Moving your business is a huge deal, whether you’re expanding your business to meet demand or shrinking office space now that workers are working remotely. Moving to a new workplace location can be as rejuvenating as moving to a new home. A chance to start again, clean up, and see the world through new eyes. However, it can be an overwhelming experience, especially for first-timers.
Here are our top five tips on what to do as you relocate your business:
- Be proactive
- Analyze your space
- Set your budget
- Decide if you’re going to buy or lease a property
- Research locations
You know it’s time to shift your small business to greener pastures when you realize it’s time to move to a new home. It’s a significant undertaking that requires a lot of planning, whether you’re moving to a better location for sales, a spot that will save you money, or a larger facility.
Things To Do When Moving Your Business or Office
Whether you’re a small, home-based firm with no employees or a major corporation with hundreds of staff, shifting to a new office location is never easy. However, you can help shorten the process with the correct checklist, ensuring a seamless and worthwhile shift.
1.Be proactive
Many firms take far too long to make a decision. You’ve waited too long if staff are tripping over each other and can’t find a peaceful meeting spot. It will be challenging to manage a problem-free shift and transfer to a new area.
Delaying your space needs for too long might result in production errors, poor customer service, and significant staff turnover. Therefore, it’s a good idea to prepare ahead of time for your space so that it meets both your current needs and future expansion goals.
Keep an eye on your space requirements frequently, significantly if they’re changing rapidly—for example, due to expansion or new product lines. Start planning ahead of time, rather than when a lack of space disrupts operations.
2.Analyze your space
When you run out of room, look at your workplace to see if you can restructure it to make it more efficient. An expert in operational efficiency can assist you in determining a better plan that saves you both space and money. For example, instead of investing $5 million on a new structure, you might be able to save $20,000 by reorganizing your area with an efficiency exercise.
3.Set your budget
Make a budget for your real estate requirements. The quantity of money you have available is perhaps the most crucial consideration when limiting your choices. Whether renting or buying a new facility, you should set aside a considerable portion of your budget to cover additional expenses. These include costs that don’t fall under the base rent or building purchase price.
Lease incidentals like utilities, insurance, maintenance, renovations, and moving expenditures are extras. Learn how to develop a commercial real estate budget that considers all prospective and hidden costs.
4.Decide if you’re going to buy or lease a property
Determine whether leasing or purchasing is the best option for your company. It is a critical decision to make before you begin looking for locations. There are numerous aspects to consider, but leasing may be a better alternative if you run a small firm with limited operating cash.
Purchasing, on the other hand, is frequently less expensive than renting. As a result, it’s an exceptionally suitable alternative for more established firms with plenty of cash on hand, as well as those with specific space requirements that necessitate considerable upgrades.
5.Research locations
Your budget will aid in the selection of a site. Consider accessibility for clients and suppliers, parking and public transportation, shipping and receiving convenience, neighboring services, zoning difficulties, and growing capacity when choosing a location.
A common blunder is to overlook the demands of employees. Ensure you get employee feedback on potential sites, and take them to possible places to gain their support for the transfer.
6.Negotiate effectively
To achieve a favorable lease or purchase agreement for the facility, it’s critical to bargain well. Also, make sure you have the right team of commercial real estate advisers on your side. A good business real estate lawyer is essential.
Finally, you shouldn’t just sign whatever the landlord hands you regarding leases. In detail, examine all ancillary expenditures and duties, such as utilities, property tax, insurance, and maintenance.
Perform rigorous due investigation before making a purchase. Obtaining environmental and building condition evaluations, getting an appraisal, performing a title search, and studying vendor papers, such as previous utilities and repair bills, are examples of this. Also, give the bank ample time to analyze the deal before approving financing; this can take up to six weeks.
7.Create a timeline
Collaborate with staff to develop a transition schedule. Renovations, transferring assets, setting up phones and the Internet, buying new furniture or equipment, producing signs, and marketing your new address could all be part of the schedule. Determine who will be in charge of specific tasks. Having someone in charge of the overall transition can be beneficial.
8.Build up an inventory
You may wish to build up extra inventory before the transfer to guarantee that you have enough stock on hand to meet production and client demands.
9.Give yourself extra time
Transitions are frequently longer than anticipated. Businesses often underestimate production downtime during relocations, and renovations frequently exceed planned costs. In addition, companies frequently underestimate how disruptive a change will be. Some transitions can take weeks to complete before everything is in order, and others take months to complete.
10.Consider a staggered move
Consider keeping both spaces—the present and new ones—for a short time and shifting machinery and inventory on a staggered timetable. It minimizes the impact on workflow.
11.Communicate
Good communication with employees, customers, and suppliers is essential during the change. Talk to them early about the transition to address any concerns before interrupting your business. Also, keep in mind to make frequent announcements online about your move, and be as specific as possible about what customers expect along the road.
Marketing Tips for Moving Into a New Area
Regardless of the reason for the move, relocating a business is a significant step, and it’s also essential to keep your company’s web information up to date.
It’s easy to overlook updating your company listings until you’ve established your new home. But on the other hand, a change of address can have a detrimental impact on your digital performance, and it’s best to update as soon as possible.
Tip #1 – Inform Your Customers
It’s critical to notify your consumers when you’re relocating, whether you’re moving a few blocks, across town, or out of state. Sending emails and communicating with your fans on social media are two excellent ways to get the word out that your company grows.
It’s crucial to provide your new address, an opening date, and any days your firm will be closed during the transition. Of course, not everyone interacts with your company via email or social media. So you’ll need to reach out to them in other methods, which leads us to our next point.
Tip #2 – Update Your Online Marketing Strategy
It takes a lot of effort to relocate. You may feel compelled to put your content marketing strategy on hold, but we urge you to keep publishing. Whether you post blogs or construction/design updates, readers will visit your website to learn more about your company and remain up to date on what’s going on.
During your relocation, you can concentrate your content strategy on your company’s services and the advantages of doing business with you. In addition, you connect with your audience by continuing your content marketing activities during the changeover.
You won’t have to start from scratch once you’ve moved to your new location this way (and remember, marketing all year is essential).
Tip #3 – Search Engine Optimization
One of the most critical elements in your marketing strategy, especially before you move, is providing customers with accurate and consistent information about your move online. Make sure you claim all of your listings on social media platforms such as Facebook, Google, Yelp, and the Better Business Bureau.
Just because you haven’t created a listing for your company doesn’t imply it exists. Sometimes listings are made automatically and go unclaimed without your knowledge.
Moving Your Business: Know What To Do
A successful business transfer requires an organized, precise, and well-thought-out plan. A corporate move that isn’t well-planned can soon devolve into chaos, resulting in lost time and money. Finally, it’s time to pause and celebrate if you’ve made it through a workplace relocation without too much worry. We hope our list proves helpful in getting you organized.
831 Movers
2234 Thomas Ave, Santa Cruz, CA 95062, USA
(831) 212-3330
