So, you’ve decided to move your business to a new location? To say that the business moving process can be overwhelming is an understatement. Most business owners decide to relocate as a result of reaching the end of their lease, their business is expanding and they need more space, or to merely save some money. Regardless of the cause for your business’ relocation, after you’ve selected a new site, the next stage is the actual move.
And you want the move to go smoothly as possible, so you disrupt your business operations as little as possible. Especially since during the relocation process, it can be difficult to keep things running at 100%. Therefore, taking the least amount of time for a move is crucial.
There are some things you can do to make the process much easier, such as creating a game plan early on, communicating with your employees and clients, and finding a reliable commercial moving company, just to name a few. Up next, we’ll discuss how to move your business location in more detail.
Start as Soon as Possible
Getting a head start and creating a game plan for moving your business location can save you time, not to mention the stress that can come with it. Ideally, you want to start planning at least three months before moving, so you have enough time to plan and deal with all the uncertainties that encompass an office move.
This timeframe may differ for your business depending on its size, and how many employees you have. What won’t change is how much time will be saved, not scrambling at the last minute to get matters taken care of.
Create a Game Plan
You’ve made the sensible decision to begin early, so you’ll need a game plan for you and your staff to follow throughout the process. Before you even lay out your plan of attack, make sure you have a moving date set in place, a timeframe for the move, and a budget to keep you on track. This will help to avoid any uninformed decisions down the road, not to mention identify costs for the movers, supplies, etc.
After that, you want to compare the floor plans of both locations. This is to figure out where everything will go in your new space. You don’t want to get to your new place and find out you’re two desks and one computer short of what your workforce requires. In contrast, if you plan and decide where everything needs to go, you shouldn’t end up with any issues.
Find a Reliable Moving Company
This probably sounds pretty obvious, but we still feel it needs to be said. Seeing that moving an office isn’t too different from moving a house, you run the same risk of dealing with unscrupulous characters.
That is why choosing a fully insured and certified professional moving company is crucial to make sure they complete your relocation in a timely and stress-free manner. This also puts all the liability on the moving company if any of your items get damaged or end up missing.
What Services Do You Require?
What about a completely hands-free moving experience? Or maybe you and your staff plan on breaking down your desks and packing up the electronics yourselves? Knowing what services you require will help to determine which professional commercial moving company is best suited for your needs.
Because, when you hire a pro moving company, it minimizes disruptions, in addition to allowing your employees to focus on their jobs and the work that still needs to get done during the move. Whichis why it’s an absolute must that you take the time to research all potential commercial moving companies before making any final decisions.
Take Inventory
Before you move your business, you always want to take inventory, plain and simple. This means everything from furniture and IT equipment, to break room and stationery items. OK, stationery items might not be necessary, seeing as how long it would take to go through and count every last sharpie and pad of paper.
You want to keep your list focused on the bigger, more important items so it doesn’t take months on end to complete. With a focused, easy-to-follow inventory list, you can easily figure out if anything is missing once you’re at the new location. This is also a good time to note damaged items, so there are no discrepancies between the moving company.
Label Everything
And just as with moving into a new home, labeling everything under the sun should always be a priority. Label every box with what’s inside, what room it came from, along with any other helpful insights that could help when unpacking later. You’ll also want to label the top along with at least one side of every box, so you’re not constantly having to flip over every one to find out what’s inside. Need some packing material or other moving supplies for your upcoming business relocation? We got you covered.
Throw Away or Donate Unnecessary Items
This is the idyllic time to figure out what you really need at your new location and what you can purge. This can help cut moving costs and moving time drastically by having less to move. Having fewer items at your new location also frees up space, allowing your business to run more efficiently.
You can sell any unwanted furniture, etc. on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist, or you may want to consider donating instead. Not only can you use that as a tax write-off, but you can also feel good about giving to those in need.
Communicate with Your Employees
The last thing you want is for your employees to find out the hard way about your choice to move business locations. Except for Jerry in accounting who always blows up the bathroom after his daily trip to Taco Bell. All jokes aside, ensuring your team is aware of your relocation and game plan (after one is in place) is essential.
You want to set some expectations and let your team know what is needed on their part (if anything is needed, for that matter) so they can make the necessary adjustments to their workflow. Simply giving your employees some notice lets them plan accordingly, in addition to allowing them to feel a part of the process.
Communicate with Your Clients
It’s a good idea to contact your clients and anybody else you do business with, such as affiliates or partners, at least one month before you decide to move your business location. Whether or not it affects them, you always want to let them know about the upcoming move.
So, if they encounter any problems, they will have no trouble contacting you using the most up-to-date contact information. If you’re a service provider and can’t respond to them promptly, this can cause serious issues or, even worse, the loss of a client.
Final Thoughts
If you follow these guidelines on how to move your business location, it should make the process that much easier for you and your employees alike. Because at the end of the day, happy employees, along with a happy boss, make for a happy and profitable business.