It happens every week (and sometimes daily)… we get a call from someone who needs a flyer or business cards by tomorrow. What’s up with that? While it is true on a rare occasion an opportunity presents itself that you didn’t see coming and are not prepared for, most of the time you know you have an event coming up. You probably even booked it weeks or months ago and planned to have everything ready 2 weeks before the event just in case (you know I’m talking to you).
OK, so what gives? Really? It doesn’t take much to plan things out so you’re not running around completely stressed out trying to get all the things you need for tomorrow done today. We call it a calendar or planner. The event is on the 28th and today is the 2nd of the month. That doesn’t give you license to wait until the 27th to decide you need business cards. There is no excuse for waiting when you know you will need them. You don’t have 25 days to wait (remember, it’s the 2nd, so in 25 days it will be the 27th, the day before the event). I’ll give you 5 days. That is more than enough time to decide you need business cards (I’m using them as an example, just plug in whatever you need printed). That now gives you 20 days to get them designed and printed. NOW WAIT… that doesn’t really give you 20 days because you will procrastinate. I’ll still give you the 5 days, but now I’m going to tell you that gives you 4-5 days for design time and 5 more days for printing. So, that’s 10 days.
But wait, weekends don’t count in this. Let’s take a close look at this. As an example, in this year of 2012 May 2nd is a Wednesday and th 28th is a Monday. There are 8 total weekend days between those dates, which means your 25 days to wait is now just 17 (I’m not working weekends and I hope you aren’t either). If you actually get yourself in gear and get work on what you will need, by the example above, you will take 15 of the 17 days just described to get it all done and that will leave just 2 days if something goes wrong.
Now you can see why there is no excuse for last minute printing. You’ve got to have a plan and follow it. Get your calendar out and put the dates in place to get it all done. Stick to it and let your team (that includes employees, coworkers, graphic designers and printers) know your time table. Be sure this is clearly communicated so everyone can get their part done and you’re not running to your printer the day before the event with a last minute print job.