How to Plan Moving Your Office to a New Location

Save yourself a lot of trouble by planning!

By: Shelly Verma, Contributing writer

Image courtesy of Abad Mahava

Moving your office to a new location may seem daunting, but if you plan accordingly it can be broken down into a series of simple tasks. By asking yourself some simple questions and following the steps below, you can ensure that your office move is timely, budget, and hassle free. It is a good idea to also get a credit report for yourself and your business when you move. You can ensure that the new address is reflected and also serves as a good reminder to check for any errors in your credit report.

Do you really need the move?

The purpose of your office relocation must be really clear before you start thinking about the actual move (e.g. breaking your lease, how long of a lease do you need, planned growth or contraction of the company). These things are very important and should be considered when defining your needs and mapping out the moving plan. There are some big decisions that must be made before gearing up to move such as details of the existing lease, notice period, and your existing obligations or liabilities.

[pullquote]Work should begin once the project leader has been appointed.[/pullquote]Be clear about what you require:

You need to be clear about your basic strategic and operational requirement. This will make the move much smoothers and save you and your employee’s valuable time. There are some important aspects that you must think about when you start planning:

• Where do you want to move your office?
• How much space do you think you need?
• What features do you in need your new office?
• Do you require lease? What is the type and length of lease you want?

Put together the right office move project team:

A successful office move is a major task that requires a collaborative effort. It is important to build a team with the right members to ease all facets of the move. It is vital to put a project manager in charge of the move process and include both current employees and external members on the team.

Start planning early:

There’s a lot of work to be done, so it’s better to start early. Remember, it is impossible to plan too far ahead. Work should begin once the project leader has been appointed.

[pullquote] allocating finances to various aspects of the move is very important.[/pullquote]Create a realistic budget:

In the planning stage, allocating finances to various aspects of the move is very important. This will help you assess your costs and manage them throughout the process. Try to manage most of your costs by using credit cards. This will give you time to manage your finances, and you will not be burdened with paying for heavy expenses such as paying for professional movers, purchasing new equipment, or costs associated with setting up the office.

Get some professional help:

Moving to a new office is not only complex but, it can also be stressful and time-consuming. Besides employee payroll, property costs are one of the biggest expenditures for a company. Any decision you make will impact your company’s prosperity. If you feel that the move is turning out to be stressful and you cannot manage it on your own, you should consider hiring a professional moving team. The team will help guide you through the process, save you money in the long run, and make sure you don’t overlook anything important.
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Take advantage of the opportunity:

Moving your office is the best opportunity to clear out old files and storage areas. Remember to backup all important documents in case they are destroyed during the move.

The key here is “Planning, planning, planning!” If you have planned well in advance, you will save yourself a lot of trouble during the move.

A lot like life, isn’t it?

Shelly Verma is an avid business writer touching on topics from higher education, career improvement, self-help and home improvement.