Running a small home business, unless it's a totally Internet business, at some point in time may mean meeting with a local client. Even if the entrepreneur works all over the globe, clients or vendors and others involved in the firm in some way or another may find themselves in town and just want to meet face to face with the entrepreneur they've talked to by phone and e-mail.
This is something that can be very beneficial for future business dealings and may lead to referrals for the small home business. The question, though, is where to meet with this client or business associate ? surely not the small home business location. Here are some options.
The least costly place would be the library. And while we tend to think of the library as a place where you must whisper, that's no longer the case. They often have meeting rooms, quiet corners with comfy chairs away from the crowd and many even have business centers with copy machines, wifi and fax. This is a great alternative for a small home business owner on a limited budget.
Another alternative is a coffee shop or McDonalds. McDonalds is now in the midst of a national wifi installation. Starbucks, Borders or Barnes & Noble all offer coffee and a quiet comfortable place to talk.
There may be a local telework center as well, which can be rented by the hour, day, week or month, with conference room, phones, fax, copy machine, and computers. Firms such as HQ Global Workplace offer office space, videoconferencing, postal services, phone, computer and computer access and even receptionist. These can be rented for an hour, an afternoon, a day, a week or month to month. Many have catering services for an additional cost in case of a large meeting. While it's a little more difficult to find a telework center the best place to inquire is of the local college. Major cities are bound to have them. Telework centers are plentiful for small home business owners in the Washington DC metropolitan area of Maryland and Virginia.
While most small home business owners want to present themselves at first as one of the big guys, a client that is dropping in to finally meet the entrepreneur he or she has talked to so often will probably be pleased to learn of the small home business. The entrepreneur might well be surprised to find how the office location apart from his home, might open the door to some very interesting conversations, such as ?I wish I could do that? or surprisingly often, ?Oh, yes, I work from home too.?
