Tips on getting the most from Business Meetings - Part 1
by Startacus Admin
Business Meetings:
If you’re starting out in business, meetings are one of those things that you’ll just have to get used to. And quickly. There’s no escaping them - from sole traders to fully fledged limited companies, they’ll 
happen at all stages of your startup journey. Here at Startacus we’ve had our fair share of business meetings and we’ve picked up some pretty useful tips as we’ve gone along. And us being us, we’re gonna share them with you folk!
Business meetings can be a great way of developing - yep you guessed it - business and without getting too cliche-ridden, there is a lot of truth in the saying “people buy from people” - and often that rapport building that you can do in a half an hour meeting can be the equivalent of a few months’ work on the phone, sending emails or trying to get the right person.
Having said that, business meetings can be both glorious successes and humongous failures - we’ve been in a few of both! With this in mind check out our first 4 tips below which we hope will point you in the right direction. The next 4 points, as you clever folk have probably already worked out will appear in part 2...
Plan
Most, if not all of the first 4 points need to happen before you get to the meeting itself. If you are not prepared for a meeting expect all of the points we subsequently mention (unless you are remarkable at ‘winging it’) to fail and fail miserably. Planning was admittedly my biggest failing, and is quite often or not a typical mistake that most people make. If you do not plan for the meeting - where you are going, how you are going to get there, who you are meeting - their background story, their responsibility etc, what you are likely to need to know, all the company information and news stories you can find, then you may look like a prize fool, when a pretty basic question is asked of you. Work out the detail way before you go!
Reconfirm
Just because you are fab at time management (and of course you all are) you cannot expect all of your clients to be the same. Therefore rather than wasting a load of your time, planning, travel and energy in getting to a meeting and finding out the person you were meeting is either ‘not there’ or ‘none the wiser’, simply send a confirmation (aka reminder) email a couple of days prior to the meeting. Yes, by doing this on occasion a meeting may actually be rescheduled or at worst cancelled - but would you not rather that be the case, than turning up and being turned away at the door. Not only that, your client may actually not even remember that a meeting had been planned, so in turn sending a confirmation email can save embarrassment all round. North-East of England early-stage entrepreneurs and startups take note! North-East England startups sought for latest Ignite pre-accelerator programme. Workplace discrimination and failure to address social mobility costs UK economy £270bn per year according to research by graduate recruitment platform Debut. dip is a free to download and free to use shopping companion app that shows users relevant high street deals based on their hyper-location. The EdTech startup aiming to connect inspirational teachers with those looking for something a little different Stigma around mental health struggles and burnout is costing the UK economy £1.4bn a year through unexplained sick days. The UK leads Europe and are fourth in the world for scaleup investment after US, China and India, according to the Tech Nation Report for 2019. Currently in private beta, Paypal for Instagram Influencers XPO is a payment processing app that is aiming to make it simple and secure to pay influencers! Weengs is a London based startup that's on a mission to simplify order fulfilment for small ecommerce businesses, helping business owners & e-sellers grow. The portfolio and assessment platform that facilitates fast feedback and collaboration between teachers, students and parents. Top technology investors have been named as part of a high calibre judging panel for upSTART, Digital DNA’s 2019 startup competition as the countdown for startups to apply begins.
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- North-East England startups sought for latest Ignite pre-accelerator programme 18th May 2019 North-East of England early-stage entrepreneurs and startups take note! North-East England startups sought for latest Ignite pre-accelerator programme.
- Stigma around mental health costs UK economy £1.4bn a year 15th May 2019 Stigma around mental health struggles and burnout is costing the UK economy £1.4bn a year through unexplained sick days.
- UK leads Europe in scaleup investment 13th May 2019 The UK leads Europe and are fourth in the world for scaleup investment after US, China and India, according to the Tech Nation Report for 2019.
- Energy Sector startups sought for EDF Energy’s 2019 Pulse Innovation Challenge 9th May 2019 EDF Energy’s innovation accelerator, Blue Lab are on the hunt for the best new ideas that could spark innovation in the energy sector.
