The Most Embarassing Entrepreneurial Moments

1. Always Have Answers

Write down all new question and prepare answers. You will be asked this again. Preparation is the key to you being an expert in your field. When a new question comes, an acceptable answer is, I'll get back to you with an answer. Then follow through!

Thanks to: Jeffrey Schoener of Neuro-Enhancement Strategies.

2. Not So Put Together After All

I was giving a speech to 200 women on how I was working hard to balance work and family and make money in a man's world when I noticed that I was wearing two different shoes. I knew that once I moved away from the podium others would notice that I wasn't quite as well put together as my speech implied. So I said, "Even the best of us can have a bad day", and then I reached down and took off my shoes and placed them on the podium. The room exploded in laughter.

Thanks to: Vicki Donlan of VickiDonlan.

3. Whoops!

it was really the whole reason I designed PortaPocket in the 1st place...I accidentally dropped my spare tampon on the free weights room floor at the gym... and got mad. It sat there for 10 minutes before I noticed, and I was the only female there at the time. NICE.

Thanks to: Kendra Kroll of PortaPocket by Undercover Solutions.

4. I Forgot The Appointment

When I moved my consulting office to my home from a corporate building I gave up my office staff who I had relied on in many ways. One gorgeous summer day I started working in my garden early and really got into flow in my enjoyment. When a client appeared right on her appointment time I was in shorts with dirty hands. I couldn't believe the time had passed so quickly. I offered to change. After just washing my hands we had the session with me in my shorts her in her business attire.

Thanks to: Marilyn Barnicke Belleghem M.Ed. of Marilyn Belleghem Consulting Inc. .

5. Entrepreneurs Mistakes

We all have blunders that we would like to forget. For entrepreneurs though we tend to just keep moving and learn what works rather than concentrating on what didn't work. For me, I remember meeting a man whose name was really two first names and I kept calling him by his last name thinking that was his first name. He ultimately corrected me and was gracious. He said it happens all the time. I try to remember a persons name before even trying to sell products/services.

Thanks to: Bonnie Ausfeld of beacon Resources.

6. Right Job, Wrong Floor

When I was a high school student, I owned and ran my own office cleaning business.

I once marched into a new client's 4th fl office with my team and - within two hours - made the office sparkle. The next morning I received an angry call from the new client complaining that the office was never cleaned. I later received a call from an angry competitor complaining that I cleaned one of their client's offices.

Fours and Nines look alike when written out. Always check your data.

Thanks to: Kevin Mercuri of Propheta Communications.

7. Being An Ass

An audience member said, “I enjoyed your session so much 3 yrs ago, I came up to you and asked, ‘How much would it cost to bring you to my store ? Do you remember what you said to me?” I had replied, “More than you can afford.” He said, “How did you know how much I could or couldn’t afford?” We make an ass of ourselves when we assume we understand how much value a customer could get from our services -- or how much they are willing to pay to get it.

Thanks to: Bob Phibbs, the Retail Doctor of The Retail Doctor.

8. SPEAK EASY!

It's no secret that most of the world would rather be dead than be subjected to speaking in public. Hence, it is with great pride that I talk about one of my greatest fears and how I overcame it.
I was asked to speak at a large industry convention and when it was my turn to take the stage, tremors of nervousness ran through my body. I struggled through what was a major oratory disaster. It was most embarrassing and I vowed to never let that happen again. It hasn't ever since!

Thanks to: Mo Nariani of Mass Energy Lab, Inc..

9. Huh?

Being new to the trade show arena plus nervous excitement, I handed the order sheet to the first customer who wanted to place an order and she looked at me and said - Huh? You want me to write my own order? Her facial expression, tone & statement quickly kicked me into customer service mode.

Thanks to: Ros Guerrero of Ficklets.

10. She's Got Bette Davis Eyes?

Recently I was getting ready for a meeting with a local businessman whom I highly regarded. In the midst of putting my makeup on that morning, the home office phone rang. After handling the situation, I got up from my desk & grabbed my briefcase, etc & set off for my meeting. We had a thought provoking & exploratory conversation that went very well. As I returned to my office and passed the mirror, I was greeted by a set of eyes that obviously had not been treated to the finishing touches!

