As an increasing number of people swap the traditional office environment to instead work at home, they realize the big advantages that come with this type of setup. When you work from home, whether you telecommute or are self-employed, you get freedom and flexibility and cut down on things like commute times. There’s one issue that a lot of people face in these work environments, however, and that’s how to handle client meetings. What do you do when you need to meet with clients, but you don’t have a traditional office?
1. Design A Professional Home Office
If you work from home and you don’t have to take meetings with clients you can simply sit at your computer and work the day away, whether that’s on your back deck, at the kitchen table, or even sitting in bed if you prefer.
[pullquote]If you do need to take client meetings, however, you might want to think about designing a professional home office where you can do that.[/pullquote]
To begin, invest in high-quality office furniture, including a large desk. You can also use a dining table as your desk, so you and your client have room to spread out and work. Add arm chairs on the opposite side of the desk or table where you can have a couple of people sit at one time, and keep the décor subtle and tasteful.
2. A Co-Working Office
Since there are so many people who are starting to embrace non-traditional work environments, there’s new trend that’s also on the rise as a result: the co-working facility. There are places in most cities where you can rent a room by the day if that’s all you need, and you can hold your client meetings there.
These can also be a good option if you’re only looking for someone to escape the distractions of your home every once and a while.
3. Hotel Conference Rooms
Another option that tends to get overlooked are hotel conference rooms. Hotels have all sorts of places that they’re usually willing to rent out, even if your meeting just involves you and one other person.
When you go this route, you can seem more legitimate during your client meeting, and it’s a nice change of scenery for you as well.
4. Public Library
If you want a quiet place to hold a meeting but you don’t necessarily want to spend money, you might contact your local library. Most have meeting rooms that you can use, and of course, it’s going to be incredibly quiet.
Often people will think the best place to hold meetings when they work from home is a restaurant, or perhaps a coffee shop. This isn’t necessarily the case because these locations tend to be noisy, and you never know how crowded they’ll be or what the seating will be like. Also, the Wi-Fi may not be entirely predictable. Better options than a coffee shop or restaurant are ones like what are listed above if you want to impress your client as a work-from-home professional.
How To Hold Client Meetings When Working From Home
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