Relocating Your Company: 5 Tips to Make the Move Smoother

in company •  6 years ago 

Sooner or later, your business might be forced to relocate. Your staff might start rapidly growing, which will make you embark on a quest for a bigger office. Also, as your client base becomes more prestigious, your brand might require a more prestigious location for its headquarters. In a case where you decide to pivot, your business might need a different target market and moving physically closer to it might help you with the outreach. All in all, here are several tips to make this eventual move a lot smoother.

Make a timetable

The first thing you need to do is make a timetable of all the tasks that you have to conduct prior to moving. The starting point needs to be a present date, while at the end of the timeline, you need to set the date of your relocation. When will you notify your landlord that you're moving? When are you going to start canceling all your subscriptions? How long before the move will you start packing? Keep in mind that some of these tasks can’t be done instantaneously, which is why you should assign an appropriate period for completion of each of these stages.

Let everyone know in time

The relocation of your business is not something that concerns your business alone. First of all, you need to tell your landlord that you're moving. Next, you have to arrange everything with your future landlord. Once you have this covered, you need to let your team know, seeing as how this is a move that will affect them, as well. Some might be unable to follow, which is why it's only fair that you let them know that they have to look for new employment elsewhere. Then, there’s the issue of hiring the cleaning crew, moving crew and all the other agencies that should play part in your move. Each of these parties needs to be notified in due time.

Make a relocation budget

Cleaning the place, hiring a relocation agency, cleaning the target office, setting up the place and most other relocation-related tasks require an investment of resources on your part. This is why you need to set a relocation budget. Keep in mind that during the move (as well as around this date), your business will undergo certain downtime, during which it will not bring in any revenue (or at least not as much revenue). This makes things a tad more complex. Also, the cost of services listed at the beginning of this paragraph may vary based on the region that you are in. Therefore, if your business is situated in Brisbane, you need to inquire about truck rentals in Brisbane, rather than expanding your search to all of Queensland.

Update your contact

By moving to a different location, you might change your target market a bit, however, chances are that the majority of your client base will stay on board. This is especially true in a scenario where you're not traveling across the country but making a minor relocation (from one part of the city to another). Same goes for online businesses. Still, it's vital that you update your contact information. It takes only several minutes to make these updates on your website and across your social networks. However, some of your biggest clients should be notified personally. Send them an email or, better yet, call them to let them know you're moving. This is a nice touch that they'll definitely come to appreciate.

Consider what is worth moving

The last thing you need to understand is the fact that a single truck might not be able to take all of your equipment to the next location. This means that you'll have to hire an entire fleet. Moreover, what if the next headquarters of your company isn't permanent either? You see, more and more businesses are renting equipment, even office furniture, or leasing fully furnished office spaces. Sometimes, you may aim to introduce some innovations to your hardware arsenal and this relocation may give you the perfect opportunity to get rid of your old equipment (sell, donate or discard it). The truth is that this could make your job of moving a lot simpler.

Conclusion

The most important thing you need to understand is the fact that office relocation is something that affects other people, as well. So, by making this move smoother, you're ensuring that these other people get a chance to be more organized and less stressed out by it, as well. This is not only ethical but pragmatic as well, seeing as how the efficiency of the move depends on these people.

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