Wednesday, May 18, 2016 –
If you’re looking to relocate your business to a new location, the good news is that your company is growing and in need of bigger space. But you might be worried about the finer details to make the move as easy of a transition as possible. Don’t worry. These tips will clear the way for smooth sailing, and show you how to have fun in the process.
Divide and Conquer
There’s an old carpenter’s motto that you should measure twice and cut once. A similar thought can be applied to planning the move to your new location. One of the biggest concerns with business owners during a move is having a large lapse in work productivity. You’ll want to organize your business into categories, like essential and non-essential operations. What can your business live without, or at a bare minimum during the move? Those departments should be the first to pack-up and relocate. They’ll be able to get situated in the new location and get back to daily operations as soon as they’ve settled. More essential operations should be the last to move to keep business operating as close to normal as possible. An alternative method is to temporarily rent a co-working space, like WeWork, for essential business operations, or allow employees to work from home, while professional commercial movers pack and transport office items to the new location.
Pack Early, Organize and Don’t Forget to Label
Getting a jump-start on packing is never a bad idea. Waiting until the last minute can cause additional delays in the moving process and more stress than necessary. Additionally, not properly labeling boxes and bins causes confusion and misplacement of important materials. The best way to solve this issue to pack according to department, labeling the boxes to indicate what is inside and the department to which the items belong. For example, if your sales department packed their offices efficiently, boxes should be labeled: Sales Department – computer monitors and cables, or, Sales Department – Client Files, A- F, 2014- 2016.
Don’t Be Scared of the Trash Bin or the Donation Bin
Even if your business is moving after only six months, a lot of clutter can accumulate. Spend some time prior to packing going through shelves, drawers and cabinets to eliminate odds and ends, like take out menus, old business cards, broken office products, etc. Having a de-cluttered desk, or work station leads, to a de-cluttered mind. Try to make this a common practice once every two months at the new location to keep up efficiency.
If you’re looking to upgrade your tech, desk, chairs or other office furniture, there are plenty of donation locations, or young start-up businesses, looking for low-cost and gently used items to get their business started. Don’t forget you were in their shoes once, and donating office supplies is an environmentally friendly way to keep more office equipment out of landfills.
Update Your Contact Information and Let People Know
Your snail mail address will change when you move, so make sure you let customers and clients know well in advance that you’re moving, when you’re moving and where you’re moving to. Posts to blogs and social media help, as do email campaigns. Make sure customers and clients know if your phone number will change and any changes to hourly operations. You’ll also want to make sure you update any stationary, business cards, email signatures or wherever your business address is listed.
Make a Check List
If you’ve ever left for the grocery store with a mental list of items in your head, chances are you forgot all but one item on the drive over. Make a physical checklist of all the items you’ll need to move and make sure to check them off as they’re packed and brought to your new office location. There are plenty of organization apps, like Google Keep, to create and manage lists on your smartphone or tablet.
Have Fun
When The New Yorker magazine moved its offices to downtown Manhattan, they had to transport furniture, technology and decades’ worth of back issues, documents, books, files, artwork and much more. So what did they do? They had a party and shared their move with the world. Not only did the staff document the move on their blog, they also used Instagram to share images and anecdotes using #TNYMoves. It was a unique way to engage the magazine’s readers with a behind the scenes look into the publication’s past, while also looking ahead to its future. By using social media to share your own moving experience, clients and customers will get to see another side to your business. It’s a great way to build a stronger relationship with your followers on social media, and can help grow your company’s brand. It can also ease the stress of the move.
Hire Professionals
The best way to relieve stress is to hire a moving company that cares about your belongings as much as you do, and offers safe and easy transportation for local or long-distance moves. Moving companies that also offer storage facilities can be beneficial if there is a gap between your move-in and move-out dates. Earle W. Noyes & Sons’ storage and Commercial Moving services come fully equipped to meet your individual business needs and put your mind at ease.
Sources: Instagram, Green Standard, WeWork
