There are a ton of mistakes you can make when building a home business.

Things like:

  • not focusing your efforts
  • failing to build a list right away
  • spamming on social media

While these are mistakes that will set you back, no mistake has been more costly to me than what I am about to describe.

business mistake
 
Many of you know that I built my business part-time for many years by design.
 
I sometimes worked 50, 60, or even 70 hrs/week at my job.
 
So I knew when I started a business that I needed to leverage technology BIG TIME!
 
And I did.  EXCESSIVELY!
 
My mantra back then was “Just One Click!”
  • One click to send a broadcast email.
  • One click to place an internet ad.
  • One click to spam 50 FB groups at the same time.
YUCK, right?
 
I didn't know any better, but that's no excuse.
 
Here's the thing…
 
I was forgetting the CARDINAL rule of business.
  • Your leads are PEOPLE.
  • Your customers are PEOPLE.
  • Your business IS PEOPLE.
I was SO busy trying to leverage technology that I forgot to treat people like people.
 
Instead, I'd make a sale and think… NEXT!
 
And off I'd go.
 
As you can imagine, my results SUCKED.
 
Thankfully, I got mentors in my life who straightened me out quickly and I've now made a total 180-degree turn.
 
Now, people are the FOCUS of all I do.
 
I serve people.
 
And my business has flourished.  
Enough so that on October 25, 2019, my wife and I hung up our lab coats for the last time and went full-time in our business.
part time home business
 
I'm revealing this SHAMEFUL part of my past because I'm hoping it will help you if you're making a similar mistake.
 
Don't get me wrong…
But let that automation lead to serving your prospects and customers BETTER.

It's Your Time to SHINE!

 

Dr. Bob Clarke

Email: Bob@BobandRosemary.com

Join our Part-Time Essentials Facebook Group

 

This post may contain affiliate links to products or services that I trust.  This means that if you make a purchase using the links included in this post, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.  Thank you for the support!

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    26 replies to "My Most COSTLY Business Mistake (And How I Fixed It)"

    • John Michael

      Hi Bob, thanks for helping us out. Those mistakes cost you a lot, but this post will certainly help many not do make the same mistakes. It\’s an amazing effort. Nice job.

    • leospittles

      One of the problems is automating your business,
      without spending 60-80 per week in!

    • Chuck Holmes

      Treating people like people is a mistake I have made too. Just like you, when you said, when you are doing push button marketing, it’s easy to forget that there is a real person on the other end. I’m going to make that one of my primary goals in 2014, to do a better job providing a more personal touch. I’ll have to keep you updated as to how it goes. Thanks for helping me see the light.

      Chuck

    • naveed

      Thanks for sharing your experience. I am just beginner in business. It’s so helpful for me!

    • Steve Xenakis

      My mistake was that i had not back up plans,in the begining when every thing was going fine it was ok,but when bad phase came,it ruined me as i had no backup plan,now i am trying to start it again

    • Steve Xenakis

      Fantastic experience and very informative. Taking lots of notes and putting them in use soon. Thanks again!

    • Ella Smith

      being a entrepreneur i know the importance of reading experiences from past and how they rectified it.So i guess it will be a must read book fro me..

    • elle

      Yes your right, I have made that mistake too, but i came to my sense and realize that i have to stop that. I think its a common mistake done in Automated marketing business.

    • Susan Velez

      Great post I think that when we all get started online we tend to focus more on the sales than people. At least I know that I have in the past.

      When I launched my website, my goal was to actually build a business this time around. While I still want to make money, after all who doesn’t.

      I am actually treating it like a business. I see the people as people and tend to market differently now. Good luck on changing the way you do business. I am also glad to hear that your business has really prospered now that you have changed things up. Good luck.

    • Vincent

      Everybody needs to avoid their business mistakes from their strategy. Because it will be really harmful for everyone . I just like this post very much.

    • vanessa

      Great tips Bob. I truly learned from the points you mentioned as the mistakes we do. Yes, I agree with you, most of the people and even I do mistake 8,11, 12 and a few more. I will do my best to utilize what I learned here in my career . Thanks for writing such a informative post.

    • Nasser

      by doing mistakes we can learn more…. we learn the right way from our mistakes…. so really this is very interesting and so good because if we can make our life going only on the our mistakes this can be so good…. because apart from my experience i was thinking that my mistakes are not good but at the end i explore that i learn more from them…

    • Abdul Razzak

      Thankyou for sharing your past experiences and learnings. These are good case studies for fellow bloggers like myself who can learn and avoid such types of mistakes on our strategy building moving forward. Have a great weekend!

    • Tony LaPolla

      You are not alone in that field Dr. Bob. I’ve also gone through all those stuffs. But glad we have recovered and learned something.

    • Elina

      I understand completely what you mean by a “one click business” I too started this way. I think a lot of internet marketers do because they want quick results.

    • marytlou

      It is a great way to learn from others mistakes as it saves you the bitter experience and of course the associated monetary loss as well. Successful businesses never lose focus of ‘people’ and specially their target market and that is actually the key. Thanks for the very informative share, really appreciate it.

    • George

      Hi Bob,

      I, too, have struggled from bad focus and “instant gratification”-syndrome in the past. Sales and KPI’s where all what I was about, but nowadays making me and my customers happy is my no. 1 priority and business has been booming!

      Looking forward to your webinar.

    • Mitch

      Hey Bob,

      i say not only you have to treat people like people, you have to treat them like kings in business.
      people are so selfish they only care about themselves and what is it for them and how are you gonna fit in solving their problem, and people are sooo good at ignoring everyone else,

      what i’m trying to say is, if you spam the social media with your ads that doesn’t contribute any real value for these selfish kings not only they are gonna ignore you, but most likely they won’t want to have anything to do with you in any future.
      Marketers only figure that out when it’s too late, it’s sad!
      Many thanks and Best Wishes!

    • Aayna

      Business mistakes are a common phenomenon, and these are the steps in the ladder to success. The mistakes you have pointed out are made by me in my endeavour. The way you have explained the concept ans other aspects is simply remarkable. I gained a lot from this post. Thanks for the share.

    • Richard Lafon

      I would like to give my cordially thanks to you have this post and sharing it with us. It is really important for every businessman for having some idea about these problems. It is really great one to know.

    • Amelia Joe

      Thank you for your time and effort to summarize everything for the audience.Its feel great that there are people willing to share their experiences with us, the audience.

    • Vincent

      Great tips Bob. I truly learned from the points you mentioned as the mistakes we do. Yes, I agree with you, most of the people and even I do mistake 8,11, 12 and a few more. I will do my best to utilize what I learned here in my career . Thanks for writing such a informative post.

    • Sana

      Dr Bob you have mentioned in your article

      Spamming on Social Media

      Can you reply me here how spamming activities appear on Social Media ?

    • Susan Velez

      I understand completely what you mean by a “one click business” I too started this way. I think a lot of internet marketers do because they want quick results.

      What we don’t realize is that we are not actually building a business when it is focused like that. I am now focusing on building relationships, it takes more time.

      But in the end I know that it will be well worth it.

      • Erwin

        One click business was the most common mistake I did when I still a beginner, when I did not know too much about internet marketing, and in my mind I just wanted to make a huge profit, but with the slightest effort. Now I know that it is a common mistake in the world of internet marketing.

    • Emma

      You really got me interested in this checklist. I have to admit I’m a bit afraid of what I’ll learn there. So, let me just get back home, pour a glass of wine, clench my teeth and let it hit me.

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