Thanks to: Teresa Cleveland of Empowered Awareness.

11. Vetting Wisely

I once hired a outside sales person to call on independent health food stores to make introductory sales pitches of our new product line. After receiving a call from the shop owner informing me that my representative came in with her two children strapped to her feet and dressed like Erin Brockovich with a mini skirt that could be construde as a scarf, I knew that I needed to vet my potential employees a bit wiser! Now I set a company dress policy!!

Thanks to: Denice Davis of Obvious.

12. Not Authorized...

We set up authorize.net to accept credit card payments and for the first two weeks we forgot to take it off test mode. There was no way to recupe that $$$. Fortunately, until now, not many people knew about that dumb move, but we're movin' on!

Thanks to: Jan Schwartz of Education and Training Solutions.

13. Fast Busy!

Back before the internet was really the predominant form of advertising, I used to own a call capture company. We allowed customers to record a message that was played when called from their advertisements. The service also provided some other benefits. Well, during a large presentation in front of 500 potential customers we attempted to demo the service only to a get repeated fast busy. The system had crashed!

Thanks to: Eric Kates of MortgageLeads.com.

14. Where's the Men's Room?

I was asked to be the copywriter of an annual report for a large circuit board manufacturing company. We had our first meeting to discuss the report's content. It included 5 executives from the company, a graphic designer and the president of the company's ad agency. They were all men.

After a couple hours of discussion, we decided to take a break. I guess by that point I was feeling like one of the guys because I mistakenly asked, "Where's the men's room?"

Thanks to: Susan Greene of Greene Copywriting Services.

15. HOT MESS

I was asked by two TV shopping networks to ship samples of my product along with product details, testing etc. They each wanted a different product. In my excitement I mix it up all. I put the lab reports for one product with the other and let's not talk marketing materials. HOT MESS! I hate to know what they were thinking. They both turned me down - LOL. I would have too.

Thanks to: Myra Roldan of Anarchy in Beauty.

16. Who Are You?

You're in my calendar but I don't know who you are.

I have a wonderful team maintaining my calendar. Sometimes new team members put the name of the person, but not the company. I have a good memory, but I can't remember all the companies with whom we work!

I couldn't ask which company they were from, so I took on 'extreme' listening skills. We should listen first anyway. This was a way to provide great service, until I figured out which company they were! We had a successful call.

Thanks to: Pamela Hawley of UniversalGiving.

17. Back Up Your Back Ups!

Celebrity and Professional speakers like myself depend on event planners to have all the technical support needed. In most cases they do a great job. My most embarrassing experience was when the projection bulb went out in the middle of the presentation. The back up bulb was blown out too. It went out days before and no one replaced it. Now I always ask for a back up bulb as a part of my agreement to present. The presentation was effective, but it was embarrassing. Plan to back up in all things.

Thanks to: Dr. Amicitia Maloon-Gibson of MGAA Professional Development Insti.

18. No Handouts!

One Professional Organizer. Two-hour speech about organizing your office. Zero handouts! I’d left them in my office. I created a “speech cart” that has an accordion folder for all handouts, sign-up slips, etc. The cart also contains my “speech toolbox” with an extension cord, white board markers, ink pens, business card holder, timer, tape, and furniture wedges for uneven LCD projectors! With my rolling speech cart I’m never without everything I have need for a presentation.

Thanks to: Janice Russell, CPO-CD of Minding Your Matters® Organizing.

19. Missed Appointments

I always feel horrible when I miss a scheduled phone appointment. It doesn't happen often but it just happened to me today! I rarely schedule appointments on Fridays so didn't look at my calendar this morning. When I got to my computer I realized I missed a scheduled coaching call. How to handle it? Immediately contact the person with an apology and make it right. How to avoid it -look at your calendar each morning before you do anything!

Thanks to: Ann Ronan of Authentic Life Institute.

