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: