My biggest challenge? Keeping the know-it-all/know-nothing people out of the ears of my clients.
The first time I sit down with my clients, they usually start out not knowing anything at all. After I give them a suitable AV/Home theater design that's functional for their needs, easy to use, and it fits within their budget, they're happy.
They understand exactly what they are getting and how it will all work. I even talk to the satellite/cable TV provider on their behalf (on speaker) so that the technician brings the right equipment. I leave thinking that all is well and that we are on the same page. Then a few days later they're confused, angry, upset, and completely lost. At first I think that it's something that I said or did but in fact it's all coming from other sources.
The salesman at Best Buy told them that if it wasn't digital it wasn't going to work.

Then the next door neighbor said that it's illegal for anyone to hook up a TV other than the cable company.:blink: Then the sister-in-law has a girlfriend whose husband does this "professionally" and says that he never heard of it taking 3 weeks to install a household AV system. :cursing: Then the neighbor from across the street who buys all of his stuff from Radio Shack chimes in and says that wireless equipment is the only way to go, etc...
So in summary, my biggest challenge is teaching my clients how to ignore all of that excess "chatter".