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Inventory needed per square foot calculator

One of the tough questions a business always faces is that of how much inventory is needed. While the answer is found by answering the question of how much sales you want to produce, there actuall is a calculation you can make that will help you with determining the exact dollar amount.

Begin this exercise by entering the width and length of the square footage the inventory is going to occupy. This could be a display area or the entire store. The height of the display is not a necessary component of this calculation. The total square footage will then appear in the third line of data.

The next component of information needed is your desired sales per square foot. This is expressed as a dollar amount. The next row will give you a calculation of the amount of sales for the area you are calculating.

The third section is where you enter your anticipated, or desired annual turn rate. Doing so will give you a dollar amount of inventory, at retail, needed for this space . When you enter your gross margin, the last row will calculate for you the amount of inventory at cost.

This calculation helps so that you have enough inventory to produce the results you desire, but not have so much inventory that there are dollars sitting on the sales floor that are not productive.

Inventory needed per square foot calculator from Profits Plus
 
Width (in feet)
length (in feet)
Total square footage
   
Desired sales per square foot (at retail)
Sales desired for this square footage
   
Annual turn rate
Inventory per square foot needed at retail
Gross margin %
Inventory per square foot, at cost, needed
   
 

      

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MARCH 2026
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Every time I see the logo for Target stores, I think about small businesses and the need to know which people to target as their customers. Of course, of most importance is the person who has spent any money with your business.

 

I ask businesses if they know how much the average person spends with their business. Most offer a quick response with a dollar amount. That answer is incorrect as they are telling me what the average existing customer is spending. The average person in any community spends no money with that small business.

 

Looking for new customers without any plan of how to do so is just spending money. That is why every small business needs to know how to find and use information. Find ideas in the March Small Business Advisory.

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It is baseball season and we use the sport as an explanation of the cost of growing your business. In Boston's Fenway Park, left field has a wall that is know as the green monster.

 

And that is what growing your business is - a monster! You can't successfully grow your business without a plan and knowing you will have the cash on hand to pay for the growth.


Book of the Month

Are you selling something or persuading the customer? With your employees are you repeatedly telling that employee or are you persuading them to excel?

 

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Ciaidini is our suggested book for March 2026. Most definitely an appropriate read.

All this plus the Internet Tool for Your Business and a staff incentive idea for your business.

BOOK US

With over 25 years of frontline experience Tom Shay is America's leading Small Business Management Expert. He's a "Must Have" for your next event.

Small Business

Advisories

Every time I see the logo for Target stores, I think about small businesses and the need to know which people to target as their customers. Of course, of most importance is the person who has spent any money with your business.

 

I ask businesses if they know how much the average person spends with their business. Most offer a quick response with a dollar amount. That answer is incorrect as they are telling me what the average existing customer is spending. The average person in any community spends no money with that small business.

 

Looking for new customers without any plan of how to do so is just spending money. That is why every small business needs to know how to find and use information. Find ideas in the March Small Business Advisory.

Small Business

News

 

Top Story

Employee retention; is it important? Or is it easier to lose an employee and wait for the next applicant to walk in the door? The Small Business News for March shares some statistics of the expense you incur when you make the change instead of working to retain a current employee.


Article of the Month

It is baseball season and we use the sport as an explanation of the cost of growing your business. In Boston's Fenway Park, left field has a wall that is know as the green monster.

 

And that is what growing your business is - a monster! You can't successfully grow your business without a plan and knowing you will have the cash on hand to pay for the growth.


Book of the Month

Are you selling something or persuading the customer? With your employees are you repeatedly telling that employee or are you persuading them to excel?

 

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Ciaidini is our suggested book for March 2026. Most definitely an appropriate read.

 

All this plus the Internet Tool for Your Business and a staff incentive idea for your business.