Starting an Online Business All-in-One For Dummies®, 3rd Edition

A Floor Plan for Success

You might work from a cramped bedroom in your modest home or in a spacious high-rise office complex. Either way, maximizing your work space can be an important step toward obtaining true efficiency in your business.

Follow these steps to create a floor plan for your office space:

1. Make a list of how you will use your space.

   Ask yourself these questions:

   • Do I need a desk? How much desk space do I need?
   • Will I store paperwork and files in a central filing system or use some other method?
   • Will customers visit my office?
   • Do I need working space for employees?
2. Make a list of all your office furniture, equipment, and accessories (including office supplies and other items that should be stored but remain accessible).

   If you're sharing the space with others, make sure that you account for their belongings too. Or, if your office performs double duty as a bedroom or dining room, include on your list the non-work-related furniture that will remain in the room while you work.

3. On a sheet of paper, sketch out the dimensions of the room with lines that represent your walls, and then draw all your furniture and large office equipment in position within those walls.

   Rather than literally draw your furniture, you can draw different shapes and label them (see Figure 6-1).

   Figure 6-1: Draw your room, and arrange your space by need.

4. Arrange the furniture and office equipment ...