The Chinese believe you can encourage and develop business by adjusting the office interior Ba Gua.
Here, the pertinent areas to develop include (by order:):
- Career
- Wealth
- Fame
- Helpful People
In a company, the Ba Gua of the President's office is more important than the Ba Gua of the company as a whole.
In a store or a restaurant, a cash register optimally should be cater corner to the door, so that the cashier can see customers come and go, ensuring smooth profits.
Ideally, the register should sit in the Wealth position, with a mirror behind it to draw ch'i, opportunity, and money toward it. If the cash register cannot sit in the Wealth position, use one of the Nine Basic Cures, i.e., a mirror, a lamp, or a machine such as a jukebox or television, in the Wealth position to compensate for the register's absence.
The Career and Networking positions are also good areas to store money.
The position chosen for a cash register will determine the nature of profits. Income from a register in the Wealth position of a restaurant, for example, will come from the food. If, on the other hand, the register is sited in the Networking position, profits will derive from its popularity, increased customers, and unexpected help. A register in the Knowledge position will bring profits from hard work and business savvy, such as special promotions.
For example, at a successful restaurant in New York, the cash register is situated in the "Networking" position, out of view from the entrance and so more protected from robbers. A strategically placed bamboo flute creates an auspicious Ba Gua shape over the cash register and guards the restaurant. Mirrors behind the bar create the illusion of twice as many bottles and will symbolically double the amount of liquor sold.
To determine the Ba Gua positions in a store or restaurant, use only the main functioning area, discounting unused wings or storage areas.
Slants that will drag down or obscure profits should be avoided. In one restaurant, the cash register was under a structural slant; the owners built a complementary slant to create a partial Ba Gua shape.
Occupants of a Long Island, New York, home hung flutes angled to mimic both the auspicious Ba Gua octagon and to augment the Wealth and marriage areas of its propitiously arranged living room.
Floor-to-ceiling mirrors double the space and obscure the entrance to a Family temple..
The location of a room within a building can affect business.
A feng shui expert strolling through a kitchen of a restaurant in New York, commented that because the pastry section was in the Wealth area, profits would be "sweet." Another restaurant's restrooms were in the Wealth area, so the expert said that their profits would be "flushed away." Yet another restaurant's restrooms, located in the Fame area, augured a reputation tainted with ill will and criticism.
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Sharp angles can threaten business, customers, and workers.
As a restaurant in Hong Kong neared completion of its renovation, a feng shui expert suggested to its owners that they round out all sharp edges of their newly installed square columns, counters, and corners. Then they installed a sink in the Wealth area.
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"I'd rather do it now than suffer later" commented the young co-owner. "With the right environment, good food, price and service and feng shui advice, we'll do well." And indeed, since the restaurant opened in late 1984, it has thrived.
Business entrances and back doors should be wide and light.
Generally, entrances should be in the Career or Networking/Helpful-People position; if not, these positions should be enhanced by one of the Nine Basic Cures.
Case Study: In late 1983, one Silicon Valley computer company suffering from slow business installed, on the advice of a feng shui expert, a fish tank under the stairs near the entrance of their rented building to help trapped ch'i circulate. They also installed two lights inside the door-at the helpful-people position-to raise opportunities. In only four weeks business was so good they bought the building.
Live fish, thriving in Wealth-enhancing water, are also moneymaking devices in offices, businesses, and restaurants. For best results, stock your bowl or tank with nine fish-eight red and one black, or eight black and one red.