15 Step-By-Step Action Plans For Your Office Relocation

15 Step-By-Step Action Plans For Your Office Relocation

Moving your team to a new office space is just as complicated as moving to a new home and one of the major factors that can affect the general success of your business is the location.

According to my research, about 63% of businesses fail because they are located in the wrong place. You do not expect your swimsuit business to thrive in a hot region where there are very few lakes and pools.

Most newbie entrepreneurs make the mistake of not choosing a strategic location for their businesses and those who notice this fault too late have their businesses crashing down like a house on a bad foundation.

However, if you have noticed this in the initial set-up of your business, and you seek to make corrections by moving your business to a more strategic location, this article is intended to guide you.

I know you have bulky furniture, electronics and a ton of little bits to get packed. On top of that, you probably don’t have a lot of time to get everything done either because every day that goes by is another day that your business is losing out on money.

You can successfully plan your office relocation, irrespective of the reason behind the intended move. 

If you are trying to navigate this process, this professional movers says these tips will make your move go as smoothly as possible.

1. Take An Inventory

This is the first step you must take before you begin the relocation process.

You will understand the importance of this step as you read on. Before you begin to move anything anywhere, you must first know what exactly you have to the last pen.

To conduct an inventory like this, you will need a pen and a book you must hold with you at all times. Since it is going to be a gradual moving process, you will need to take stock of the things that can be moved to the new business location without affecting productivity at your current position.

Your inventory book should contain the following: Furniture, Supplies, Equipment, Telephone, Computers etc. If anything is broken, make sure you put it down before the movers come around. 

Also, if you have breakables, volatile or harmful chemicals, make sure you take inventory of them separately and also pack them away from the other materials and equipment.

Read: Do you work from home? These tips will help you to avoid distractions

2. Consider replacing Old With New

Relocation is an opportunity to switch things up a little around your office. 

It gives you a chance to replace pieces of equipment easily. Moving costs can be very expensive, especially with the moving of old equipment that might even be destroyed in the moving process.

Therefore, you must weigh your options. Do you need to move old equipment or materials or purchase new ones in your new office? To help you with this decision,  here are a few things you could consider:

• Firstly, moving a lot of things to your new office can be really expensive.
• Secondly, you need to compare the cost of moving versus the cost of purchasing new equipment.

If the cost of purchasing new equipment is too much, consider purchasing some new equipment. This way, you have some old equipment and also some new ones too. This is a very good motivation boost for your employees as well, everyone likes the feel of a new product.

3. Create a Moving List

Once you are clear on the things you want to move and things you’ll replace, it’s time to make a proper list of the things you are leaving behind, things you are moving and equipment you plan to replace.

This list will help you know exactly what you will do before the movers come. In addition, this list can also guide someone else who is not you on what to move and what to keep in case you are not around. Just ensure the list is comprehensive and can be easily understood.

A thorough list also ensures that nothing goes missing during the moving process, as a lot of that tends to happen when businesses are moving to a new location.

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4. Create A Moving Schedule

Once you have made a thorough list of the items you are moving, replacing and leaving behind, it’s now time to draw up a moving schedule.

However, when planning your schedule, be realistic about it. How much time can you spare in a week to oversee the moving of your business equipment, without the whole process affecting your business productivity?

You will need to involve your employees when it comes to packing stuff for moving. Therefore, you cannot just leave the business office without anyone in it. You will need to work out a rotation for the packing.

If you can convince your employees to help you do some packing on weekend breaks or public holidays, that would be great as you will achieve a lot more at the end of the day.

However, do not rush the process. Take your time to do the packing so that avoidable mistakes are not made.

5. Get The Right Packing Materials

To plan your relocation without stress or hazards, you will need quality packing tools to help you secure your valuables properly.

Some of these tools include rolls of bubble wrap – this is to help prevent breakable items from shattering during the journey to your new office.

• Packing peanuts
• Different sizes of boxes to fit every item
• Duct tape and dispensers
• Markers for labels
• Furniture mover and sliders for easy movement of heavy objects.

Read: How to be a good boss; these remarkable qualities will make you one.

6. Pack In Advance

As I mentioned earlier, if you have some items or equipment that are not actively involved in the productivity of your business and can be packed aside for a while, it will do you a lot of good.

Go pack them up before the moving company shows up. This will give you time to remember things you might have forgotten on your inventory list.

Don’t forget to arrange fragile materials properly to prevent damage and if you have chemicals or environmentally unfriendly materials, you can take your time to secure them properly in a separate box or container.

7. Pack Properly

If you live in Nigeria, you must be aware that not all of our roads are fantastic. Therefore, you must be prudent in the packing of your business equipment. Also, read the importance and Benefits of Hiring Full Service Movers.

Packing peanuts and bubble wraps will help protect your valuables from damage while the movers may struggle with potholes.

However, make sure you use heavy-duty boxes for your electronics and use plenty of bubble wrap to wrap them properly. Use duct tape to completely seal all the boxes and label the content on the box.

Note: whilst labelling, indicate if it is a volatile, fragile or environmentally harmful substance. This will give movers a better idea of how to handle that particular box.

Make sure furniture is covered with moving blankets to prevent dust or damage if it is made of leather. It is also important that you visit the new office to know where things will be kept and how things will be organized.

