Say what kind of workplace it is and which wall the entrance is in, and this finder picks the owner’s seat and facing that our workplace pages record, then chooses between the facings by the one practical rule every page puts first: the seat should see the door. It also shows where modern guides put the cash counter. None of this is classical. The texts read for this site describe sites, towns, temples and houses, and say nothing about a shop, an office or a cash counter.
How it works
You choose the kind of workplace, the wall the entrance is in and where along that wall the door stands. Two more answers are optional: where the cash counter and the owner sit now.
The modern seat comes from the page for each kind. For a shop, an office and a restaurant, the owner sits in the south-west of the room facing north or east, and for a clinic the doctor does. For a business at home, the page asks only for a solid wall behind the seat and a desk facing east or north.
The finder then works out where the door is from that seat for each facing. It takes the room as a square, puts the seat in the middle of its south-west part, or against the south or west wall for a business at home, and puts the door in the middle of the part of the wall you chose. Within 60 degrees of straight ahead counts as ahead, 60 to 120 degrees as to the side, and more as behind. North-east, between north and east, is shown too and marked as our reading, as on the office desk direction finder.
The cash counter follows the same pages: north or north-east for a shop, north for a restaurant, north or north-west for an office’s cash and locker and for a cash box at home. Our clinic page names no place for cash.
Reading the result
The first line names the seat and the facing that keeps the door most in view. For example, with the door in the middle of the south wall, a seat in the south-west facing east has the door ahead, to the right, while facing north puts it to the right side; so the finder says face east. With the door in the middle of the north wall, facing north keeps it ahead and the finder says face north.
If the door is in the south-west part of the room itself, where the modern seat would go, the result says that the convention and the practical rule pull apart, and that the pages all say the same thing: follow the room.
Where traditions differ
The modern rules for a cash counter differ by page and from the classical text. The Brihat Samhita puts the treasury and the granary of a house in the north-west (53.118). Modern office advice puts cash and accounts in the north, the quarter of Kubera, or the north-west; modern shop advice puts the counter in the north or north-east. The finder shows each kind’s rule and notes the verse beside it, without choosing.
The owner’s seat in the south-west has a practical reading, which is our own: a head who sits in a corner with a wall behind sees the room and is not approached from behind. The facing has no classical basis at all.
What it does not do
It promises nothing about sales, contracts or profit, and no arrangement of a workplace will. If a consultant blames poor trade on a door or a corner, ask for the verse and look first at the product, the price, the location and the competition. It cannot see your floor: keep the fire exits clear, check the local fire and licensing rules, and in a rented unit change only what the lease allows. Remedies without demolition says more.
Frequently asked questions
↳ Where should the owner sit in a shop or office?
Modern advice says the south-west of the room, facing north or east. No classical verse we read says this. A wall behind the chair and a view of the door are the practical part, and the finder uses the door to choose the facing.
↳ Where should the cash counter be?
Modern advice says north or north-east for a shop, north for a restaurant, and north or north-west for an office. The Brihat Samhita puts the treasury of a house in the north-west (53.118). Choose a spot that sees the door.
↳ How does the finder decide between north and east?
It works out where the door is from the seat for each facing, on a square room, and picks the facing that keeps the door most nearly ahead. That is our practical reading, and the result shows the angles.
↳ Which way should a doctor sit?
Our clinic page records the modern advice: the doctor's seat in the south-west of the room, facing north or east, with the patient opposite. A seat that sees the door and avoids glare matters more.
↳ Does the seat affect profit?
No text we read makes that claim, and this site does not either. A well-arranged workplace may help people work comfortably, which is a practical gain.