New York is home to Wall Street so it’s no surprise that the city is the biggest business hub in the world. So many companies in all sorts of different industries do business in New York so there is a chance you might find yourself heading out there on a business trip at some point in your career. On arrival, you’ll find that the city is wildly different to anywhere you’ve ever been before. The fast paced atmosphere can be pretty overwhelming and you’ll soon discover that business works differently here. If you don’t know what you’re doing, you could end up missing a lot of big opportunities on this trip. To help you avoid that happening, we’ve put together a quick guide on surviving a business trip in New York.

Confirm All Appointments

The business world in New York is a world away from what you’re used to at home. People are constantly changing plans, double booking themselves or simply forgetting that you arranged a meeting in the first place because they’ve got 101 other things going on that day. Scheduling a meeting a week before and expecting them to be there is a long shot. You need to set the meeting, check a few days before, then again on the morning of the meeting. Just to be safe, email them when you’re leaving. That way you’ll know in good time whether they need to reschedule and make sure that they don’t forget about you.

Stay Close To The Subway

You can try taking a car in New York if you like, but you’ll be late to your meeting, that’s a guarantee. The traffic is awful regardless of what time of day it is and there’s always likely to be roadworks somewhere. The subway is your friend, so use it. You can get up and down the entire city with ease. It’s best to find a hotel like the Marriott Vacation Club Pulse NYC that’s close to Grand Central Station so you can easily get to wherever you need to go. The subway can be a little confusing if you’ve never been there before so always give yourself a bit of extra time to make sure you aren’t late. The people you’re meeting with won’t be waiting around for you.

Breakfast Meetings

Most people working in New York get up early to start work and tend to schedule their first meetings for around 10 am. If you want to get a look in on their busy schedules, you should try to get in a bit earlier and ask them to meet over breakfast at around 8 am. You’re more likely to get a meeting and you’ll have the rest of the day free. Dinner meetings are always a bad idea because they take up a lot of time so people are less likely to agree. If you are meeting somebody in the evenings, it’s better to go for drinks before dinner, it’s quicker and it won’t cost you anywhere near as much either.

New York is an intimidating place but if you follow these 3 tips, you can survive a business trip in the city.