How Much Space Do I Need? The Modern Workplace Footprint
When you’re looking for a new space for your business, it’s important to ensure that you have the right square footage and that you take all things into account. Of course, the space sizing will vary on a few different factors, such as:
- Number of employees
- Base location
- Industry
To find the perfect workspace for your company, here are a few things to keep in mind for certain industries. And here is a helpful equation to remember when figuring out how to size your new space: Sales Volume ÷ Sales per Square Foot = Selling Space.
Retail
If you’re looking for a new retail workspace or are perhaps moving to a new office, here is what you want to keep an eye out for.
Picking a location for a retail space has some considerations, such as choosing a spot that gets a lot of foot traffic. Especially if you’re a smaller business that isn’t well known yet, you’ll rely on people walking past your space and being pulled in by window shopping or whatever other marketing tools you deploy to catch their eyes. Make sure that the place you choose is one that will drive traffic and get you buyers. It requires a lot of research, and it won’t be worthwhile if you buy a shop in a place that ends up flopping.
With a retail location, you’ll also want to ensure that your space has enough room for storing extra product, office(s), and whatever else you may need other than your actual shop.
Restaurant
As with a retail space, you’ll need to make sure your restaurant location has enough space for a kitchen, storage, and any office space you might need. Roughly 60 percent of your space will be dedicated to the dining room while the other 40 percent will be for storage, office space, the kitchen, and a prep area.
According to Total Food, the general guidelines for restaurants are as follows:
- Fine Dining: 18–20 Square Feet
- Full-Service Restaurant Dining: 12–15 Square Feet
- Counter Service: 18–20 Square Feet
- Fast Food Minimum: 11–14 Square Feet
- Table Service, Hotel/Club: 15–18 Square Feet
- Banquet, Minimum: 10–11 Square Feet
Office Space
When you’re determining the sizing of an office space, you’ll need to consider who needs their own offices and how you want to arrange the rest of the workspace. You’ll also need to determine if there is a rec area, a kitchen, bathroom space, etc.
According to The Balance Small Business, here’s a breakdown:
Employees Requiring Offices:
- President (400 square feet)
- Vice presidents (200 square feet)
- Managers (150 square feet)
- Engineers (175 square feet)
- Accountants (150 square feet)
- Secretaries (125 square feet)
- Customer service reps (125 square feet)
- Programmers (125 square feet)
Employees in an Open Area:
- Data entry (125 square feet)
- Clerks (125 square feet)
- Temps (100 square feet)
Permanent Rooms and Spaces:
- File room (200 square feet)
- Storage room or library (200 square feet)
- Mail room (125 square feet)
- Work room (125 square feet)
- Reception area (100 square feet plus 10 square feet per person waiting)
- Lunch or break room (75 square feet plus 25 square feet per person seated)
- Conference room (50 square feet plus 25 square feet per person seated)