Answer: Websites take months because of scope creep, committee approvals, and endless revisions - not because the work is complex. Actual development takes 2-3 weeks.
Client: "Can we add a blog?"
Week 3: "Actually, let's add e-commerce too."
Week 5: "What about a membership area?"
Result: A simple 5-page site becomes a 20-page platform. Timeline explodes from 4 weeks to 4 months.
Every design decision needs approval from:
→ CEO (traveling, responds in 2 weeks)
→ Marketing director (disagrees with CEO)
→ Sales team (wants different colors)
→ IT (security concerns)
Result: Simple decisions take weeks. Projects stall waiting for consensus.
Round 1: "Make it more modern"
Round 2: "Actually, can we go back to the first version?"
Round 3: "The button should be bigger... no, smaller"
Round 8: Still revising...
Result: Unlimited revisions = projects never ship.
→ Weekly status meetings (2 hrs each)
→ Project manager coordination (billable)
→ Account manager check-ins (billable)
→ Sales follow-up (billable)
Result: Agencies pad timelines to bill more hours.
Developer ready to code...
Still waiting for client to write text...
3 weeks later: "Sorry, been busy"
Result: Content delays kill 50% of project timelines.
| Design (layouts, colors, components) | 3-5 days |
| Development (code, integrations, forms) | 4-7 days |
| Revisions (1-2 rounds) | 2-3 days |
| QA & launch | 1-2 days |
| Total actual work time | 10-17 days |
The work takes 2-3 weeks. The *process* adds 2-6 months.
Fix the scope upfront
Decide what you're building before you start. No additions mid-project.
One decision-maker
Owner-operators can approve designs same-day. Committees take weeks.
Limit revisions
Two rounds max. Unlimited = never ships.
Content ready on Day 1
No waiting weeks for text and images.
Skip the overhead
Work directly with the developer, not through layers of managers.
We eliminate all the waste and ship in 6 business days:
Sources: Timeline analysis based on 100+ website projects (2023-2025). Scope creep, committee delays, and revision cycles account for 70-85% of timeline bloat per Project Management Institute research.