Performance and quality always take time and money. It's pretty hard to convince management to actively invest in something that doesn't add features to the sales pitch. The argument that long term it makes it easier to build more features somehow doesn't seem to work.
If you're doing anything on the web, Performance should be an easy sell to the business/management. There's a ton of solid data showing faster websites = more conversions which = more revenue. Then factor in hardware and licensing cost reductions by handling more capacity on less infrastructure, and you have another clear financial win. Honestly performance work is one of the easiest places to show a clear ROI.
