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Tips on Moving Your Business

Whether up the street, on the other side of town, or across the country, moving is a significant event in the life of any business. The good thing is that you probably won't move often. But when you do, there are several things you should know that will make this major project flow smoothly.

Relocating a business, even a two-person office, is a time-consuming job that requires careful planning. By planning ahead, much can be done to minimize the impact and trauma of the experience, it can even be fun.

Have a Good Reason

Carefully examine the decision to relocate. If you've lost your lease, obviously you have no choice but to move. Consider other possibilities. Could more efficient use of present space, coupled with purging and remote storage of inactive files and un-needed furniture and equipment, make this move unnecessary? If there is even a slight chance that the current facilities could work, calling in a space planning consultant might spare you the inconvenience and expense of moving.

Key Issues

If you are seriously thinking about relocating your business, some key issues need to be addressed during the earliest planning phases:

• Make a list of all the pros and cons so you and your staff clearly understand the underlying need for the move and what it should accomplish.
• Consider timing of the move, the expense, employee relocation (if any), and minimizing downtime and lost production.
• When is the best time to move? Are there seasonal fluctuations or other considerations that could affect this decision?
• How much will the move cost?
• What percentage are you and your staff going to do yourselves?
• How will this relocation impact the employees?
• What effect will it have on overall productivity?

Organizing Your Moving Team

Often, one person can handle several assignments. Several of these responsibilities can be given to one person, but make sure each of these areas is assigned to someone:

• Choose a "move leader" and "move team" at least three months before the actual relocation.
• Select people to manage specific areas such as new office furniture, new equipment, electronics, communication, color coding, plants, decorating, morale, employee relocation (if needed), the budget.

Managing the move budget is a critical activity. It is a good idea to make area managers responsible for their individual budgets, subsequently funneling their expenses to the budget manager.

However you organize your moving team, whether it consists of one person or 500, the issues and decisions are always similar.

Depending on the scale, moving can be expensive, and unforeseen expenses tend to be the rule, rather than the exception. At the same time, there are ways you can judiciously save money. Allow enough time to thoughtfully weigh your options. Don't forget to save all receipts such as moving expenses that are tax deductible.

Plan, Plan, Plan

Most moving disasters result from poor planning.  However, even with the best planned moves, something inevitably goes wrong.  For these reasons, involve the entire staff in the relocation process, from the original decision to the open house.  Employee input opens the door to more creative solutions during every step of the move, while also increasing morale and productivity among the staff.

Purge

Preparing for a move is the perfect time to purge obsolete paperwork, archive old records to offsite storage, and get rid of other materials you really don't need any more. Allow plenty of time for this step, as it always takes longer than you anticipate. An added benefit is that the more you throw away or send to remote storage, the more you end up saving on moving expenses.

Choosing a Moving Company

When hiring a professional, interstate moving company or a smaller, local company, depending on your specific requirements, Future Moves of America is the best way to help you prepare, plan and execute the moving process. We will:

• Work with your company planner to prepare an RFP
• Establish a flow chart and plan to re-open for business on time
• Search and interview for qualified movers
• Search, interview, and collect third party bids for specialized equipment and work stations
• Coordinate walk-through with movers and any third party companies
• Compile bids for comparison, insurance, and references
• Color coding and numbering the new floor plan
• Educate your staff on how to pack and prepare for the move
• Provide packing and preparation hand-outs
• Suggest/make recommendations
• Manage costs – Maintain the budget

Great Time to Consider an Equipment Upgrade

A move prompts many companies to upgrade their telephone system and computer network, or at least plan for future upgrades. Be sure your moving plan provides for advance installation and testing. Even if you are downsizing your office rather than relocating, you might investigate the benefits of changing your phone and computer networks.

Get Rid of the Old Furniture and Buy New?

Deciding about office furniture is also part of the relocation process. In addition to buying new, you should think about refurbishing existing furniture or looking at used. Even panel systems are available on the secondhand market. If you decide to get rid of your old furniture, consider donating to charity rather than trying to sell it. It's far less trouble, and you can get a nice tax deduction.

With proper planning and the involvement of all your employees, a move can be a valuable exercise in building intra-office teamwork and improving morale and communications. The experience, while admittedly a lot of work, will also provide a break in the routine, and a chance to work together to solve the numerous problems that are an integral part of any move.

