Beware the Faux Rush Project

Ring! goes the phone with a certain noticeable urgency. You reach over and answer it with some trepidation.

"We've got a great project" says the breathless client, "but we need to quote it today and it's gotta get done in the next two weeks!"

Looking over your schedule you think, "We'll I can push this here and this there and I think I can get it done"

"And how much?" asks the client

You crunch some numbers and they come out too high - you only have two weeks after all, so even with the rush fee you can't charge them that much more than two straight weeks of time, right? So you fudge the numbers, tell the client that you marked some features as "we'll get to them if we have time" and make the price tag 2 weeks of your company's time.

...Two Weeks later...

You've been at the office every night until 11 including the weekends. You busted your butt, but guess what? It got done. It's a little rough around the edges and you didn't get to any of "nice to have" features, but you snuck it in before the deadline and it even has some decent test coverage. A couple of your other clients are pissed off because you've been a little less than normally responsive but you'll have plenty of time to take care of them now that this is done.

Ring! goes the phone, a little too perky for your current state.

"Great news!" says the client, "The boss is out of town so we can't launch for another two weeks. He took a quick look at the project last night though and has a bunch of changes. We need to put in those features that said you would get to if you had time. Now you have time."

Crap.

This story in some form has happened to me more than once and has made be realize that often *urgent* client deadlines are closer to preferences than actual stop-dead dates. Don't let the prospect of a filled schedule and a quick buck convince you to make decisions regarding schedules, features and prices that you normally wouldn't. Stick to your guns and make sure the project works for you. Otherwise the project may drag on and you'll end up burnt out, having neglected your other clients and still have weeks to go on a project that you underquoted. We're still happy to do the occassional rush project, but the same rules apply as any other project.