Updated June 14, 2026
There’s a truth I’ve held onto since the early days of running my own business: a perfect product delivered past deadline will do more damage than a decent product delivered on time.
We’ve all been through it. Overwhelmed with deadlines and something’s got to give. It’s hard as a small business owner sometimes to keep your schedule under control. You have 3 active projects chugging along, a few out on approval and suddenly something new and exciting comes in and you agree to do it. You know the deadline is a bit unreasonable but you want to impress the new client so you figure you can just work late a few nights and get it done. No problem. The real problem begins when those projects out on approval come back in and are suddenly front burner as well. Argh!
What to do now? You start thinking, who can be put off? Who’s deadlines are “less important”? Who would be easiest to break the news to? None of these are appropriate answers. None of your clients should ever be disappointed on a deadline. It’s arguably the main thing they will remember about you, because it’s the last thing they heard from you. Delivering late. This is not an impression you should ever leave.
Get better at saying no.
Is it better to agree to everything a client requests, or to be the voice of reason? I believe that the client will ultimately respect you more if you are able to say with conviction “I’m sorry – I’d love to work with you on this project but considering my present commitments, your deadline is just not possible. If you can wait an extra week, I’d be happy to accommodate your project”. There is something to be said for being busy. Human nature dictates we want what we can’t have. You’ll be surprised how many clients are willing to defer their previously pressing deadlines in order to work with you if you are perceived to be in demand.
Job it out.
There are many things in your daily routine that use up your time but don’t actually need your direct attention — and most of them probably hold very little interest to you anyway. Take a close look at your daily activities and decide which ones are most interesting and inspiring. Hold onto those and automate or delegate the rest. Paying bills. Job estimating. Project management. Bookkeeping. Errands. Research. Cleaning. Free up your time to focus on what you excel at or truly love to do. If you get this right, you’ll be happier, your clients won’t notice a difference, and you’ll have breathing room for those last-minute exciting projects without the panic spiral.
