I am a coffee addict and entrepreneur. Meetings are always held in coffee shops and just to keep things fair, I have 3 specific cafe’s as my choice picks. Each cafe is at a different end of my county – west, north and south. Also, each one is a different coffee company. This allows my clients to choose not only a location that works best for them but also the type of coffee they prefer.

Of course, my local coffee shop is my base of operations when I am away from the home office. They have a great space and the people are very friendly. Plus, I like to support my local area. It is a win-win situation.

Your article did have me think a little more though about the “ethics” with using cafes as a base of operations. Normally I don’t stay for more than a few hours and also purchase items throughout my stay to not look like a squatter. As always, you never want to overstay your welcome and I think your post highlights that beautifully!

I have a friend who owns a coffee shop and she had a guy that would use her shop to work and meet clients. He’d be there for hours taking up a table (she has four tables) but WOULD NEVER BUY ANYTHING, and neither would his clients. One day one of the baristas just began asking him and his client “are you ready to order yet?” every few minutes until they went away. He was “one of Those guys” (where I come from they’re called “clueless jerks”)

I would recommend using a locally-owned shop instead of one of the chains and developing a relationship with the owner where you introduce new customers to their business and they maybe put out promotional materials for your business. Don’t just “not use the biggest table”, but make an effort to use the smallest table possible, and if you entertain clients there INSIST that they let you buy them something (small price to pay for keeping the owner happy) and maybe even give them a gift card to the shop to get them to come back.

If the owner and workers know that your’re going to be a profitable (and tipping) customer, they’ll do all they can for you to keep you coming back.

Your article *almost* makes me feel guilty for NOT working in a coffee shop when I can but I adore my little office at home, and the nearest coffee shop is 4 miles away and…and…

I must admit that I don’t really miss the buzz of having people around me in the day – I have a lot of contacts that I can discuss things with, bounce ideas off or generally let off steam to via the internet and Twitter keeps me in touch with current, and hopefully future, friends and colleagues so I never feel that I miss out on interaction.

Thanks for the tip about SimplyNoise – I absolutely cannot work in silence but sometimes the radio or music seems too intrusive when I need to concentrate. White noise may be the answer.

Carla

Great article. It was so great, I had to share it on my site: http://www.biznetcentral.com.

All I can say, “you’ve spent way too much time at the local coffee shop.”

John Wheeler

I like to work somewhere the staff can see you and/or relatively close the the restroom. It helps me feel safer leaving my stuff for a bathroom break.

The guys that crack me up at cafes are the ones that come with printers, external monitors and keyboards. Believe me, I’ve seen it. I’ve even seen a guy with a printer while sitting at a table outside a cafe (they had outdoor outlets). Such ridiculous scenes.