) you can re-use, which means if you were starting from scratch without the short cuts, it would take you really 4 weeks (which is what you should be charging your customers).  But how long should you tell your customer it will take?   Should you say you can deliver it in 2 weeks, or 4?

If it was my project, and assuming the customer is not giving us rock hard ‘we must have it by’ delivery dates, I would say it would be delivered in 5 or 6 weeks.  Of course, they would be quoted and billed the 4 weeks of effort, but the extra time gives me breathing room.

It’s important to remember that we are the experts in our particular field, we have the knowledge of how long things take and what our schedules are like.  It will be assumed we know what we are talking about.  Put it this way, if you received a quote to build an extension on your house and the builders said it would be complete in 15 weeks, are you going to argue and start trying to manage their time?  Or would you assume they know what they are talking about?

Projects are never brick shaped

One of the problems with running projects in our companies is that projects are never ever brick shaped.  They never just ‘start’, run for a period of time, and then just finish.  I would argue that they are more diamond shaped.  They start gradually (whilst dates, specifications and designs are agreed), have a mass of activity in the middle, and then sort of fade out (you deliver, they test, you wait for sign-off).

So treating projects as neat squares, that take 3 or 4 weeks, then connect to the next project never works.  Making this assumption means we will end up with slack time between projects whilst we try to win more work, or wait for the next project to be agreed.

As per the diagram above, I treat my projects as diamonds, fitted together, with one project starting up whilst the previous finishes.   And the easiest way to manage this is to add the ‘assumed’ slack time onto the project which means I have more room to fit the project pieces together.

Plus, it means I am never late delivering projects, the customer is delighted when I deliver early, and I don’t end up with the slack time between projects.

So how do you join your projects together?