Scope Creep

The more business leaders I meet, the more I learn that there are diverse personalities who come to own, manage and lead. Yet, the same handful of habits and tendencies plague many.

It takes a certain type of person to start a business: Someone willing to sacrifice nights and weekends, to mold and shape, sweat and stew about problems large and small during all hours of the day and night. Those first few years, at least for a sole proprietor, can be a crash course in marketing, accounting, sales and social media, not to mention actual signmaking.

So it is no surprise that small business owners, like startup owners, tend to be independent, strong-willed, determined and driven. They can also be stubborn, difficult-to-please perfectionists when the drive to keep a business afloat at any cost lingers as a habit of peeking over shoulders, double-checking others’ work, asking the hard questions (and some unnecessary ones, too). 

It’s tough to let go. This creates what is sometimes termed the “founder’s dilemma.” The skills it took to start a business may be different from those needed to keep a growing team of employees happy and productive. The sweat equity required to build a foundation of loyal customers can be a set of blinders that forces loyalty to the 20% of customers who create – at times – 80% of the headaches for design and fabrication teams.

Chief among these concerns is scope creep. A project, whether sealed with a contract (we hope) or a handshake (we’ve heard) that soon eclipses its small boundaries, growing from a doable job to an insurmountable behemoth. And when it’s a favorite client of the boss, or an old friend, it quickly becomes a silent source of stress. 

You already know how to limit scope creep – be proactive in mentioning small changes as they come up, take notes and save emails; even go as far as adding zeroed-out line items to show any freebies you’ve provided. (Better yet: Don’t provide them!)

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But also consider the “why” behind what allows scope creep to happen: a perfectionist in charge. Someone with a “super-doer” type of personality who wants to not only meet, but exceed expectations. Someone who’s used to doing whatever it takes to keep clients. This kind of mindset works for a while. But if you’ve had any designers storm off in a huff lately, it might be time for a quick glance in the mirror.