20. You Can't Afford Me

Even right after I said it, I could not believe that I had said it! Many years ago, after a training class, one of the students asked if he could hire me to teach him and his wife certain computer basics. Forgive me, it was the end of a long day, and all I knew was that "I" could not afford to pay someone at the rates my employer had to charge. I was mortified, apologized, and tried to explain. This goes under the heading: "Put brain in gear before opening mouth."

Thanks to: Monica Tombers of Just So! Jewelry.

21. Time Zone Terrors

I have been known to miscalculate time zones. With program participants from all over the world, this is not good. Most often I do this for one-on-one sessions; embarrassing but easy to fix. But sometimes I get the time wrong for a session with lots of attendees. One third show up on the line when they are "supposed" to, one third show up an hour early (when no one is there), and one third show up an hour late (when we are either just finishing or well into that session). So embarrassing!!

Thanks to: Trish Lambert of Success in Sweatpants.

22. STOP THIEF!

Pris & I left Orlando early evening to drive to Miami for a workshop we were conducting at a law firm the next morning. On the way, we stopped at the mall for some shopping. When the mall closed, we went to our car and found it had been broken into. The only thing missing was my clothes! All of them. Priscilla's stuff was untouched. The next morning I taught the course in this dark suit, white shirt firm wearing jeans and a t-shirt.

Thanks to: Ed Cohen of Nelson Cohen Global Consulting.

23. Mind over "What's The Matter"!

I can only recall the small embarrassing moments as long ago I learned that my mind protects me by totally erasing the memories of the very big ones!

Case in point was the the time I walked through the hallways back to my office after a restroom visit only to realize that I had tucked the back of my skirt into my panty-hose. On my walk I had said "hello" to many male co-workers. In the very instant I realized what I had done, my mind erased everyone of their names and faces from my memory!

Thanks to: Ann Farrell of Quantum Endeavors, Inc.

24. Where'd The Fabrics Go?

We ran out of inventory of some of our fabrics for dress shirts customers had already purchased and we had to email our customers apologizing for running out of those fabrics, and provided them with alternatives, plus a credit towards future purchase as an apology.

Thanks to: Danny Wong of Blank Label Dress Shirts.

25. Forgot the Potty Break

My strategy includes working alongside the Junior Apprentice on our own terms. When she was a toddler I was so excited to be meeting my audio engineer in a children's museum, I forgot to take the JA potty first. As soon as our laptops were laid out & sat down, she peed the floor in front of everyone! When I got back from cleaning her up, he was gone and folks were all watching Mommy @ the Museum. In my haste I wet him & his computer. We never met him again, but we go potty before meetings now.

Thanks to: Adelaide Zindler of Home Office Mommy Magazine.

26. Double Dipping

I think the most embarrassing thing I've done as an entrepreneur is miss a client appointment. I thought I knew what my calendar looked like for the day so I made the big mistake of not checking it.

I didn't even realize I had missed it until the client called me. I am truly lucky that he was understanding - he gave me a mulligan! Now I make sure I check my calendar throughout the day. With so much going on I can't rely on my memory (for anything anymore!).

Thanks to: Diane Helbig of Seize This Day Coaching.

27. Never Stop At A Mirror

The venue was a spa gym during the day and an event space at night; it had mirrors along one side of the room. In the middle of my presentation, I caught a view of myself in the mirror, stopped, looked, blushed a lot and said out loud, "I should never look in the mirror during the middle of giving a speech!" While the audience broke up and my remark was totally spontaneous, I was still terribly embarrassed!!!

Thanks to: Alice A March of The Attention Factor (R).

28. Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

In my second year as a corporate trainer I got two contracts to put revenue in the high six figures. At the time I had a "partner" who came on board to free me up to do more marketing as he took over the training development and delivery. On the third day with one of these clients, I let him solo. It was the last day with that client. They disliked him terribly, felt deserted by me and said the only solution was a complete refund. And my only solution was to let the partner go. Egg all over.

Thanks to: Patricia Weber of Business Coach for Introverts.

29. Forgot to protect web site

When I first started as an info-preneur, I didn't know anything about protecting web pages from search engines. My entire business is downloadable products, so it's very important that the download pages don't get listed on the search engines. To my horror, I found out that you could look up my very first product and the download page came up on Google, giving it away like free candy to anyone that wanted it. I have since figured it out and won't repeat that again.

