When a project hits delays, the first instinct for many leaders is to cut back on costs. It's an understandable reaction—extra spending on people, suppliers, and tools can spiral quickly, and pulling back feels like an easy way to contain the situation. But here's the problem: focusing only on those obvious project costs can end up costing your business far more in the long term.
Let’s break down why pulling back on project costs could be doing more harm than good.
Look at the Bigger Picture: Before cutting costs, take a moment to assess the full financial impact. What are you really losing in delayed benefits? Would pulling back on spending now cause bigger delays and therefore even more significant losses?
Invest in Acceleration, Not Retraction: Instead of pulling back, consider investing in ways to speed up your project. Bringing in expert help, reallocating resources, or focusing on bottlenecks can help you recover faster and start reaping the benefits sooner.
Communicate with Stakeholders: Delays can cause anxiety, especially when costs rise. It’s essential to communicate the long-term gains and ensure that key stakeholders understand why maintaining momentum is critical, even when immediate costs are rising.
.png)
Delays don’t just add expenses—they also lead to lost benefits and a wider business impact that’s often underestimated.
When a project is delayed, you’re not just facing immediate overrun costs—you're losing out on the benefits that project was supposed to deliver. Every month of delay is another month without seeing the improvements or savings the project was designed to bring.
For example, if your project was supposed to deliver a £1M annual efficiency, a six-month delay means you're losing £500k in delayed benefits. That’s money your business was counting on but isn’t seeing, and it can have a significant impact on your bottom line. When leaders pull back on spending to manage immediate costs, they’re often failing to consider this much larger, hidden loss.
Pulling Back Too Soon Can Lead to Bigger Delays
Cutting costs by scaling back resources—whether that’s reducing team size, slowing down supplier work, or postponing new software implementations—can extend your delays further. The result? You might be saving short-term budget costs, but you're inadvertently increasing the delay and therefore increasing the loss of those delayed benefits.
The longer a project stalls, the more those lost savings, revenue growth, or operational efficiencies pile up. By trying to reduce short-term project costs, you risk amplifying the much larger costs of those delayed benefits.
The Ripple Effect of Business Impact
Beyond the financial losses, delays have a broader impact on your business. Every day that a project lingers in limbo is another day your leadership team is stuck firefighting, rather than focusing on forward momentum and innovation. This can drain energy, reduce morale, and stretch your resources even thinner.
You’re also delaying improvements that could be critical to keeping your business competitive, whether that’s through new technology, more efficient operations, or better customer experiences. Cutting back on project spending to save in the short term could mean pushing these gains even further down the line, putting your business at a disadvantage.
Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Increases
There’s also the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) to consider. The longer a project drags on, the more expensive it becomes to maintain. Extended delays might mean continuing to use outdated or inefficient systems, leading to higher operating costs. Delaying a project could also increase the complexity of integrating new solutions or training staff, driving up costs in ways that aren't immediately obvious.
How to Avoid the Trap of Pulling Back on Project Costs
{{key-fact}}
{{key-fact-2}}
{{key-fact-3}}
Final Thoughts
In the face of delays, cutting back on project costs might feel like the safe move, but it often leads to greater financial loss in the long run. Delayed benefits, extended timelines, and the broader business impact can far outweigh the immediate costs of keeping your project on track.
At Create Cadence, we specialise in helping businesses navigate project delays and minimise the damage. Whether you need a quick intervention to get things back on course or full delivery support, we can help you turn things around and start realising the benefits faster. You can view our rate card and service packages here.
-5.png)