I love eating, drinking, meeting people, talking and making friends, though not necessarily in that order. Actually, as some people will tell you, talking comes rather high on my list.
Anyway, luckily for me, I managed to do all five this weekend. Sally, who I will profile in full at a later date, had booked a two hour consultation with M & I. Since she and her boyfriend were driving to our home for the consult from the other side of Sardinia, I thought it would be a lovely idea to have lunch altogether.
It was a really warm day which meant we could sit outside on the patio. Yay! The lunch was fab (of course, I'm going to say that. I made it) and the conversation flowed as much as the chilled white wine so instead of having just a quick snack, we didn't finish eating till nearly 4pm - even though the consult should have already finished by then. Still, it was a great way to break the ice before getting down to the nitty gritty of setting up a business - and what a business it is, as you'll find out when I blog about it.
The whole day was an example of Italian business at its best:
1) Food and drink is integral to the proceedings but working lunches do not exist. Lunch and dinner are to be enjoyed for what they are, rather than trying to cram in business and food at the same time. It's the same for coffee breaks. No Italian would dream of drinking coffee at their desk when they can amble to the local bar and enjoy a swift espresso.
2) Time is not to be followed strictly. Everything will still get done.
3 ) Building up rapport is key to doing successful business.
Comments