1. Don't believe in miracles or miracle workers.
If someone pulled off an amazing feat for you in a clutch situation, don't expect them to be successful everytime. You will be wrongfully disappointed.
2. Plan Accordingly
Give your project, whatever it may be, the time it deserves to be the best that it can be. Planning is FREE and it can save a lot of money.
3. Research for yourself
As you plan, you should become familiar with costs and turnaround times. Set deadlines for your project and obey them. IF YOU FIND YOURSELF BEHIND SCHEDULE EXPECT TO PAY MORE AND ACCEPT THE POTENTIAL OF YOU NOT GETTING EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANT.
4. Establish Direction
Now that you have the plan and the numbers, you must establish the route that you will take to carry it all into fruition. Selecting your vendors + service providers and communicating the needs of the project to them. Becoming familiar with their requirements + your responsiblities as a client.
5. Coordinate
I've learned to view coordination as juggling. You control several movements being acted upon by an external force. You set several parts of a plan in motion being acted upon by time. If you are unaware at this stage, you will drop something(s). Whatever you didn't know, didn't ask or points of detail you didn't express will add a blindfold to your juggling act.
6. Prepare for the worse
Worst case scenarios are considered because they are always potential. Even with the best planning, sharpest research + the clearest direction, you still can't predict the weather. Things go wrong. If you were doing everything right, you were prepared for this with a Plan B + enough time to implement it. If you weren't doing everything right, then there's proof that everyone involved is human.
I am human. I am not a miracle worker. I am a graphic designer who has coordinated many projects between quite a few vendors over the past 9 yrs. I know how stressful not having approximate times is. I personally compensate by giving myself more time when planning. I know what happens when you rush...usually double the price + the opportunity for more mistakes.
I prefer not to put that pressure on others whenever possible. I definitely don't appreciate haggling over the price associated with accepting that weighted responsibility with someone who most likely created the condition. Harsh? Paying for a clients lack of planning is harsh. Especially when you didn't charge them the RUSH price. Identity crisis. Thought I was the miracle man.
In closing I'll say this, I transitioned from a Graphic Designer to a Graphic Design Service after spending years IN production (Silk Screening, Environmental Technician, Communications Technician,Art Production Assistant in videos+ films). The talent is the design but the work is the service. I wanted to bring the talent + the logistics to small business graphic dilemmas. As novel an ideal as that may be, even when our all is given we will lose at the feet of poor planning. We will bicker over un supported beliefs and negotiate feverishly to ensure that you get more for less. Even then, after you've waited to the last minute, cut every corner + shaved every dime, we may be able to get your project what it needs. We will most definitely try. We always do. However, your business model will still be the product of poor planning. Harsh? Waking from a life lived as a lie is harsh, but
necessary.
If you just want to hustle and you want your project handled correctly hire( or assign ) a project coordinator and they will lose hair + sleep to make sure the balls never hit the floor and you don't have to stop earning to pick them up. If not, don't get your hair done with have several hats for you to try on. Next time.
