Kevin Gardner, Negosentro | Your business can only stay in one location for so long. Maybe you want to move into a larger building to accommodate its newfound growth, or perhaps you want to move closer to the city where you can reach more customers. Regardless, moving can help you achieve these and other goals. But moving can also be stressful, especially when certain precautions are not taken. If you’re thinking about moving your business in the near future, consider the following five tips for a faster, less stressful relocation.
#1) Choose the Right Location
Arguably, the most important step in moving your business to a new area is choosing the right location. If you move to an area with too much competition from other businesses, you may struggle to attract customers and generate sales. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has an online tool that can help you choose the right location. Known as the SizeUp tool, it reveals the average competition for your business’s industry in the specified city. To use the tool, enter your business’s industry and the city to which you are thinking of moving. It will then display a map with markers of nearby competitors. You can use the SBA’s SizeUp tool to choose an area with minimal competition, thus giving your business a head start at its new location.
#2) Keep Furniture Hardware
Whether it’s a conference table, executive office chair, cubicle or any other piece of furniture, you should keep all related hardware. If you disassemble your business’s furniture and can’t find the hardware after you finish moving, you won’t be able to put it back together. Unfortunately, this is an all-too-common problem encountered by businesses when they move. From small nuts and washers to bolts, screws, hinges and more, you should keep all furniture hardware in a sealed bag and secure it to the respective piece of furniture to which it belongs. Once you arrive at your business’s new location, you can reassemble the furniture using this hardware.
#3) Hire Professional Movers
Attempting an in-house move where you and your employees move everything may sound like a good way to save money on your business’s relocation, but it could end up costing you more in the long run. If items get lost, damaged or otherwise don’t make their way to your business’s new location, you’ll have to pay to replace them. Therefore, it’s recommended that you hire a professional moving company to assist in your business’s relocation project. If you’re moving to Texas, contact a moving San Antonio company for quotes. While hiring a professional moving company requires a monetary investment, it will likely save you money.
#4) Update Contact Information
When moving your business to a new location, you must update your contact information to reflect its new address. The accounting software and services provider Intuit explains that businesses should update their listings on social media and Google. When a prospect or customers searches for your business online, he or she should see the new address listed. If they see the old address, they won’t be able to find your business, let alone buy its products or services.
#5) Donate Items You Don’t Need
You’ll probably have some leftover furniture, equipment and other items from your move that you no longer need. Rather than hauling them to the local dump, consider donating them to a nonprofit charity organization. Habitat ReStore, for instance, will gladly pick your business’s unwanted furniture. Just tell them what furniture you’d like to donate, and they’ll send a van or truck to pick it up.
Moving your business to a new location can be stressful. You must disassemble the furniture, handle the information technology (IT) equipment, move utility services and more. But if you plan your relocation ahead of time, you can streamline the process and enjoy a smoother move.
