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Aug 19 • General Discussion 💬
Built a 47-node workflow masterpiece. Client called it "too complicated" and went back to manual.
Built a 47-node workflow masterpiece. Client called it "too complicated" and went back to manual.
I'm sharing this embarrassment because I see others making the same mistake.
THE CLIENT REQUEST:
"We need to extract key terms from contracts"
WHAT MY EGO BUILT:
A 47-node n8n workflow with:
- AI classification (12 contract types)
- Language detection (supported 8 languages)
- Parallel processing queues
- Smart routing based on contract complexity
- Error recovery with 3 retry strategies
- Redis caching for "performance"
- Beautiful Grafana dashboard
- Webhook notifications for everything
- 15 different extraction templates
- Machine learning confidence scores
Time invested: 2 weeks
My pride level: 11/10
Client training needed: 3 hours
Documentation: 47 pages
FIRST WEEK RESULTS:
- Documents processed: 12
- Errors: 7
- Client confusion: Maximum
- Support tickets from client: 23
Their feedback: "This is more work than doing it manually."
WHAT THEY ACTUALLY NEEDED:
3 nodes:
1. Watch Dropbox folder
2. Extract: Party names, dates, amounts
3. Add row to Google Sheets
Rebuilt in 30 minutes.
SINCE THE REBUILD (4 months):
- Documents processed: 5,247
- Errors: 3
- Client questions: 0
- They've referred 2 other law firms
The ego check: My complex solution was about impressing myself. Their simple need was about getting home by 6 PM.
My new rule: If I can't explain the workflow in one sentence, it's too complex.
Current revenue from "boring" 3-5 node workflows: $12K/month
Revenue from complex "impressive" builds: $0
What's the most overengineered disaster you've built? Let's share our therapy session 😅
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Built a 47-node workflow masterpiece. Client called it "too complicated" and went back to manual.
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