Home based business alternatives to meeting people at home


If you decide that your circumstances are not suitable for having business visitors to your home workspace, there are a number of ways to get around it.

Go to them

If you are dealing with businesses operating out of their own premises, you can avoid the issue ever arising by always suggesting that you visit them. Most people are too busy to even notice that you always go to them and will simply be glad not to have to make a journey to see you.

They may never even know that you work from home. In the case of private individuals it may be most convenient to visit them at home, if they are amenable. If you don’t already know them well, make sure you take commonsense precautions to ensure your own safety.

Depending on the situation and whether or not your discussion is confidential, a coffee shop or hotel lobby may be the best place, but you will need to choose carefully bearing in mind levels of formality, privacy and noise, and how long you can decently expect to stay. Trying to shout over the clattering of crockery is tiring and unbusinesslike, while talking to a stranger in a quiet place while other customers eavesdrop is embarrassing and offputting.

If meeting someone of the opposite sex you will want to avoid any embarrassing overtones of a ‘date’ which might make the meeting awkward for you both and jeopardise your business relationship.

Jobcentre

If you are an employer recruiting through your local Jobcentre, there may be an interview room they can offer you free of charge. Availability depends on the size of the Jobcentre, so contact your local office for more details.

Beauty salon/complementary health centre

If you are a therapist or counsellor of some kind, your local beauty salon or complementary health centre may have rooms available to rent for the day or halfday. Your profile will benefit from your presence on the high street and by being included in their marketing.

Rooms in cafe´s/restaurants/pubs/hotels

If you need to hold a meeting or interview a number of people, cafe´s, restaurants and pubs often have private rooms for hire for an hour or half-day. Some may charge for use of the room, others may offer it free of charge as long as you buy refreshments.

Community halls

Village and community halls are often of a high standard these days and eager to rent space to make money.

Incubation and business start-up units

Your local authority and university may have low-priced units available for start-up businesses in specified industries.

Serviced office accommodation

In many towns and cities you can rent serviced office accommodation, paying to use a desk, office or meeting room for a specified period of time and to use services such as printing, photocopying and making phone calls.

Workhubs

Business support agencies, councils and other interested parties are getting together in parts of the country to raise funding to create so-called ‘workhubs’ for local homebased businesses, to help them overcome the kinds of challenges we’re looking at.

Workhubs provide a reasonably priced venue to meet clients on neutral ground, or just to get out of the house into a stimulating change of environment and network with other businesses and potential associates.

Their affordability makes them the ideal next step if your business is expanding and you want to take it out of the home. Workhubs are also being used as a focal point for the delivery of business advice that might otherwise not reach businesses closeted away at home.

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This article was sent to us by: Gene Nicholson at 05252010

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