Stupid Tax is defined as an amount of money spent or owed as a result of a poor choice or honest mistake made in some aspect of your business.
Most business owners pay Stupid Tax at some point. Some pay it repeatedly; others only pay it once. The thing to remember about Stupid Tax, is that when you pay it, don’t fret. Don’t beat yourself up over it; and don’t get upset. Just know you’re not alone, learn from it and move on.
To know that you’re in good company. I asked some consultants in the Direct Sales industry if they’d be willing to share some of the Stupid Tax they paid. below are some actual examples.
1. Under charged a customer for postage. Someone wanted to purchase some of our products but she lived in another country; a country that my company at the time, did not ship to. So I told her that I would order what she wanted and have it shipped to my house. Then if she wanted to pay postage for me to mail it to her, I’d repackage it and ship it to her. I think I charged her $10 to ship it. When I took it into the post office I learned that I it was going to cost me $32 to mail it! I had already quoted $10 to the customer and she paid it, so I wasn’t about to go back to her for $22. It was my fault. I had to eat it. Stupid Tax.
2. A well respected online radio host approached me about donating product for goodie bags for a very specific target market. I knew that she wouldn’t be involved with something unless it was a top-notch affair and the recipients were absolutely in my market. It was also a good cause, so I agreed to it. She needed a large number of individual donations (not samples), plus catalogs for everyone. When all was said and done, I invested about $1,600.00 USD in this donation. I never would have spent this much had I not done thorough research and felt confident it had a very good opportunity and high probability for return on my investment. However, I did not receive one single reorder or recruit, or one inquiry. It was a total bust. Zonked. Stupid Tax. [Read more…] about Did You Pay Your Stupid Tax Yet?