Thanks to: Joshua Black of The Underdog Millionaire.

30. Paint The Wrong House!

We are a residential painting company, and this is our most embarrassing moment. Many of the neighborhoods we paint in have street names that are the same with the exception of one being "drive", the other being "court". Our painting crew set up at our customer’s house (who was out of town) to paint. They began the preparation work and the painting, only to have the homeowner arrive and praise us on the quality of the work, but inform us that they had not contracted us to paint the house!

Thanks to: Matt Shoup of M & E Painting.

31. SHOWING UP A WEEK EARLY

We entrepreneurs work all the time so days and dates sometimes run together, so one year I wanted to go to the Octoberfest in Big Bear so drove up there and found out it was not until the following week, So what I learned is to always check my calendar make sure what day it is so I don't ever SHOW UP at the wrong day or time. From my house to this event was a 2 hour one way trip but I ended up taking a boat ride and making it be a fantastic day afterall.

Thanks to: Robbie Motter of Robbie Motter dba/ContactsUnlimited.

32. When going green is WRONG!

Dare I tell this 'off-color' story? When I arrived at an LA studio to film my segment in the inspirational DVD BEYOND THE SECRET with VIP's like Bob Proctor and Les Brown everyone stared at me The director walked up and said "lose the jacket" and I got red-faced. Only then it dawns on me they are filming against a green-screen and I'm in a gorgeous green jacket. Duh, as a veteran video & film producer I should have known better! Luckily I was wearing a black dress and cameras rolled on.

Thanks to: Joyce Schwarz of JCOM Marketing & Company Launches .

33. Wrong Email/Wrong Company!

I send on line presentations to show customers what's available. On each picture, I virtually insert that particular company's logo so they get a good sense of what the product will look like when imprinted. I deal with a lot of local utility companies - phone, electric, cable.

I sent one to a prospective electric company customer - so proud I was FINALLY getting my foot in the door - until I realized that the logo ALL OVER IT was that of their competitor!

PS I still got the job!

Thanks to: Dianne Southwell of Plaudits.

34. In Wrong Location For Appt.

I was meeting with a potential new store and I walked into the store next door (the wrong store) and asked for the owner of the correct store. The manager said she's the owner next door. It was so embarrassing because then the manager was curious what I was selling. I couldn't sell my shoes to both stores. Thankfully, the correct store was interested!

Thanks to: Sheena Edwards of Lizzie Lou Shoes.

35. They Forgot About Me

An organization that services an entrepreneurial program asks me to speak at their 2010 graduation. I confirmed the date, time etc. They didn't have my name tag for the invited speakers, they didn't have me on their program to speak, the worst part was when I was being introduced, the host couldn't remember my name. Talk about showing future entrepreneurs, how not to do business. Next time I confirm any speaking engagements, I will ask to see all printed materials before the event.

Thanks to: Eula M. Young of Griot's Roll Film Production .

36. Lost In The Countryside

I was on my way to see a new client. It was a long drive out there and I phoned him to confirm the details. He asked me "You know where we are, don't you?" "Oh YES!" I said. "It's just by the roundabout!" Convinced I knew where I was heading, I got to the roundabout and headed straight. I drove for miles until I thought to myself "Hmm... This doesn't look right. I'm sure I'm lost". I had to eat humble pie and call him back. "You should have gone right at the round-about!", he said. Yikes...

Thanks to: Sandra Baptist of Successful Accounting Women.

37. Live Broadcasts

As a speaker, author, consultant and coach, I address lots of audiences. And, like most speakers, I favor a wireless microphone - one that it's easy to forget to turn off when leaving the stage. At the break of one presentation, I made my exit for the men's room, along with a host of other, chatting away. In the men's room, I was tapped on the shoulder by one of the attendees, who then whispered in my ear, "your mike is still on." I will never forget that moment.

Thanks to: John Reddish of Advent Management Int'l, Ltd..

