Don’t Schedule Yourself Into Failure

I see it all the time, contractors of all types double and triple schedule themselves, making it impossible to succeed. Overlapping jobs, two or three jobs scheduled to commence at the same time, is a mistake. You can’t do it, it’s a guaranteed failure but contractors put themselves into this corner over and over. This forces the contractor to do a number of stupid things to cover up and protect his business and support his impossible-to-fulfill promises.

He will pretend to do a second or third job, sending a few men over to make it look like the job has begun, delivering a piece of equipment to the site so it looks like things are getting set up, delivering materials so it appears as things are getting underway. He will even run his crews between a few jobs, never really getting anything done, wasting a lot of expensive time but, in his mind, it looks a little better to each client who is on the verge of being disappointed. This creates huge stress, destroys credibility and customer satisfaction and no one wins. Yet, they do it all the time. Why?

Well, the answer is simple. It’s because they are in such cash flow stress and need both the job and the deposit so badly that they will say anything to secure the contract. They promise to start tomorrow even when they know they can’t, because that’s what the customer wants to hear. The contractor wants the job and out of weakness, lack of confidence or fear that they might not get the job if they tell the truth and schedule accurately, they promise the impossible and then try to scramble around doing three jobs at once, losing money on all three and creating bad relations with everyone. The worst part of all is the personal stress this puts the business owner through, as they know they have committed to the impossible and that they will be forced to jump through hoops to save the day. Yet, they do it anyway, over and over and over, never exiting the cycle.

You must schedule accurately. Ever get bumped off a flight due to overbooking? You know how it feels, so why do this to your customers? Have confidence that if your customer really wants you to do the job, a reasonable date is usually acceptable and if you actually show up on the date scheduled, everyone will be satisfied. Few contractors can schedule immediate response so it should not be a limiting factor. Have confidence, be candid and honest, sleep well and make money. Satisfy the customer.

If your cash flow requires more than what this permits, then you must make a few adjustments such as putting out a second crew, reconsidering your expenses against your income and forcing them to balance. Reorganize if necessary, increase revenue with higher prices, etc. Overbooking does not support any positive conclusion whatsoever.

Another form of this same problem is lowball pricing to get the job. What an act of futility that is! Better you should not get the job then give away all your profit just to get it. Again, it’s out of personal weakness. Have more confidence and bid well–but profitably–and if you do not get the bid, it’s OK. Better you should not work than work unprofitably. Remember the concept of value added selling–it’s not always all about the lowest bid it’s about a reasonable bid and the best job possible, that’s what people want.

Do everyone a favor and relax, plan well, commit to what you can do and make other adjustments if required. But remember, overbooking never works. Gain control, stop scheduling failure. You will be better off, and your customers will appreciate it.