Working from home. Sounds good right? Being productive in your comfy clothes, laptop on your lap, and dog at your side. With this set up, I can stay in touch with my contractors, from any where.
But I do not work from home every day. I have meetings at coffee shops or restaurants and schedule a couple of meetings in the same location if I can. Or I meet the client at their place of business. Some times I work in coffee shops in between client meetings.
Keep in mind, for my business, I usually need internet access and a power source (plug in the wall).
The problem with meeting at a public place for me:
- Competitors that you do not know, could be within earshot.
- Nosy busy bodies with nothing better to do, can also listen in on your conversation.
- The noise or music can interfere with your conversation.
- It can be difficult to talk on the phone because of noise.
- If you have a lot of things to bring to a meeting, there might not be room. Clients some times bring their products to the meeting. A meeting at times turns into show and tell.
- You might not be able to get a table.
- Or the table is not located near a power source (very important if you need your laptop “on” for an extended period of time.
- Could have difficulty finding room for more than four people to meet.
- The WI-fi could be down or not strong (gasp)!
- Your could be tempted to eat more. “Gosh that bread bowl of soup looks good!”
In my own office I:
Can bring healthy snacks- Store water in a fridge.
- Have access to a microwave, where I can warm up awesome and/or healthy leftovers.
- Use a beautiful conference room for a group of people.
- Have strong internet access.
- Exercise in a work out facility (that happens to be in my building).
- Have a big desk to spread out materials or products. Plenty of room for show and tell.
- Meet in private.
- Have an office that is central to my clients (Independence).
- Feel more productive.
I am a not anti-coffee shop or restaurant person. And yes at times I work at home. The beautiful thing about owning your own business is you pick where you work and when you work. I just think that on a regular basis, working and meeting in an office is preferred
If you are interested in acquiring office space like I mentioned in this article (7100 Pleasant Valley Rd, Independence), contact Joe at 216-789-9427.
