Moving your business to a new office can be a hassle. From organisational errors to skipping steps in the process, simple mistakes can cost your business a lot of money.
So, how should you handle your office relocation in a stress-free and smooth running fashion throughout the process?
In this article, we will share the most important tips on moving your office, including:
- Benefits of moving your company to a new office
- Planning the office move
- Announce the moving
Benefits of moving offices
While moving your business to a new office space may be a lot of hassle, there are a lot of benefits that can improve your company’s growth in the future.
You get a chance to improve your brand identity
Feeling like your company is lacking behind in branding? Changing offices allows you to create a workplace with a stronger, updated brand identity.
You can use the chance to work with interior designers, who can help you with creating an office where employees would love to spend their time and feel motivated.
You have more place to grow
Moving to a bigger office allows you to scale your business. Hiring new employees, introducing new teams and even bringing in more tech and equipment to help you develop your business.
Saving money in the future
Relocating your business to a modern building can help you with cutting down on the electricity bill. New buildings retain heat better in cold weather and this way, you can save on financial resources that can be invested in growing your business. It’s also an environmentally friendly move, don’t you think?
Planning the office move – step by step
Changing offices is a lengthy process that most businesses go through when they’re expanding. While relocation can happen multiple times, the first time is often the most tedious one, especially if the people organising it has little experience.
Depending on the size of your current office, the size of the business and the number of employees working in it, you may have to prepare a relocation plan as early as a couple of months in advance.
Inform your employees
Moving to a new location is stressful for everyone in the company. In order to maintain everything under control, it’s best to keep your employees well informed throughout the whole process.
Let them know in due time if they need to move any personal belongings themselves and provide any help if needed.
Define your budget
It’s crucial to know exactly how much you can spend on relocation. This would include moving all of your current furniture and equipment from your office to the new place, branding of the new office, hiring a company for your moving needs, as well as resolving any settlements you may have with your current landlord.
Consult with your accountants on how much your company can afford to spend on this endeavour and plan around 20% more for any unexpected expenses.
If you’re tasked with planning an office move within a company, make a list with all the companies and vendors that you’ll have to work with, and get a hold of all the documents that may need approval and signing.
Find a new office
Once you have the budget for your business relocation it’s time to find the new place where you’re going to move your office.
Finding the perfect spot can take some time, so it’s best to start scouting for a place early on. Make sure you have set criteria for what you’re looking for. Approaching the right commercial property agent is important, as well.
Assign project leaders
Moving an office is a task like any other. Depending on the size of your company, you may have to assign project leaders to help you with the organisation and planning.
You can delegate tasks to each manager. As they are responsible for their own team, your managers can give individual assignments to each employee within the department. This will naturally ease the process and limit the room for any mistakes which may occur.
Find the right company to help you with the relocation
Hiring “any” company to relocate all of your tech and furniture to your new office isn’t always the best solution. We advise you to take your time and have at least three or four companies interviewed before you make your final choice.
Request quotes and information on previous jobs they’ve done, as well as don’t hesitate to speak with other companies they’ve worked with. Office relocations almost always have to be done within tight schedules and there’s little room for mistakes. Ideally, you should be looking for a moving company with a lot of experience in the field.
Schedule and coordinate everything
Once you’ve got everything sorted out, you should schedule your move and coordinate each task between the movers, your employees and anyone else involved in the moving.
This means that you may have to speak with your communication service providers to have your internet and telephone lines set up at your new office and make sure to transfer other utilities well in advance.
Announce the moving of your company
In order to smoothly transition to your new office, you have to make your office move public. Contact any businesses that you work with, change the address on your website, get in touch with your local government and organise your mail redirection in time.
Conclusion
Moving your office is an important decision that will affect your business immediately. So it’s up to the higher management to prepare and coordinate everyone in the company in order to make the process smooth and pleasant.
Create an action plan that works for your business and keep the communication between the departments. And remember that it’s always better to ask for help than to risk problems along the way.
