Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. At some point, most businesses have to relocate. The key is executing the move in the best possible way for your operations. The following contributed post is entitled, Essential Tips For A Smooth Office Relocation.
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Running a business can be stressful, even at the best of times. Although the job is exciting, as well as extremely rewarding, there are many challenges you must face. Among the most difficult you will encounter is relocating the business. Moving to a new office is even more complicated than moving to a new house. After all, you have an entire team of employees to consider, rather than just your family. There is also very little time to get everything done, especially if you want to avoid downtime. With that in mind, here are ten essential tips for a smooth office relocation.
Pick The Right Time
Although you can certainly try, there is no way to avoid disruption when relocating the business. All you can do is attempt to lessen it. This is done by picking your moving date with care. Every industry has busy periods, with every company within that industry having peak trading days and hours. Picking a day that conflicts with those times will mean the business losing a significant amount of money. When planning your moving timeline, make sure you plan for potential delays.
Start Your Planning Early
A project as large as a relocation will take a while to plan. If you leave doing so until the last minute, you are likely to make mistakes that result in costly delays. Because of this, it does help to pick a moving date well in advance. Make sure you give yourself at least a few months, but you’ll benefit from having longer. Begin the planning process by listing the moving tasks that need completing. With that list, you can write an office move timeline for the entire company to follow.
Talk To The Team
The decision to move premises doesn’t affect just you. Although you’re the one in charge, your employees are the backbone of the business, so relocating impacts them too. This is why you must keep your team in the loop. As soon as you have a plan, you have to share it with your staff. Letting them know about the move early will give them a chance to ask questions and think things through. It will also allow them to make plans of their own if they’re unable to move too.
Delegate Tasks To Staff
Relocation is a huge undertaking, which means it’s one you shouldn’t tackle alone. Rather than attempt to do so, you should delegate tasks to your team. Perhaps a few of them could pack boxes, for example, while others clean empty rooms. Make sure you also give your staff time to pack away any personal items they keep in their desks. While the office is chaotic, it can help to ask some employees to work from home. This means the company won’t come to a standstill.
Bring In The Experts
Even with employees to lend a hand, moving is a difficult process. For this reason, you must ensure you have the assistance of professionals. Instead of carrying boxes and furniture yourself, you should call in a removalist. Make sure you also have an IT company to change over any technology and equipment. Without this help, you may not be able to get back online, which would cause huge issues. When picking your experts, remember to shop around.
Put Someone In Charge
Most entrepreneurs are in charge of all aspects of their company. However, a relocation is one you may want to step back from. With so much pressure already on your shoulders, you don’t want to add a move to the mix. Instead, you should put somebody you trust in charge. This could be a trusted member of your workforce or a professional project planner. Either way, this person will oversee the entire move and be the person all others involved in the relocation report back to.
Update Your Contact Details
The little things often matter much more than you realize with a project like an office relocation. While changing the address of the business probably isn’t at the top of your to-do list, it’s a task you can’t afford to forget. Unless you update the address, customers might try to contact you at the previous one. Getting no response could cause them to take their business elsewhere. To spread the news of your move, you should write about it on social media and speak to the press.
Clear Out Any Clutter
Just like moving house, you shouldn’t take everything from one office to the other. Depending on how long you’ve been in your building, you will have accumulated a lot of clutter. Attempting to move all of this will complicate the process, as well as result in additional costs. From outdated equipment to old documents, there are many things you can throw away. Make sure that you shred those old documents first so that sensitive data doesn’t get into the wrong hands.
Move Non-Essentials First
The less stuff you have to relocate on moving day, the easier it will be. For this reason, you should begin moving non-essential things over as soon as you can. This might include plants, office supplies, and artwork. While these items have use, they aren’t necessary for the day to day running of your business. This means they won’t be missed for a few days. Getting them set up in the new office early will take the pressure off when moving day rolls around.
Work On A Budget
Funds are limited for every company, especially small businesses. This means you can only spend so much on your relocation. Rather than risk running out of money, you should create a moving budget. Make sure that you consider all expenses involved in the move and add a cash cushion for any unexpected ones. It also helps to secure credit before you move. After all, most lending companies are less willing to hand over money to businesses when they need them.
Relocating your business will never be an easy process, but with the advice above, it can be a smoother one.
