If you are still thriving in this gut-wrenching economy, good for you! If you are expanding, even better – that only means you did something right, and we applaud you for it.
But even though you are a business mogul, you still need a little bit of assistance in terms of additional (side) business stuff, right? Right. Everyone does.
Stuff like organizing meetings, paying bills on time, not missing out on your associates’ luncheon, moving offices is way easier and less nerve-racking when you’ve got a helping hand around and a trustworthy one, don’t you think?
Since you are moving your business, consider today to be your lucky day – we’ll help you tackle some most important organizational aspects of your move, so sit tight and read on (or let your assistant read it for you).
Start in time
Since you’ve probably already evaluated the market and realized this is the right time to move, then start with all the preparations as soon as possible. And while it may seem you’ll do things easily, there’s much to a business move to think about – your clientele, getting everything sorted, talking to the employees, organizing movers, not leaving debts behind, etc. Don’t procrastinate; find the time to start now.
Talk to your clients
It doesn’t matter if you are moving to another city or just a few blocks down the street – your clients still need to be kept in the loop. Don’t ruffle them up; simply, explain you are expanding, and that you just need a little patience on their end. Let them know you value their support and that you’ll be there for them even during the move. They’ll appreciate you being upfront and honest.
Label everything
The move itself is horrific unless you’re organized. Labeling everything – from larger office equipment like scanners, printers, desks, chairs, etc. to smaller stuff like folders, pens and fax paper plays a significant role in the process of the move. The best thing to do is itemize everything by category – use different containers for different equipment and label each container with the type of equipment stored. That way, packing will make more sense and unpacking will be way easier. Plus – if you pack (and label) things right from the get go, you won’t lose anything during your move.
Get help
No, you can’t do it all alone, despite what you might think. Get help from your trustworthy colleagues/friends or hire someone to help pack. However, make sure you’ve done a background check on them – you don’t want anything stolen in the process. Further, agree on the way packing’s done – the same set of rules applied to everything and everyone (what goes where) will make things much quicker and prevent confusion.
Organize movers
Since business moves are rarely done in a spur of the moment, organize movers in time. You don’t want to have everything packed and ready to go, the new lease paid and clients informed but have nobody to actually move your business to another location. Schedule movers a month or two earlier and then call a week earlier to the date arranged for confirmation.
Leave things in order
Leaving your offices in chaos is not the way to be remembered by your now-former landlord. Have respect for the time spent there and the people you’ve been entrusted the space by and make sure everything is left in order. Since everything about your move is going to be pretty frantic (no matter how calm and organized you are), you probably won’t have the time to do the cleaning yourself. So, you can hire services for removing junks.
Keep contacts
If you are moving towns, it’s essential you keep your current contacts alive; after all, you never know what you may need in a month or so, and you want to have a few friendly doors to knock on. If possible, organize a get-together of your most important contacts, a month or so before you leave. Tell them you are leaving and you wanted to have a friendly goodbye with them. Turn that get-together into a mingle, with everyone satisfied with the food, drinks and program you’ve prepared. There isn’t a person in this world who doesn’t enjoy a little down time, so make sure you throw one hell of a party.
Approaching your moving with a clear mind and a well-thought out plan is key; don’t sweat the small stuff and start in time. You’ll be good!
