{"id":4109,"date":"2023-09-18T21:44:03","date_gmt":"2023-09-19T03:44:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:10043\/?p=4109"},"modified":"2025-03-07T07:17:47","modified_gmt":"2025-03-07T13:17:47","slug":"ask-the-right-questions-before-giving-a-business-project-estimate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.atiba.com\/ask-the-right-questions-before-giving-a-business-project-estimate\/","title":{"rendered":"Ask the right questions before giving a business project estimate"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>This article originally appeared in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennessean.com\/story\/money\/tech\/2023\/09\/17\/ask-questions-think-carefully-to-give-customers-your-best-estimate\/70843044007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Tennessean<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">If you\u2019ve ever remodeled your kitchen, then you\u2019ll know exactly what I\u2019m talking about.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">You decide you want a new kitchen.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">You get estimates from contractors.\u00a0 It\u2019s expensive, but you take the plunge.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The contractor starts and you\u2019re excited.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Your contractor goes way over the estimate.\u00a0 Your two-month project becomes a four-month project.\u00a0 And the cost is double what you thought it would be.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">You are sad.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Whether it\u2019s a kitchen remodel for your home or a project at work, this pattern is familiar.\u00a0 More often than not, even with the best intentions, complex projects end up taking longer and costing more than predicted at the start.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">In my tech job, my version of remodeling a kitchen, or sometimes building a house from scratch, is all done on my computer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">As a software developer for over 30 years, I\u2019ve been lucky to work on hundreds of projects large and small.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Developing software is fun.\u00a0 But like any complex endeavor, it\u2019s not easy.\u00a0 Designing a user interface, setting up a database, optimizing performance, testing, securing\u2014it\u2019s all challenging.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">But the most difficult part by far, as any software developer or kitchen remodeler will tell you, happens before you even start doing the work: the estimate.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Estimating the amount of work any complex project will take is hard.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">It\u2019s a worldwide struggle that in one way or another affects every company. Missed deadlines, broken budgets, employee burn-out \u2014 inaccurate estimates can cause havoc across an entire organization.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">There are many factors that make certain undertakings more challenging to estimate than others, but a few considerations rise to the top:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"gnt_ar_b_ul\">\n<li class=\"gnt_ar_b_ul_li\"><strong>Scope creep.<\/strong>\u00a0Some call it \u201cfeature creep.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s a common occurrence where the final deliverable changes over time.\u00a0 Especially in business, where market conditions and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.atiba.com\/custom-built-software\/\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"2009\">customer needs<\/a> tend to morph, scope can be a moving target that\u2019s impossible to predict.<\/li>\n<li class=\"gnt_ar_b_ul_li\"><strong>Irrational optimism.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0When under time or budget pressures, most of us tend to hope for the best. \u00a0Sometimes it\u2019s rooted in the desire to keep your customers happy.\u00a0 Other times it\u2019s pressure from your boss or an investor.\u00a0 The more pressure, the more likely irrational optimism comes into play.<\/li>\n<li class=\"gnt_ar_b_ul_li\"><strong>The devil\u2019s in the details \u2014<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>the unknown. \u00a0<\/strong>The \u201cdon\u2019t know what you don\u2019t know\u201d issues can pop up unexpectedly, causing more work.<\/li>\n<li class=\"gnt_ar_b_ul_li\"><strong>Subjectivity.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0There is often more than one way to complete a task with subtle differences that are hard to estimate.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">So why is estimating so difficult?\u00a0 And how can we all get better at it?<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The more complex the project, the more impact these factors have on estimation challenges.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Mitigating these challenges isn\u2019t easy.\u00a0\u00a0 But there are a few tricks that can help:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"gnt_ar_b_ul\">\n<li class=\"gnt_ar_b_ul_li\"><strong>Manage expectations.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0Making all stakeholders aware that estimating is an inexact science helps the entire team to keep things real.<\/li>\n<li class=\"gnt_ar_b_ul_li\"><strong>Get a third opinion.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0For larger projects with lots of moving parts, getting three completely independent estimates helps.\u00a0 If the estimates differ wildly, it\u2019s best to pause and further define scope.<\/li>\n<li class=\"gnt_ar_b_ul_li\"><strong>Divi-up big projects into small projects.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Smaller projects with short milestones are easier to estimate.<\/li>\n<li class=\"gnt_ar_b_ul_li\"><strong>Adjust scope to work within a set timeframe and budget.<\/strong>\u00a0This is the \u201cget the most bang for the buck\u201d approach.\u00a0 The idea is to set a deadline and cost estimate and reduce the scope to fit the estimate.<\/li>\n<li class=\"gnt_ar_b_ul_li\"><strong>Focus on the planning phase.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0The goal is to reduce unknowns as much as possible before you start a project. \u00a0The takes more time upfront but leads to better estimates when work begins.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Estimating is something that can be a struggle for even the smartest and most seasoned professionals.\u00a0 But, recognizing the challenges up front and then doing as much as you can to avoid underestimating can help.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Whether it\u2019s your kitchen remodel or a business project\u2014everyone will be happier if you follow the recipe for cooking up thoughtful estimates.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><em>JJ Rosen is the founder of <\/em><a class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" href=\"https:\/\/www.atiba.com\/\" data-t-l=\":b|e|k|${u}\"><em>Atiba<\/em><\/a><em>,<\/em><em>\u00a0a <\/em><a class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" href=\"https:\/\/www.atiba.com\/\" data-t-l=\":b|e|k|${u}\"><em>Nashville custom software development firm<\/em><\/a><em>\u00a0and <\/em><a class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" href=\"https:\/\/www.atiba.com\/\" data-t-l=\":b|e|k|${u}\"><em>IT support company.<\/em><\/a><em>\u00a0Visit <\/em><a class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" href=\"https:\/\/atiba.com\/\" data-t-l=\":b|e|k|${u}\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Atiba.com<\/em><\/a><em>\u00a0for more info.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This article originally appeared in\u00a0The Tennessean. If you\u2019ve ever remodeled your kitchen, then you\u2019ll know exactly what I\u2019m talking about. You decide you want a new kitchen. You get estimates from contractors.\u00a0 It\u2019s expensive, but you take the plunge. The contractor starts and you\u2019re excited. Your contractor goes way over the estimate.\u00a0 Your two-month project [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":4110,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[217],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-tennessean"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.atiba.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.atiba.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.atiba.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.atiba.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.atiba.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4109"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.atiba.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4109\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.atiba.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.atiba.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.atiba.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.atiba.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}