Read: How to keep your company safe from employee negligence and mistakes

8. Coordinate Your Network And Communication Systems

When relocating, you must not think only about the physical aspect of your business. There are other aspects that you must pay attention to, like your business phone line, internet downtime, security camera network system and other factors.

You must first pay attention to your phone line as this is the most important one. When customers cannot reach you, they lose faith in you. It is typical for entrepreneurs who are planning on moving their businesses, to only transfer their phone lines once they are fully settled into their new location.

For your internet connection, you can fully disassemble the more complicated networking and pact it up,  whilst you manage a simple Mi-fi for the meantime. You can have a technician fix this up in your new office so that settling down would be easier for you and your employees.  

If you are into a business that requires a more complicated security system than normal, then this should be first on your list before you even begin to move anything.

If you already have a security detail on the ground, make sure you hire an extra one or two to stay at the intended new location.

Ensure all security cameras are installed before you move to your new office.

However, do not neglect your old space and take security for granted, rather, make sure security is stronger than usual and you have somebody escort every valuable item you are moving to your new office during relocation.

Generally, the phone line can wait till the last day of movement, however, give customers a heads up on the movement process and its consequences. If there is a change of number, publicize it to the best of your ability.

As for the security systems, make sure they are fully installed before you move into your new office. The last thing you want is technicians moving in and out with ladders and tools while you are trying to unpack.

9. Inform Your Customers And The Public

You need to let your customers and the public know that they will no longer find you in your current location. Also, let them know about any other changes that might be implemented in your company. Examples are telephone numbers and office hours.

If your business doesn’t run nationwide, a simple advertisement on your local radio station and a notification on your website will do. However, if you run a larger business, you might need a television and radio station to do the job.

However, here is a tip, because research has found that more than half of the world’s population uses popular social media applications, a cheaper and more effective way to reach a more dynamic or specialized target is through social media publicity.

Twitter is very effective for something of this nature, so you can consider it as an option to let the public know that you are changing locations.

10. Plan the Final Day Of the Move

Most businesses like to leave the final move for a weekend to avoid any disturbances during movement. If you can carry this moving process regularly without affecting your business productivity, then you could do it.

However, as I mentioned earlier, you do not want to leave your phone line unattended while you are busy overseeing things at two locations. If possible, have the customer service staff stay at the current location until the move is finalized.

To avoid the mixing of things at the new office, make sure a trusted employee is there to tell the movers where to drop things. There have been cases where movers just dropped things outside the building including heavy furniture.

Business owners will then have to move them inside themselves even after paying for the service. To avoid such complications, make sure you have someone present at the new office to help coordinate things. Avoid complications in the moving process.

11. Plan as Early as you Can

It’s so important that you start the planning process early. You need everyone to know what they will be doing, and you also need to plan out what still has to be done.

If you don’t then you may find yourself scrambling to get organised at the last minute. Now is also the time for you to be planning your moving budget. You can find out how much you need to spend and if there are any other things that you have to account for.

12. Hire a Reliable Moving Manager

It doesn’t matter how much your employees are helping you with your move because you still need to have a designated moving manager.

They’ll follow up on each step to ensure things are progressing as they should. They’ll also be able to help you with any legalities.

The best person for the job will usually be an admin assistant. They’ll have the organisation and people skills needed to make sure that the move stays on track.

13. Always Do Plenty of Research

When hiring a moving company to help you transport the bulkier items to your new location, it helps to hire someone who has the experience. Whether you need a local or a long-distance move, a residential move, or a corporate/office move, Local Moving LLC has the Best Moving Service.

They will be able to help you transport delicate technology and unpack too.

Before you hire someone, make sure that you do a comparison quote. This will help you to hire the right company for the best price, without compromising on quality.

14. Don’t Forget your IT Department

When you move, you’ll need to disconnect your servers, computers, hardware and anything electrical. Making sure that you pack everything properly during relocation is essential.

If you don’t, you not only risk damaging your products, but you also put your team at risk as well. If you are planning on upgrading your technology and not taking it with you, consider searching “auctions near me” on the internet.

15. Ask Everyone to Pack up their Desk

Sure, you may have a moving company who can come and take care of the big stuff. This is great. However, you can save a lot of time with some time management strategies and save money by asking everyone to pack up their desk beforehand.

Give your staff time that they have to do everything and encourage them to do it throughout the day. So, everyone isn’t in a frantic rush when the deadline draws near.

Your office relocation needs proper planning to avoid missing things and losses. These tips should help you!

Conclusion

Location is a very important factor in the success of any business enterprise. Most times, entrepreneurs realise that their locations aren’t good enough for their business.

Other times, space might start to seem too small for the growing business. Physical space and productivity might need to increase. However,  changing locations isn’t so easy as a lot of things must be taken into consideration.

With these tips, you should be able to switch locations effortlessly.

However, make sure the location you are moving to is better than your current location.

Also, take the security of your businesses seriously to avoid being a victim of theft. Do not rush your moving process. Take your time to plan it and follow every step carefully to avoid damaged or missing properties. In essence, a well-planned relocation hardly ever goes sideways.

In addition, give your employees time to adjust to the new environment after relocation. The change of location might affect some employees and they might start coming to work late because they now live far away and you might need to create an incentive. They will also need time to get the hang of the new office.