Moving office is a costly and time consuming process but can be essential for a growing business. Use our Office Moving Checklist to help make yours go smoothly!
Office moving can be the result of a company’s growth or the end of its current lease. Sometimes an office move can help you gain new streams of income or put you in the middle of new markets that can boost a business.
Whether you’re moving from a home office to a new workspace or relocating from one office building to another, choosing the right space and location can be a minefield. Location is key, but doing early and thorough research can help identify the most profitable new spot for your company.
Here are some ideas to think about your relocation:
- If you have clients visit the office:
- Is there enough local parking?
- Is it easy to find the building?
- Is it easy to find the office space within the building?
- Identify your staff’s needs:
- Do they own cars, and therefore need affordable local parking?
- Are there good transport links?
- Identify other local businesses:
- Investigate other businesses nearby. Are there potential links/issues with competition?
- Office Space vs Costs:
- Do you have enough space to grow the business?
- Is the office space affordable if you don’t grow as quickly as you’d like?
Once you have found your perfect office, the office move itself is the next obstacle to face. Since your whole business, or parts of it at various times, may be non-operational during the move, you want to make sure the process is as seamless as possible.
Use this Office Move Checklist to help your business relocate
- Make a Timeline
Obviously, the bigger your company, the longer you will require. Tell your employees as soon as a new office location has been selected to help them plan for the changes in commute. Schedule times / dates for transferring internet and phone (and mobile) services and obtaining the necessary permits, licenses and insurance policies.
- Allow for Additional Resources and Costs
Consider additional budgets for movers/transportation, and there may be an overlap where you have double office, electric, phone and internet costs. Schedule in time for additional moving tasks for your employees and recognise it can affect your staff’s ability to perform at their normal level of work.
- Professional Moves and Cleaners
Booking your movers and cleaners early will help establish final move deadlines. Check the references of the companies you hire to ensure they are a trusted and reliable supplier.
- New Furniture
Order any new furniture in advance so it’s ready for you on the move date.
- Update your letterhead, leaflets and business cards
Plan ahead by updating business card and leaflets beforehand.
- Finding the New Office
Can everyone find your location easily? Consider signage from roads, or along internal winding corridors, especially if the office is complicated to find.
- Changing your details online
This can be a huge job – your office location and contact details can be in hundreds of places online from your website, yell.com, to google maps etc. If you know the logins for all these locations it can be relatively easy, but if you don’t know the login it can take time to get the company to recognise your right to update. To find where your company details are, try googling your contact number ie “0845444444”. This usually helps identify directory listings that contain your company details.
- Keep everyone informed about the Move
Inform staff of progress and developments. Your clients and suppliers are going to need to make changes to your shipping and billing address too. Telling everyone early can prevent service disruption, but a reminder on the week of the move is also a good double check.
- Moving your IT Systems
With most companies being so heavily reliant on computers these days, this can be the most crucial task.
However it could also be the perfect time to look at your IT systems, current office equipment and computers. Do they need upgrading or replaced? This is a great time to view website move your systems to the cloud and do away with bulky servers or consider new configurations. Seamless transfer for your IT is very difficult and you should work with your in-house IT or IT partners to produce a detailed plan and consider any downtime in the transfer.
Make your office IT relocation easy for you
Having managed numerous office IT relocations, we can be your first port of call in managing all the factors involved in making your relocation smooth and efficient.
Our IT Office relocation service includes:
- A pre-move consultation
- Site survey to specify the location of all hardware and desk points
- Computer and Server relocation
- Migration of phone lines and internet
- Full back-up and security
- Step by step update on status and progress
If you need assistance with IT for your office move contact us for more information on 0800 331 7668.
Recent Comments