Running a business from a home office that regularly takes you out of your office to meet clients at their business premises is challenging. It is especially so if you’re starting something new on a limited budget and don’t have other employees to help you out.
Here are few suggestions to help you when you’re not in your office all that often and still need to stay on top of everything.
Stop Being a Perfectionist
There is a fine line between being a perfectionist and being good at what you do. When you are relying only on yourself, you need to go somewhat minimalist in your organization to keep things moving. When you have too many things that you’re juggling and you’re trying to be a perfectionist, nothing gets out the door fast enough and clients will begin to complain.
Look at every process and find ways to streamline it. Do you enter bank details into your accounts package when you could be downloading them and vetting the entries faster? Could you pay for a separate bookkeeper if you’re finding it difficult to keep up and would that free useful time to manage other aspects of your business while in the office?
Looking Your Best Without the Fuss
When you have to take meetings several times a week, even a couple of times a day, and then head back to your home office to continue your day, it’s tiring. You don’t have time for a whole extensive personal care routine, so you must trim things down to the essentials. Don’t carry too many personal items with you because you’ll likely already be weighed down with business documents, a laptop, and a smartphone already.
Use a shaver from mybestshaver.com to keep yourself trimmed where it’s important, create a makeup routine that’s simple and not time-consuming to put on (or remove later), and choose a wardrobe full of garments that can be interchanged easily and still look presentable.
Make a List of Go to Places for Meetings
When going after local clients within a certain catchment area, make a list of suitable places to meet prospective clients. Whether this is a lunch, a dinner meeting, or a café, it doesn’t matter too much. What you need is a list of venues where you know they have car-parking nearby, are not overly expensive, and where the noise factor from other people talking and distracting music isn’t obstructive to talking business.
Keep useful browser bookmarks to other meeting places in the area that prospective or current clients may suggest instead. Use Google Maps and Yelp to locate them quickly and determine their days and hours of operations. Call to make a reservation or, even if that’s not needed, just to double-check their opening details and nearby parking to avoid problems when arriving.
Running a home business and wanting to expand it into a full-blown enterprise in the future with employees and a corporate office requires being hyper-efficient with your time and excellent organizational skills. Only when you manage yourself and your young business well can you hope to expand it over time.
Mia Guerra
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