Cindy Del Rio, Negosentro.com | Relocating a company can be a rather stressful experience if not planned carefully. There are numerous things that could go wrong ranging from damaged equipment and misplaced files to suffering a loss in sales and issues with stakeholders. The last thing you would want is to suffer significant revenue loss due to poor planning and even worse execution. That’s why we’ve prepared these helpful tips you should use to ensure a stress-free company move.
Set up a proper budget
Company relocation is an expensive business and as such requires you to consider every little cost including various fees, deposits, move costs, penalties, employee overtime, as well as insurance deductibles. Have in mind that your company will be offline during the move, which means you will be losing potential revenue. You can always consult a real-estate agent or a company that specializes in office relocation to inquire about any additional costs you might overlook during the chaos. Make sure you set aside extra funds in case anything goes wrong, as it often does when relocating an entire company.
Create a timeline and stick to it
Moving a company without an official timetable can quickly turn into a mess you can hardly get out of. What most business owners fail to realize that things often don’t go as planned and some things such as furniture or company equipment may not arrive in time. This is why it’s best to add a couple of more days to the timetable just in case. You should plan your timeline in stages and only move to the next stage once the previous one has been completed in order to avoid making any mistakes during the actual move.
Review your company’s lease
Leasing an office space has its own legal issues and terminating your contract early may result in various penalties and you might lose the privilege of subleasing the space. Make sure you go over the contract and its terms regarding both the old and the new space you’ll be moving into. Most leasing contracts demand to make a deposit which might not be returned if your contract is terminated early and require you to lease the space for at least a couple of years. This might prove itself to be a rather challenging issue, especially for startups and small businesses. If that’s the case with your business, then you might want to consider using a shared office.
Discuss the move with your vendors
Running a business means that you have to deal with a lot of different firms, including various vendors for things such as the cable, the internet, phone, cleaning companies, as well as companies that work with foods and beverages. They need to know exactly when and where you’re moving in order to ensure that their services will also be available at the new location. This also includes the electricity, cooling and any other amenity needed to run a business.
Furniture and equipment
Terminating a leasing contract might result in you not being allowed to move your furniture and equipment. Even if you are allowed to move your furniture, you need to consider whether moving it in the first place actually makes financial sense. Maybe selling your old furniture and getting new or used ones requires far less money than having a couple of massive truck hauling all your equipment to a faraway location. Cheap storage Melbourne experts recommend storing all furniture and equipment that isn’t absolutely necessary for running your business, as you can easily sell them if you have to and invest that money into something new and more modern. Just because you’re relocating a company does not mean that you literally have to move every single thing.
Additionally, double check the legal requirements for your new locations. Different states may have different rules and regulations, which is why it’s always a good idea to consult your attorney before making the move. You don’t want to have your entire business put on hold due to not filing the appropriate paperwork and lose valuable resources while waiting.
Don’t forget to let your customers know about the move and be patient until your business is completely set up. This also includes updating your company information such as the address, PO box, and telephone number. Even if you do everything right you might still end up with some disappointed and aggravated customers and suppliers. Just be patient and don’t rush anything, you will thank yourself later once the company is fully set up.
