If you are working from a shop, office, factory, business unit or even working from home, you need a section about your work area in your business plan. The main factors the readers will be looking for is

1. If it is suitable to run an business from
2. If it is suitable for your customers.

You do not need to include the cost of utilities, rent or rates in this section, I would put them in the cash flow explanation.

Working from home

Many entrepreneurs fall into the trap of just putting “I will be working from home” in their business plan. This simply is not good enough and the reasons why you are working from home should be included.

After deciding on the type of premise you will be opperating your business from, amend the below paragraphs in bold and copy the ones which apply to you  into your free business plan template

To keep my overheads low I plan to run the business from my home. I have ample space for xxxxx and storage of all my xxxxx and space for an office.

If and when I need to meet with clients I can do this at their home, place of work, public place or I can hire a meeting room at £xx per hour

As the majority of my work is carried out in client’s homes and places of work, I feel that working from home will suit my needs.

I have ample room for an office and will install a telephone/fax line with a high speed broadband connection.

Working from a premise

If you are not working from home and have a premise, then you must convince the reader that the extra expense will benefit the business.

To demonstrate the benefits to the business, amend, copy and paste the following in bold.

I have currently secured premises in an Industrial Estate/retail unit/business centre to store equipment and to use to administrate the business.

“The premise will be installed with a telephone/fax line with a high speed broadband connection.”

“The premise has xxxx external security and I will install an alarm and close circuit tv before opening.”

“The premise has lots of advantages in that I can xxxxxxxxx.”

“The premise is located in the centre of xxxxxxx, adjacent to axxxx, which will suit my business needs.”

“There is also a room for a xxxxx and xxxxx along with a kitchen and toilet facilities.”

The shop/unit is divided into xx sections. At the front of the shop we store xxxx, in the middle xxxxx and to the rear is xxxxx.
The room/unit provided by the centre is designed to accommodate businesses in the xxxxx and xxxx fields of work. They can be booked on flexible terms to suit the bookings of my business.
The room/unit/shop has facilities for my business including xxxx, xxxx and xxxx. There is also space for a xxxx, xxxxx and xxxxx.
The room/unit/ has a telephone and computer facilities for businesses to book in meetings and appointments with clients and book the facilities accordingly.

To demonstrate the benefits to the customer you could write something like.

The premise is xxx sq feet which is adequate to xxxxx and is located near excellentroad, packing and rail links.

The shop is located in an area with high footfall and benefit from passing trade. There is ample car parking and easy access from public transport

At the front of the room/unit/shop there is room for signage and a display area to promote my products/services to my customers

It is located in the centre of xxxxxxx, adjacent to axxxx, which will suit my business needs.

A premise could be the biggest drain on your finances, but also your greatest asset. A strong section on your premise in the business plan will help the reader decide on whether to fund the business.

Do you have you own suggestions or paragraphs which could help someone? Please leave them in the comments below.