Making a company move can be challenging, overwhelming, and time-consuming.
With all the tasks you need to accomplish, it is important to plan and prepare ahead to ensure a successful relocation process. Just like a house move, a single wrong action or decision can ruin the success of your business.
Below are a few pro tips to help you ensure your commercial business move will go off without any problem.
1. Discuss The Move To Your Employees
More than anyone else, your employees deserve to know that you are making a company relocation soon. They should be kept informed about your plans and preparations as the transition may impact employee retention and other issues.
For example, some employees may be hesitant about the move due to personal reasons. That’s why it is important to talk to them to ensure you are able to address their concerns and outline their expectations on how the process will push through. Also, the earlier you discuss the transition to them, the better.
2. Come Up With A Timeline
Making a company relocation doesn’t happen overnight.
Depending on the size of your business, it usually takes a lot of time which may be a couple of weeks or months. Because of this, it is best to create a moving timeline so you’ll know the extent of the effects of the relocation to your business.
For instance, when you are moving, your company may have to deal with some disruptions as you tackle some tasks such as packing.
Hence, if you want to ensure everything will be done perfectly, come up with a timeline to help you keep track of the progress. With a timeline, you’ll also know when you should complete all the tasks before the moving day.
3. Notify Customers And Suppliers
Apart from your employees, you should also find time to inform your customers and suppliers about the move. This can be a perfect way to let them know that you’ll be back in business once relocation will be finally settled.
Doing so can make sure you still have your clients’ support and loyalty even after the transition. To make the announcement, you can email them, send a text message, post on social media, or post a hard copy notice in your old office.
In addition, it is also essential to inform your suppliers about the date of your relocation. Just like your customers, they also play a crucial role in your business since they provide the things that your company needs.
By notifying them, they can find ways to transfer their services and bills to your new address to ensure continuity of services.
4. Hire Movers
Realistically speaking, dealing with a company move while managing the operations can be a tough job to do because sooner or later, something will be overlooked. This is one reason why you should work with professionals like NYC movers.
Hiring a moving company can be beneficial since the movers have the ability to pack and organize the relocation.
Unless you are a moving expert by yourself, you need their assistance to ensure office equipment and furniture are packed and transported properly and safely. Using their knowledge and skills along with their moving tools and equipment, they can handle all your office belongings with utmost care.
Therefore, if you are looking for the right moving company, be sure to look into their license, years of experience, reputation, and insurance coverage. The more you get to know your potential mover, the more you can make a sound hiring decision.
5. Start The Moving Process Early
It is better to start the moving process as early as possible. As mentioned, making a company relocation will take a lot of time.
That’s why if you don’t want to rush things and get yourself stressed, prepare all the things in advance to optimize organization. By doing this, you can save time and yourself a headache.
6. Delegate Tasks
Aside from getting the best interstate moving and storage service, your company should also seek the help of some of your employees. This means delegating some of the work to your team while others handle the revenue-making aspect of the operations.
For example, you can ask your employees to pack their own desks and secure their own stuff. In doing so, you can help make them feel valued and essential in ensuring the success of your relocation.
7. Only Bring What You Need
If you are making a company relocation, now is the best time to sort through your office belongings and decide which items should be left behind.
For instance, if you have old phones, printers, copiers, office supplies, or furniture that you no longer need, you can separate them from the essential ones and decide how you are going to get rid of them.
To declutter, you may want to consider donating useful items to a local charity nearby or if you are looking to make money out of these things, you can organize a garage sale to sell those stuff in the fastest time possible.
Remember, moving a business can be more expensive than executing house relocation. Given the amount of work needed to pack and move office items, it’ll certainly cost you hundreds to thousands of money depending on the size of your company.
Therefore, if you want to save money on your moving costs, be sure to only take what you need.
8. Pack Smart
Packing can be one of the tedious parts of a company move, which is why you should have a strategic packing plan in place to make sure it’ll go smoothly. To help you get started, below are a few things to consider:
i). Get proper packing supplies
To help keep your possessions organized, it is best to invest in the proper packing supplies before you even begin the work. Essential supplies can include cardboard boxes, bubble wrap, moving blankets, packing tape, and many more.
Make sure you have these materials ready so you’ll not waste time running back and forth to the store to buy them. That way, you can streamline the packing process from beginning to end.
ii). Pack furniture properly
To protect your office furniture from damage, you should be very careful in packing and moving them to the moving truck. For the chairs, be sure to disassemble them whenever possible to avoid breakage.
When it comes to the file cabinets and other storage units, always tape the shuts so they don’t open while in transit. Also, don’t forget to remove the shelves to prevent breakage.
For work surfaces such as desks, remove all removable components, tape all the non-removable ones, and pack glass surfaces separately to protect them.
iii). Pack essential pieces of equipment the proper and correct way
Office equipment like computers can be one of the most expensive pieces of equipment your company has. To ensure their safety during the move, be sure to cover them with heavy blankets and wrap them in tape to have a tight hold.
Also, remove all the cables from the computers to avoid damage. Lastly, to safeguard your data, store it in a hard drive, or use a cloud-based service so you’ll have a back-up ready when moving computers.
iv). Label
To easily track your belongings during the relocation, be sure to label your boxes and other things. Doing so can help you locate the things you need when you are setting up your new company location.
For example, you can number your boxes and add a brief description of their contents to keep your possessions while they are in transit.
Conclusion
Indeed, moving a company can be stressful as it requires more time, money, and effort.
But while it can be considered a big endeavor, it doesn’t have to be a headache as long as you follow the relocation tips mentioned above. By doing this, you can ensure everything will go smoothly as planned.
I am Adeyemi Adetilewa, a media consultant, entrepreneur, husband, and father. Founder and Editor-In-Chief of Ideas Plus Business Magazine, online business resources for entrepreneurs. I help brands share unique and impactful stories through the use of public relations, advertising, and online marketing. My work has been featured on the Huffington Post, Thrive Global, Addicted2Success, Hackernoon, The Good Men Project, and other publications.