38. Launched Prematurely

It happens to every entrepreneur, right? Our ideas tend to be bigger than life. We set out to accomplish something that we believe will change our companies status but the reality isn't quite as grand as our expectations. I planned a launch party two weeks after our first promotion aired on tv. I had hoped for 250 people to attend. To achieve this I sent out 500 postcard invitations and promoted it a few times on local tv. In the end I stood before 50 people to give a presentation.

Thanks to: Katie Newingham of NewbyMom Media, LLC.

39. No Cat's Please!

After authoring and self publishing a cat behavior book from my experience, I wanted to share my passion and help people and their cats. My FIRST radio interview did not go as intended. Not only was I bit nervous, but come to find out, my host did not like cats and even had a blog along that thinking. I felt on the defensive the whole show time trying to change his mind and defend felines.
WHEW!!!!

Thanks to: Carolyn Bartz of Secrets Of Cat Attitude Revealed.

40. Asleep On The Job!

Once I was very tired & had a VERY boring client (yes, it happens - same dreary story, dragging on) & I nodded off. Right there in a counseling session! Then there was the time my BRAIN was asleep. I forgot to bring client file from storage when she returned to see me & I had forgotten some important details. I tried to fake my way through & clearly said some dumb things, b/c she didn't come back! Moral: Honesty would definitely have helped! In both cases, I should have acknowledged my goof-up!

Thanks to: Jaelline Jaffe PhD of Lemon-Aid Counseling.

41. Late For A Very Important Date

After 23 years in business, I've had some pretty embarrassing moments. For example, I pitched a potential client for work and finally managed to schedule a meeting. I wrote the appointment on my calendar.

I arrived to the meeting, only to realize I had the correct date, but wrong month. I was a no show in my client's eyes. They were unforgiving, refused to see to me and returned all of my preliminary materials. I learned quickly to check my appointment calendar with a fine-tooth comb.

Thanks to: Greg Jenkins of Bravo Productions.

42. I'm Outta Here!

I book clients at fairly regular times.One day I was working with a client and started to wrap up our session giving homework and setting the next appointment. I went to my car and something felt "off". I had left an hour early! We had changed the appointment time and I was on "automatic pilot". I knocked on the door and explained. They laughed, "We were just saying how that session just flew by!". We spent the next hour working and laughing at how no one is perfect and we like it that way!

Thanks to: Stacey Anderson of Organized Innovations, LLC.

43. Postage DUE

When I opened my first business (a photography studio), I sent a mailing out to about 100 people without enough postage so they got a solicitation with POSTAGE DUE! Luckily, after the first angry caller, I tried to turn lemons into lemonade. I wrote a quick apology & taped a quarter to the letter. I told them that if they could forgive me & come in for a session, I would give them a free 8x10. I had one person take me up on it & place a nice order. All you can do is try to fix what you mess up!

Thanks to: Sarah Petty of The Joy of Marketing.

44. I'm Not Security

I went to speak to a youth group and as soon as I arrived the leaders of the group left the room. The kids went crazy. I worked hard to get the kids back on track so I could start and finish on time. Did I mention the building had no microphone?

It was embarrassing that I had to be a security guard before I had the opportunity to be a motivational speaker.

Thanks to: Derrick Hayes of WOE Enterprises.

45. We're ON BREAK

Once I was taking some hot shots on a tour through our warehouse. Turned the corner, and noticed that the 16-foot shelving unit appeared to be trembling a little so I got a little closer, and steadied it. At which time, a half-dressed young woman peered from the top shelf and announced, "Hey, we are ON BREAK."
Speechless.

Thanks to: GL Hoffman of LInkUp.com.

46. International Incident

I was invited to appear on the Montel Williams Show. Orders for my product, the GoPillow!, poured in after the appearance. What I didn't know was that the Montel Williams Show aired in other countries.

International orders were coming in on my website but the customers were not being charged shipping and handing because we hadn't set up the website for orders from other countries. I had to contact customers and ask them to pay the charges. Thankfully, they all paid additional charges!

Thanks to: Tangela Walker-Craft of Simply Necessary, Incorporated.

