How cute is this photo of Alex and I from a recent shoot we did for our new traveler’s notebooks?! It’s too perfect not to use for today’s post about business meetings. Even when it was just the two of us in our business, we found it more important than ever to have consistent business meetings. And when we didn’t, it was obvious. Here’s why you need to have them too.
- Meetings help to keep you on track with what you should be working on. Especially if you’re working with someone else, meeting every other week or so can really help you to focus on projects that have a bigger priority than others. It’s the whole “out of sight, out of mind” situation. If you aren’t meeting, you aren’t talking about what’s coming up, and then suddenly a deadline is upon you or you’ve missed it. Meetings help give you regular checkpoints to know what’s happening.
- They’re also great tools to help you brainstorm new ideas. Setting aside specific time to talk about the growth of the business (even if it’s just with yourself!) is so important. Plus if you do have someone else there, you can bounce ideas off of them for new products or designs.
- Setting aside time for a meeting also puts you in a different mindset than a regular workday. There’s just something about stopping whatever it is that you’re doing to focus on specific ways to improve your business. After the meeting you’ll feel more focused and motivated to get things done rather than listlessly wandering through the day hoping you’re making progress.
- Kind of along the lines as the last point, meetings help you take a break from the normal day to day stuff to focus on the big picture. So often Alex and I find ourselves only working IN our business, rather than ON it. Meetings help us to change gears and focus on bigger picture ideas like where we want to see our business in five years, rather than the orders we need to finish that day.
It’s definitely a lot harder to have business meetings if you work alone, so try to find a group or someone who doesn’t mind being a sounding board for your ideas. No matter your business, it’s important to take the time to reflect on what you’ve been doing and plan out what to do next. When Alex and I don’t meet, it’s hard to get on the same page and know what the other person is up to. We’ve had way more success with short meetings once a week than we ever have going it alone. So pull out that planner and schedule some time to meet with yourself or your partners. It’ll make a world of difference.