Establish Balance

Because relocation is going to divert people from their regular responsibilities to some degree, you will need to establish a balance between the move and getting the work done. When work flows slow, have your staff utilize this time to purge files and pack.

Another alternative is calling in professional help, which may increase the expense of the move itself, but could result in substantial savings of time and energy in the long run. Many resources exist to aid you including relocation consultants, space planners and architects, other small businesses, moving companies and even insurance firms.

You will need to contact your insurance agency to provide information on your new address, and make sure that any risks which could arise from the move itself are properly covered. Also consider hiring some casual labor to clean up the old space, and help pack and unpack in the new location.

With careful advance planning, most small businesses manage to move without drastic interruptions in delivering the products or services they market, and many relocate without closing down at all. One hint is to pack everything except the items needed for the immediate job at hand before the move. Those key items are the last packed and the first unpacked at the new location.

Every company undoubtedly has some unique requirement that necessitates special advance planning.

• Consider oversized objects and critical equipment to be moved.
• Call the manufacturer or contact an authorized dealer of the equipment to discuss if there are requirements for preparing the equipment for a move.
• Buy lots of boxes and tape – you’ll need more than you think.
• Color code and number each area of your new location with your mover’s assistance.
• Make preparation, packing, color coding and numbering for your employees a cinch - Arrange a packing seminar or hand out for your employees.
• Be sure to precisely label everything, from boxes to furniture and equipment.
• Color coding by destination helps ensure that items get delivered to their proper place at the new location.
• Post color-coded and numbered signs at the new site before moving.
• Design a schematic for each office for furniture placement – Post the schematic on the wall or door jamb for your mover – this will minimize assistance for placement in the new building.

Moving Day & Murphy's Law

After an enormous amount of planning, packing, decision-making, labeling and consolidation, the fateful day finally arrives. The experts advise you to remain calm and flexible, which is easy for them to say. Rollins relates an example of the unexpected things that can occur. "On the day of the move, an ice storm hit and everything came to a screeching halt. Not only were the roads impassable, but the cold weather ruptured a water main at the new location. When the moving company finally arrived, the whole basement was flooded.

So as to lessen disruption and avert customer service problems, consider scheduling the move after business hours, or closing down the operation for a day. Make sure you have adequate staff on hand to oversee the move itself (at both the old and new locations), and to field the inevitable questions that will arise. One suggestion is to move on a Friday. Give the employees a day off after the relocation was completed in exchange for coming in over the weekend to unpack so work can commence on Monday and customer impact is minimized.

If you are moving complex equipment with numerous interconnecting cables, leave cables attached wherever possible. Tape cords and cables to the appliances they serve, rather than boxing them, to avoid a frustrating search after the equipment is unpacked for reassembly.

After the Move

After you finally have everything under your new roof, there is still much work to be done. During the planning phase, establish a timeline for resuming normal operations in the new location. If you don't plan the moving process to completion and people stop before everything is unpacked, it will seem, in retrospect, as if the relocation took far longer than it actually did to complete.

For many businesses, a move can provide valuable public relations and marketing opportunities. For example, open houses, grand openings and kick-off sales can reinforce existing relationships with clients and vendors while also attracting new customers. Planning such events to coincide with the completion timeline will also help ensure that the schedule is met, and when that happens, you'll really have something to celebrate.

Basic Moving Checklist

• Complete negotiations with future landlord (for example, reduced or no rent at first, remodeling, special space or electrical requirements).
• Negotiate release of current lease, if necessary.
• Reserve new phone numbers, or arrange to transfer existing ones, with the phone company.
• Prepare artwork for announcement letter, business cards, stationery and envelopes.
• Get change of address cards from the post office, or create your own.
• Make appointments with the utility companies for cut offs and new hookups.
• Schedule phone installation.
• Design new office space, including use of old furniture or purchase of new furniture.
• Discuss plans with employees and solicit their input.
• Establish criteria for purging files and throwing out old materials.
• Have custom wiring installed for telephone/computer networks.
• Inform current customers of the move, visiting some in person, where appropriate.
• Arrange for extra help to pack, clean and unpack.
• Arrange for extra help at home for family needs.

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