Requesting a "Doggie Bag" in business lunch

I have a question about business luncheons and dinners. Is it right or wrong to request a "doggie bag" if I was unable to finish my meal?

-SJ

The short answer is that we wouldn't recommend it. The long answer is that it depends on how you define "business lunch" or "business dinner."

If you are casually going out with co-workers and everyone is paying for his or her own meal, then by all means, request a box to take home your meal.

Of course, I'm sure you do your best to ensure you're not being disruptive of the conversational flow or making everyone late getting back to work or getting home! I'm sure you make the request discreetly and early in the meal so that the waitstaff can accommodate your request without causing a stir among your fellow diners.

What we generally call a "business lunch" or a "business dinner" is actually more of a meeting than a meal, in spite of appearances.

If you're dining with a client, or if your boss is footing the bill, then eating is the second (or third) purpose of the meal. You are there to do business. The meal is merely a pleasant distraction. In these cases, it's poor etiquette (and bad business strategy) to do anything that detracts from the business at hand. That would include poring over the menu while ignoring your guests, quizzing the waitstaff about ingredients of a dish, ordering anything complicated or disruptive (no flaming entrees!) ordering dessert if the timeframe doesn't allow for it, ordering alcohol unless that's part the business culture you're in, and, unfortunately, requesting a doggie bag.

The Social Contract & Business

This piece was originally published in the ShopTooele Newsletter in Tooele, UT, but would be helpful to any small business owner in any community.

The marketplace obliges men, whether they will or not, in pursuing their own selfish interests, to connect the general good with their own individual success”

~ Edmund Burke (British Statesman and Philosopher, 1729-1797)

The hardest part of business is finding a way to match what you love to do with what other people will pay money for. Most of us have had times in our lives when economic reality has caused us to take jobs we didn’t like and exchange a portion of our time for a paycheck.

Being self-employed is a different kind of exchange. It’s harder to figure out, but its ultimately a more honest way of figuring out if you’re adding something of value to the community.

Sometimes a business doesn’t work because you’re not adding value that the community wants. We helped a friend open a store at the Gateway in Salt Lake City a few years ago importing handmade rugs from Iran and Pakistan. Many of the people who came in the store exclaimed over how beautiful the rugs were, but they didn’t see why they should pay $6000 for a rug, when they could go buy one at Wal-Mart for $100 or less. This is not a question of which rugs were more beautiful or which would be handed down to grandchildren, it was a question of perceived value in the mind of the customer. We were selling the wrong thing, or at least trying to sell it to the wrong people. Whatever the reason, we’d not done the market research to connect with the “general good” of the community we were doing business in. Our friend has since become much more successful with a shop in New York. The “general good” there is apparently measured by a different standard.

In any case, finding ways to serve the “general good” in Tooele is easier than it used to be. You can find demographic information online to find out the numbers, incomes, genders and ages of people here. The Chamber of Commerce does surveys of market needs. And you can always open your business to a larger audience by using an online channel in addition to selling locally.

Some resources:

U.S. Census Data

http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/49/49045.html

Municipal Research

http://www.muninetguide.com/states/utah/
municipality/Tooele.php

Community Profile

http://www.hometownlocator.com/City/Tooele-Utah.cfm