I want to submit a bid to a small college for their concession area. They are asking for someone to run their college consession for students and faculty for a period of 5 months, breakfast, lunch and dinner is optional. Should I submit the bid (rent) based on square footage?

Is this just space that you have to equip and outfit yourself, or is it already equipped?

If this is just space, and you have to outfit it, then I'd say by square foot. Just check the local paper to see what rent per square foot for light industrial space looks like.

If the space is outfitted and equipped, then you're probably looking at a different situation. Under those circumstances, if I were them, I wouldn't just take a square foot charge - after all, I would have paid for the gear. There are a couple of ways to figure out the value of the gear. Either what it would cost to rent the same items from a rental place, or what depreciation would look like for 6 months. Or give them a small percent of the net. That would mitigate your exposure if business didn't boom.