Why Deadlines Can Save You Money

Have you ever been in a situation where you had a great plan (at least in your head ) for a new project, be it launching a teleseries or adding an ezine or blog to your online marketing? You had it all sorted out, created the content and asked your VA to help you implement it. You got really excited and were planning for the big launch. Then, the day before, you call your VA and ask her about the tasks she was supposed to have accomplished. And to your shock, she tells you : “Oh, I haven’t gotten to it yet, I am finishing up a big project with another client. I will have it to you next week!”

Duh!

What now? A lot of thoughts race through my head just thinking about this scenario: How could she have let me down? I am ready to launch the new thing but my VA hasn’t done her job. Is she not the right person for the position? How come she didn’t tell me about her other client? Why didn’t she let me know that she was behind schedule?

The reason might have been simple: you didn’t specify clearly when you needed these tasks done. She didn’t know the deadline, and possibly wasn’t even aware of the timeline of this project let alone the date of your launch.

How would the VA be able to deliver her work on time when she didn’t know what your expectations were concerning the timeline?

When you create your action plan, add a column to the spreadsheet that includes the timeline. Add deadlines into it so you and - more importantly - your team know when things have to be done.

For example, I sometimes find myself not mentioning the deadline to my editor either, as I just expect her to do it for the next day. Then the next day comes and I am checking my emails and it’s not there. Is she to blame? Hardly, how would she know?

So let's have a look at how you determine how long something will take and what deadlines are reasonable to meet:

• Ask your VA or team members how long a certain task will take, or a set of different tasks, for example, to set up a squeezepage with an opt-in feature and the respective autoresponders attached
• If you are working on a big project and are reliant of the help of your team, ask them how much capacity they have and if they have a lot of other clients and are restricted to a minimum amount of hours a day - especially when it's just for a short period of time (a program launch for example)
• Think through all the tasks that need to be done and how much time it would take you to do it - then double the time! Yes, it's very important to have enough time scheduled for bigger projects like a launch so that everything can be tested and adjusted the way you want it.

Next time when you plan to launch a new program or service or create an info product, think about all the different components first and determine how long they take. This will give you a good idea and you won't get in the situation of running out of time.

If you are planning a new project and are not sure about the plan or how much time you should set aside for it, book an implementation session today to create your action plan that will get you there faster. Go to www.reginaminger.com/bizevaluation to book yours!