Okay…we all get busy sometimes and feel overwhelmed. What’s an ideal course of action when that happens though? Be honest and transparent about your timeframes!
As a small business owner I get overwhelmed sometimes, as do many other business owners. Lot’s of details, decisions and goals to accomplish each and every day. It’s often a ‘good’ busy, so I am grateful.
A lesson I learned long ago was to be honest about my timeframes and timetables. This is especially important when I have to craft a project (often from scratch) to meet customer needs & goals. Getting overconfident, vague or too ‘rushy’ with a deadline can lead to a waterfall disaster effect. One project takes too long which spills over into another project which just perpetuates the cycle.
I find overestimating a project build timeline allows for mistakes, setbacks or general ‘holdups’ with a piece. Things happen. Build in that time allowance so you can have breathing room and don’t end up disappointing one customer after another after another.
Why am I rambling on about this? I’ve had an ‘explosion’ of cedar planter box builds this season. Specifically, large frame/size boxes! So much so that I’ve put a few other longer term and more in-depth detailed projects on hold until the spring planter box “rush” has cooled a bit. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great to be so busy…but trying to juggle too many projects at once (especially if some have a high level of detail built in) is a recipe for disaster. I’ve been there and won’t do that again as a business owner and fabricator.
My simple advice? Slow down, build in time cushions and enjoy the process…oh and also, save a finger while you’re in the process. There’s nothing worse that rushing through a woodworking project and losing a finger (or worse) because you were rushing with the table saw or table router.
(I am not speaking from experience on this thankfully…I have all 10 fingers still in-tact after 25+ years of woodworking because I respect the importance of being efficient and not rushing through any project).