8 Hacks for Moving Office
Moving – whether it’s your house or your office – can be a daunting task. Even worse, it’s not uncommon to deal with people in charge of an office move that have never managed one before. On top of that, downtime can cost small and medium-sized companies much-needed cash-flow. There’s a lot that can go wrong. Here are 8 office removal hacks to help make sure your relocation takes place according to schedule and within your allotted budget.
Find an experienced Commercial Real Estate Agent
Try to get a referral from someone you know who has used a good quality agent in the past. Otherwise, meet some seasoned agents and let them know your priorities and budget. Gauge their service level and if they’re slow about replying or not emailing you properties that check most of the boxes, seek out other agents. Don’t be afraid to drill them with questions. See how familiar they are with the location, the structure’s history, building management, other tenants, etc. It may be the case that your company decision maker doesn’t have time to run around all over town viewing various properties. If so, you’ll want to make a short-list of properties and explain to the DM their pros and cons.
Find a project manager to take ownership of the move
Congrats! You’ve found a great office space that meets your needs. Onward to the moving process. Now keep in mind moving office has a major impact on the bottom line, with one day of disruption potentially costing thousands of USD. You need someone who can take the reins for you and get the job done professionally.
Do some due diligence and find a person who has a good track record at setting budgets, meeting deadlines, and motivating people to get things done. This is probably the single most important factor in ensuring your move goes smoothly.
Get the right people involved
Now that you have a project leader, you need input from the various departments in your firm like marketing, HR, and IT. That way, you’ll be able to determine the needs of the business whilst getting the proper input from your key people. Having the right people running point at the beginning decreases the risk of someone making the wrong decisions.
Hearing out the heads of your departments will help you work out the office design, layout, equipment and furniture you’ll need. Communications are key so know what it will take to move your IT equipment and servers to the new office. If you have some legacy equipment that’s nearing the end of its life or fully depreciated, this may be the ideal the time for an upgrade. For your telecom needs, consider ditching the old PBX, controllers, and yearly maintenance contracts and moving to a hosted cloud platform. Not only will this drastically reduce your OpEx, your IT team will be able to get your new network up and running much faster by not having to deal with the hassle of tearing out the PBX and setting it up again.
Get multiple quotes for all the services you need
Once you’ve worked out what the business needs from the move, you can decide on the specialist services you need. You may want to hire an office designer or furniture supplier. Undoubtedly you should include an experienced office removals firm and IT relocation specialist.
Request quotes from companies in each area. When it comes to your office removals company, ask them about what extra services they offer. Most good ones have partnerships with IT relocation specialists, or even employ them in-house. They should help your project manager plan the move.
Ask for recommendations from previous clients
Perhaps you’ve received quotes from multiple service providers. The prices are similar. They all look professional and trustworthy. How do you choose between them?
- Read through their Google/yelp reviews
- Check their website and look for case studies and testimonials.
- Ask for the contact details of recent happy clients who are similar to you. Any good provider will be more than happy to do this, and it offers great peace of mind.
Red-eye Truckin’
When it’s time for your relocation, there are a number of factors that can slow you down. Traffic, access restrictions at the new building, elevator and staircases being in use, and limited parking etc. These variables can lead to the move taking longer than expected and possibly going over time and budget.
The easiest way to get around this is to have your removal company move you overnight →if your new building is accessible. Fewer obstacles mean a faster move. Then all you have to do is unlock the door to your new office the next morning, with everything moved, unpacked and set up for you. This also cuts the potential business disruption to an absolute minimum.
Have staff label stuff before the move
We don’t want staff to waste hours packing during the business day. But if you can get them to label everything clearly before the move, then this is a great help to your office removal company. By doing this, you’ll ensure files, paperwork, monitors, stationary, chairs and everything else are all in the right place once the move is done.
Tell your customers you’re moving
First, you inform all your customers about the change, in case they need to get in touch with you. That’s common-sense customer service. Update your company blog, FB page, and other social media accounts announcing the move.
Second, you can use this as a marketing or upselling opportunity. It’s an excuse to reach out to old clients you might not have been in touch with for a while. It can be a professional sort of humble-brag, let them know your business is expanding and moving upward, yet you needn’t come across as boastful. You may even use it as a reason to make a special offer to your customers – “To celebrate our relocation, we’re offering this one-time deal..” You might even throw a “Office-Warming Party”event with some light snacks & drinks so customers can check out the new location.
Following these tips hopefully you can avoid landmines and reduce the expenses and disruptions of moving. Ideally, you can turn it into a promo point for your biz to boost sales!