47. No Where To Host The Superbowl

In my previous start up I was the Founder and CEO of a managed hosting company. We were growing rapidly and I personally sold a large company who was airing a Superbowl ad and they needed huge capacity for an online promotion. I sold them a load balanced array of 50 servers that once we closed I found out we didn't have! With only two weeks to Super Sunday we scrambled and learned the value of good partners and lots of cafeine but ultimately pulled it off! It was a gaff that turned into legend.

Thanks to: Patrick sweeney of ODIN - RFID Experts.

48. In Wrong Location For Appt.

Thanks to: Sheena Edwards of Lizzie Lou Shoes.

49. Check (Again) Please

A Customer Needed Branded MEDBASICS Emergency Care Guides For An Event And In A Hurry. We Double Checked The Order- Units, Color, Shipping & Billing Address, Spelling. I Entered Credit Card Information Into Authorize.net & Pushed Submit. As I Leaned Back In My Chair To Savor A Job Well Done I Realized Rather Than Entering $1,800 I Had Entered $18,000. I Voided It Immediately But What Was Done Was Done So I Picked Up The Phone, Called Accounting & Apologized. Lesson Learned? Check (Again) Please.

Thanks to: Tara Summers-Hermann of MEDBASICS, LLC.

50. Oops... Not in stock

When I was 13 years old I sold Trading Cards online, unfortunately due to being so young and the internet being so new I didn't have a payment processor so customers had to pay me through cash in the mail.

One time two people decided to purchase the same (super rare) card and send me the money for it, meaning I had to find a second copy of it and quick! I spent the next week travelling to every single card store in the entire state and finally tracked it down and paid more for it than I made.

Thanks to: Timothy Robinson of Conversion Chicken.

51. Talking Tooooo Much!

I was so excited to get my first meeting with a very selected Chamber of Commerce in Norther NJ that I stayed up all night preparing a presentation. It went great, so good they invited me back to a Board of Directors meeting! I then presented a more superior pitch! Well I guess it was so good they took what I had told them and pirated a program that was a hair short of mine and did it on their own!
If your marketing program is unique, sell the sizzle,not the steak!! Get a sign contract first!

Thanks to: Gregg Mulgrew of Card-Logic Performance Marketing.

52. Take Two-With a Slight Change

My moment happened when I landed a huge magazine mention and photo op. The magazine was specific on dress requirements. I found the PERFECT suit, however, it was way out of my budget. Since the photo op would take less than an hour, I decided to get the suit and then return it later. Everything was going along perfectly until the photographer asked me if I could move the tags so it wouldn't show in the shot. Although I tried to convey my surprise they were there, we both knew better. OUCH!

Thanks to: Diana Ennen of Virtual Word Publishing.

53. Shoeless Joe. Stocking-less Me

The First Lady of the U.S. appears before the world without "hose." What could be the harm in my doing the same thing, I thought. There IS a harm, I learned--being perceived as too casual. Imagine my embarrassment when The HR director who had hired me for a training program offered to take me to the local drug store to buy a pair of hosiery!

My advice to fellow women entrepreneurs--wear the darn things, no matter how hot it is. You can always get rid of them if the culture truly is informal.

Thanks to: Marlene Caroselli of Center for Professional Development.

54. Caught Napping...

Once visiting a key buyer in New York, who contributed to 50% of our export business from India. We were appreciated for our merchandise, deliverable s and quality for past 4 years.

We were going to propose increasing our business. In the meeting, President's first words were "Lets take a break". I was dumb stuck. He mentioned about receiving last merchandise which was wet & spoiled. Our credibility vanished.

I lost that buyer for good & could not do business again. Complacency killed us !

Thanks to: Naresh Vij of Kaveri Consultants, India.

55. Lost In Paris

My most embarrassing business story is when I was hired by a French software company to perform marketing for them and they flew me to Paris to meet with them. I was told that their office was only about a mile away from my hotel and that it is a beautiful walk. After 3 hours of walking I still had not found their office. Unknowingly, I had walked past their office about 20 times as they were in a courtyard. So, I just started knocking on doors an eventually found my client. Dumb American...

Thanks to: Peter Geisheker of The Geisheker Group Marketing Firm.

