gotchas.md
104 lines · small-business/skills/content-strategy/reference/gotchas.md at 2574e29
Most marks come from matching words in the file, so treat them as pointers.
Gotchas
Raw lines 1 to 2Gotcha: Confusing correlation with causation
Sales data shows a product peaked in March. That doesn't mean March marketing caused it — it might be seasonal demand.
Why it matters: If you push hard on a slow-moving product just because it sold well once, you waste creative energy on something that doesn't actually resonate.
Raw lines 3 to 8✗ Bad
"Widgets sold 10 units in March. Push widgets hard in May because March worked."
Raw lines 9 to 11✓ Good
"Widgets sell well in March. Check if that's seasonal demand (tax-season gifting?) or a one-off spike. If seasonal, position for March next year. If one-off, don't over-index on it."
Raw lines 12 to 16
Gotcha: Ignoring low-velocity, high-margin products
Revenue is tempting. A low-volume, high-margin service (like consulting) might generate less total revenue than a cheap commodity product, but it's far more profitable.
Why it matters: If you obsess over volume winners and ignore margin leaders, you prioritize busy-work over profit.
Raw lines 17 to 22✗ Bad
"Service packages sold USD 500 total, but widget bundles sold USD 2000. Push widgets."
Raw lines 23 to 25✓ Good
"Ask: Which brings in the most profit per unit? Service packages might be 70% margin × USD 500 = USD 350 profit. Widget bundles might be 20% margin × USD 2000 = USD 400 profit. Different story now."
Raw lines 26 to 30
Gotcha: Seasonal benchmarks that don't fit your niche
"Retail peaks in November" is true for many, but not all. A tax prep service peaks in March; a swimming pool company peaks in May.
Why it matters: Generic benchmarks steer you wrong. Always ask the user: "Does this seasonality match your reality?"
Raw lines 31 to 36✗ Bad
"Industry benchmarks say Q4 is peak retail. You're a pool company. Push hard in Q4 anyway."
Raw lines 37 to 39✓ Good
"Pool companies peak May–August. Q4 benchmarks don't apply. Confirm with user: 'Do your sales match May–August peak?'"
Raw lines 40 to 44
Gotcha: Missing the composite picture
"What's selling" can mean by revenue, margin, velocity, customer lifetime value, or retention. Different metrics tell different stories.
Why it matters: Pick the wrong metric and you prioritize products that look good once but don't deliver repeat customers.
Raw lines 45 to 50✓ Good
"How do you measure success? Revenue? Profit? Customer lifetime value? Repeat purchases?" Then rank by their chosen metric — or combine multiple metrics for balance.
Raw lines 54 to 58
Gotcha: Not accounting for inventory constraints
A product might be flying off the shelves, but if inventory is low, pushing hard could create stockouts and frustration.
Why it matters: You want to drive sales, not broken customer experiences.
Raw lines 59 to 64✓ Good
"Widget sales are strong, but inventory is down to 5 units. Flag: 'Before pushing, confirm inventory. Consider promoting a similar alternative or pausing until restock.'"
Raw lines 68 to 72
Gotcha: QuickBooks profile not set up before first use
New QuickBooks users often skip the business profile setup (industry, business name). When you try to pull P&L data, the connector returns profile_info_required error.
Why it matters: A dead-end error frustrates the user. Pre-flight validation prevents wasted time.
Raw lines 73 to 78✗ Bad
User: "What should I post?" Skill: [calls profit_loss_quickbooks_account] → Error: "Profile required" User: [confused, doesn't know what to do next]
Raw lines 79 to 83✓ Good
User: "What should I post?" Skill: [calls company-info] → Industry = "Unknown" Skill: "I need your industry to pull the right benchmarks. What industry are you in?" User: [provides industry] Skill: [calls quickbooks-profile-info-update] → Profile updated Skill: [now calls profit_loss_quickbooks_account successfully]
Raw lines 84 to 93
Gotcha: PayPal rate-limiting on repeated calls
If you call list_transactions multiple times in rapid succession (e.g., looping through date ranges), PayPal may rate-limit and return 429 errors.
Why it matters: Without retry logic, the skill fails mid-analysis when it should gracefully degrade.
Raw lines 94 to 99✓ Good
Call list_transactions → 429 error → Wait 30 seconds → Retry → If still blocked, offer fallback: "PayPal is temporarily rate-limited. Would you like to switch to QuickBooks/Square, or continue with partial data?"
Raw lines 103 to 104