Moving a business to a new location isn’t always a simple process.
Whether you’re moving because you want to invest in a new eco-friendly office, or you want to address the issue of employees tripping over each other on the search for available meeting spaces, a move can help you accomplish a lot of crucial goals.
Unfortunately, it also means that you need to prepare for at least a brief period of disruption in your company.
The good news is that, like many things in the business world, making sure that you’re adequately prepared for your move can help you reduce some of the negative repercussions of switching to a new environment.
Here are our top tips for preparing to move your business to a new location.
Research Your Location
One of the first things that you’ll do when you move your business to a new space is to research the location that you will be moving to.
There’s a good chance that your budget will determine which areas you can afford to look at. However, even if you’re restricted by cash, you should make sure you’re moving to an area that’s both safe and appropriate for your needs.
Look into things like crime levels in the area, and whether you will need extra protection for your office or warehouse. It’s also a good idea to look into the accessibility of the location for both employees and clients. How easy is it going to be for the people you want to visit your company to reach you?
Create a Timeline for your Move
Once you know everything there is to know about your new site, it’s time to think about building a timeline for your transition. It’s essential to be realistic here. Make a list of everything you need to do before you can settle into your new destination.
This includes setting up your business phone system and making sure that you have the right internet connections in place.
The timeline that you create may also need to think about moving specific assets from one environment to another. Make sure you don’t get carried away focusing on when you would like to be finished moving, rather than when it’s feasible for you to get everything ironed out.
Depending on how much work there is to do, you might even decide that you’ll stagger the moving process. This could mean that you set up everything that your employees need in both locations so that people can transition slowly.
Create a System for Tracking Inventory
Inventory in a business landscape can be an expensive and crucial investment. The last thing you can afford to do is have something get left behind on a moving truck or lost in transit.
With that in mind, start by making a list of everything that you’re planning on moving. A thorough list is essential at this point. Once you have a clear idea of what needs to be moved, you can start organizing everything, getting things packed and protected for the transition.
There are also various high-tech and modern solutions that you can use to help with keeping track of more expensive pieces of inventory.
Remember, being able to track your company’s assets means that you can significantly reduce any waste that’s created from the moving process.
The easier it is to monitor and protect your devices, the less that you’ll have to spend on costly technology replacements.
Build an Informed Moving Team
You may find that it’s helpful for the people in your company to have assigned roles on how they will contribute to keeping your move as simple as possible. Having volunteers that can help with loading equipment can be a great way to keep costs low.
You can also consider ways to reduce your environmental impact during your move with the right team too.
Working with a team of movers who can help to keep your carbon footprint low, even when you’re loading and moving large items, is a great way to ensure that you can keep your business as green as possible.
You can even ask members of your team to pack up the equipment on their desks and move those things individuals when they visit the office next. With the right tracking equipment to keep an eye on tools, you’ll be able to save a lot of time and money.
Conduct Regular Meetings
Throughout your moving schedule, remember to make time to discuss the move and how it is progressing with all of your team members. It’s essential to keep everyone in your environment fully informed and to make sure that you address all employee concerns.
There’s a good chance that your team members will have some worries about what’s going to happen next as they’re moving to a new location.
A good way to reduce stress and keep things moving smoothly is to assign specific tasks for each of your team members to work on.
For instance, each department manager or supervisor could be in charge of making sure that all of the appropriate equipment for their team is packed up and placed into storage as quickly as possible for the move.
By the time the day of the move comes, your people are likely to feel a lot more comfortable if they’re properly informed and educated.
Remember to Let Everyone Know About Your Move
One important thing to keep in mind when you’re moving your business to a new location is that there’s more to it than ensuring that all of the equipment gets to your new destination in one piece. You also need to think about making sure that your customers and suppliers know where you’ll be going.
Creating a contact list will help to ensure that everyone you do business with, including suppliers and clients, are well aware that you’re moving.