56. Rags To Riches

My wife designed a shirt logo and had it done on white T-shirts to test sales. I had been talking about this design for some time and a few people really wanted to see it so we set up a day and time to meet. I get to the place and I have a shirt with me. After drumming up some excitement I show them the shirt. Result? Blank stares and then laughter. My beautiful shirt turned out to be a white rag shirt from my car I grabbed without first looking. Talk about embarrassing!

Thanks to: Edwin Soler of Libreria Berea.

57. When The Lights Go Out

I conduct workshops, and on one occasion the lights went out. It was an interior room with no windows. Having one hour left of the presentation, we opened the door so that some hallway light entered the room. With a room full of over 40 people on a tight schedule, I pressed on covering whatever material I could without the support of notes, PowerPoint, or the audience being able to take notes. We ended up having discussions and Q and A so that the participants received value for their time.

Thanks to: Ronald Kaufman of Ronald Kaufman Consultancy.

58. How Embarrassing!

In 2009, Melanie Benson Strick ran a contest for the worst business horror story. I won 3rd place - how embarrassing to win out of the multitude of entries.

Why I won? I experienced so many costly, aggrevating, scamming and more people than most and I'm not easily taken.
Just goes to show...

No matter how well you prepare, what you know and do what you do, there is always soemthing that can go wrong.

Thanks to: tonia boterf of The Practical Expert.

59. Hello? Who Did I Call?

Perhaps from wearing too many hats, entrepreneurs can easily fall victim to the inefficiencies of multi-tasking. Must have been my problem when in the early days of my business my phone greeting included the name of my former employer. The embarrassment was compounded because the caller was doing business with both of us. I quickly learned the necessity of being completely present when dealing with the public.

Thanks to: Mari Baskin of Para Designers Inc..

60. "It's All In The Family"

The Most Embarrassing Moment Was When I Put Customer's Products In Another Customers Bag. She Paid For The Order I Found Out That I Put Another Customer's Products In Customer Number One's Bag. When I Called Customer Number One Back To Tell Her, She Said That She Received Every Thing That She Ordered. I Had To Call Customer Number Two and Tell Her That Her Products Did Not Come In and I would Order Them On My Next Order. The embarrassing Part Was That The Two Customers Were Mother And Daughter

Thanks to: Sheila A Caruso of AVON.

61. Shamed In Front Of The IRS

Twenty years ago, my first time out representing a taxpayer before the IRS. My client and I are sitting before the auditor from Hell. We've provided all the documentation needed to let those deductions fly and bring about a "no-change" audit. We had been professional and organized. I want to make the client happy and establish a good working relationship with IRS agents. But what happens? The agent says NO to the deductions and my client leaps from her chair screaming profanities. Security!

Thanks to: Bonnie Lee of Taxpertise.

Compiled by Mike Michalowicz, Author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur

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http://www.clearseo.co.uk Gareth Rees

Wow, what a list. I think that just about covers every imaginable embarassing outcome. I’m terrible with names no matter how hard I try so usually I’m calling people the wrong names. I used to get away with it is college by using “dude” a lot!

http://www.ToiletPaperEntrepreneur.com Mike Michalowicz

@Gareth – Yes “dude” is the perfect escape.

http://www.merchant911.org Tom Mahoney

Lots of email, one-sheet sent, contract signed. I was booked to do a four hour presentation on e-Commerce credit card fraud prevention for merchants at a national conference of niche market retailers.

I also do brick and mortar focused talks but there just isn’t four hours worth of material.

I gave them a break after the first 50 minutes. The organizer approached me with, “Didn’t anyone tell you that we’re not allowed to sell [the brand] on line?”

He’d been to my website, I’d been to theirs. Neither one of us picked up on the fact that I do on-line credit card fraud prevention but they don’t do on-line sales.

I did a quick survey when they came back from break. Luckily, about half of them also did on-line sales of other brands. I finished the presentation but shifted the focus a bit on the fly.

It’s been three months and I’m still waiting for a letter of reference that probably won’t come. Lesson learned: Make absolutely sure that everyone is on the same page!