Working from home can be a liberating experience, particularly if you’ve spent a good chunk of your professional life reporting to an office every day. Additionally, conducting business from the comfort of your residence is synonymous with a number of perks. Not having to get up early, contend with rush hour traffic and allow someone else to determine your work hours are just a few of the perks of being your own boss. Still, while your home may make a great workspace, it’s not necessarily the best place to meet with current or prospective clients. When meeting with clients or business associates, it’s generally a good idea to rent out a professional office or conference room for the following reasons.
1. Noise
If you cohabitate with pets or small children, odds are you’re no stranger to noise. Although you may have grown accustomed to high levels of noise, the clients you meet with may not be so amenable. Attempting to hold a business meeting in an environment that’s plagued by noise pollution is practically guaranteed to cause you and any clients with whom you’re meeting a great deal of frustration. Furthermore, holding a meeting with a prospective client in a noise-laden home is liable to make him or her think twice about enlisting your services. With this in mind, make a point of renting out a conference room or professional office – like the kind offered by Main Suites LLC – for your next meeting.
2. Messiness
When meeting with clients, it’s important for your workspace to project an air of professionalism. However, since most homes are chockfull of everyday clutter, children’s toys and assorted personal items, it can be difficult to imbue one’s living environment with a professional feel. Furthermore, most people possess neither the time nor inclination to clean their residence from top to bottom every time a client is scheduled to come over.
3. Safety
Meeting a prospective client in person for the first time is always a little risky. Even though the odds of something going wrong are very slim, allowing someone you’ve never met to enter your home isn’t always a good idea. As such, it’s recommended that you meet with first-time clients in public places before inviting them into your residence.
There’s little wonder as to why many people find working from home preferable to reporting to a traditional workplace every morning. However, home offices generally aren’t great places to meet with clients, be they current or prospect, for the reasons listed above. The next time you’re slated to meet with a client, take care to book a temporary office or conference room.