I have a design business and used to work exclusively out of my home studio. There are advantages to working in your own space, the obvious one, you get to work in your boxers if you want. But besides being the king of the castle, if you are working alone, isolation is the last thing you need when trying to grow a business.

Depending on your business, mine being design based, there is an inherent need to be able to interact with the world. I found it excruciating to go hours without having one single conversation with a breathing human being, except the phone calls, but they aren’t the same.

Starbucks has been a great alternative for someone like me with a mobile lifestyle. You get to meet entrepreneurs, students, educators, executives, artists and loungers. All of which could possibly become future clients.

The Starbucks slash coffee house experience affords the guy, or gal, who wants to follow their dream, and not have to hole themselves up in a cave until there dream comes true or isolation sickness turns them into Jack Nicholson in The Shining.

The choice is clear for me. Plus my Starbucks is on the waterfront marina in Jersey City, NJ. It’s a nice view of the yachts coming and going. It gives me the inspiration I need to keep doing what I’m doing. It’s better than staring at 4 walls.

In closing, I read a few posts about how much you should buy to feel good about sitting for hours taking up space. It seems to me the dynamic for a mom and pops coffee shop is quite different than a corporate chain like Starbucks. I have no experience in a smaller shop, but Starbucks seems to promote business activity in their store, because they offer free refills if you register a starbucks card.

In the morning I usually get a tall coffee for $1.77. Throughout the day I get maybe 2 refills. After lunch a piece of pound cake or something similar. That’s not too big of a price for office space let me tell you. I don’t think they would give refills if they wanted people to fight with themselves over what is an acceptable amount to spend to justify their existence.

Don’t over think it. If you are starting your business and you can’t afford space, chances are you can’t afford to spend $15 dollars a day at Starbucks. Trust me, the suits know this as well. Keep Grinding!

Quick question? I have a sandisk that I use especially when I go to coffee shops and work.
I know there are many opinions on what portable player is best, but I do have many catagories of music, and most are in the *.wma format.

What do you all see and being the best bang for the buck, pro’s con’s, flash, hardrive, expandability, for both the mp3, and wma out there now? What do you have? What is everyone else using? The availability of using memory for addtional file back up when needed etc?

Thanks in advance, and have over the years enjoyed everyones participation.
Aloha.

Hi guys: ditto here as well. I used to spend a lot of time at Starsucks, until the “worker friendly” atmosphere there started to change. The music got louder (this has been documented here in another post by JK), and I find it harder to concentrate nowadays there. I too, have migrated to the local Paneras, with lots more space, booths, and the free WiFi.

I think the perfect place is a library-type atmosphere (for the golden silence) place with coffee and refreshments to keep you fueled, such as the Barnes and Noble concept. I wish those were more ubiquitous.

I agree that there aren’t many places you can go in urban areas and be inactive. In continental Europe there is, of course, a long tradition of cafes where you could sit for as long as you wanted, write, read, talk, eat, watch the world go by (and mybe these days get online, but I suspect that’s rare). The UK doesn’t really have cafes (although it has places called cafes), maybe the States too. The coffee shops are the nearest equivalent.
I’ve heard women friends say that they don’t feel comfortable going into pubs or restaurants by themselves. Among other things, coffee shops appear to be places where women feel comfortable going alone.
We have Starbucks here in the UK, but I think Costa is better.

I second that comment about Panera Bread. I had to spend a month out of town last year on a family emergency and I was able to work all day long at a local Panera. They also welcome people to stay as long as they want. There were many days when I got to the Panera for breakfast, started work, had lunch there and finshed the work day. I would warn anyone from trying the same at an IHOP (International House of Pancakes). I tried the same routine at one of their locations and they refused to allow me to plug my laptop into one of their outlets at my table. Thank goodness for forward thinking places like Starbucks and Panera.

I go to the bar. I know everyone there and the bar stools are comfortable. The chairs at the local Starbucks are really bad.
I deal with the lack of wifi by tethering.

I must be very, very different to your children.. :)

I go there simply because there coffee rocks (But thatsalso why I don’t go there all the time)

I am with you all the way, i am in the UK and love to work in my local Starbucks, its the atmosphere and smell, great connectivity and the sales guys dream beverage to keep him going what more can you ask, i do all my best deals over a triple shot non fat vanilla latte

Chris

I am with you all the way, i am in the UK and love to work in my local Starbucks, its the atmosphere and smell, great connectivity and the sales guys dream beverage to keep him going what more can you ask, i do all my best deals over a triple shot non fat vanilla latte

Chris

I am with you all the way, i am in the UK and love to work in my local Starbucks, its the atmosphere and smell, great connectivity and the sales guys dream beverage to keep him going what more can you ask, i do all my best deals over a triple shot non fat vanilla latte

Chris