Moving an office is no small task. While hiring good office movers FL will take you far, it won’t be enough on its own. So if you want to complete the move successfully, you’d better put some time and effort into planning it properly. A good plan will save you a lot of trouble later on. Not sure where to start? Not to worry! We have put together a comprehensive step-by-step commercial relocation checklist to help guide you through the process. Just follow these instructions and your office move will be smooth as butter!
How can a commercial relocation checklist help make your office move easier?
You’ve probably heard the saying that failing to plan is the same as planning to fail. This is absolutely true for office relocation! A part of that planning is determining what you need to do (and then following through on it all).
Due to the complexity of business moving, it is virtually impossible to memorize everything you need to do in order to successfully relocate an office. This is where a commercial relocation checklist comes in handy. It will help you keep track of everything you need to do and help you do it in time.
Before you start going through a commercial relocation checklist, do some research!
While speed and enthusiasm are commendable when it comes to moving, jumping straight into it without any research is a bad idea. So before you start the process, make sure you look into the following:
- the terms of your current lease (expiration and potential fees in case of early exit)
- your business’ financial situation which will inform your moving budget
- the top-rated commercial movers FL in the area and their moving estimates
- insurance rates for any sensitive and fragile equipment you may be moving
Knowing this information will help you prepare for the move and make the right decisions when the time comes.
3 months before the move: get the ball rolling
You should start crossing things off your commercial relocation checklist at the latest 3 months before the move. This should give you enough time to get everything done without rushing. Of course, the earlier you start the better. But timing isn’t everything. You also need to know when to do what. You shouldn’t, for example, start with packing everything up when you still have months ahead of you.
So where should you start? At this point in time, we are still in the early stages. So work on setting things up. Start by booking your top choice movers for packing services FL, storage and commercial relocation, especially if you plan on moving during peak season. Create a detailed timeline for the move so that you can stay on track throughout and minimize the chance of problems. If you’re moving multiple departments, take that into consideration and break up the move into several stages for separate departments.
Finally, understand that you can’t do it alone. Instead, set up a working group of responsible employees you trust who will oversee the day-to-day happenings and help keep everything on track, reporting, of course, back to you at scheduled meetings.
2 months before the move: start preparing for the relocation
With 2 months left, it’s time to strap in and take things seriously. Think about all the physical preparations you need to make for the relocation:
- make an inventory of the furniture; set up a return for the things you renting and decide on what you want to sell and what you’re bringing with you for the things you own
- do an inventory of supplies and files as well; remember that some may need to be disposed of securely
- start putting together all the packing supplies you will need
- review the new space and plan for its design, keeping in mind any furniture you may still need to buy or rent
1 month before the move: make it official
As the move draws nearer, it becomes more important for everyone involved to be on the same page. So start conducting company-wide meetings. Inform everyone of the moving plan and specify any tasks they need to complete. Make sure to present them with a plan for the moving day as well as shortly before and after it, so that they all know what is expected of them.
Remember also that your move affects people outside of your business. So notify your vendors, start the change of address process with USPS, and make announcements to your business partners and clients. Put it all in writing to avoid any confusion and miscommunication.
1 week before the move: it’s crunch time!
A week before the move is when things really start to get hectic. Try not to panic though: if you planned ahead, you should have no problems now. Bring the packing of your office to completion, check in with everyone involved to make sure things are on the right track, update your websites with any off days if necessary, make sure your new office is set up, and complete final preparations for moving day.
What if you can’t suspend operations during the move?
Most business will close down for a couple of days during the move. If that’s not possible, we suggest scheduling the move for a day when you normally wouldn’t work (like the weekend, for example) or planning for it to happen when you don’t expect high volumes of business. The departments that are in direct contact with clients (like customer service) are the ones you want to run for as long as possible or, preferably, uninterrupted. So try to work with a skeleton crew, focus on channels of communication that can stay open even during a move and move the relevant departments in phases, always leaving someone available.
Moving day – completing your commercial relocation checklist
There’s really only one thing on your commercial relocation checklist for moving day: making sure everything goes to plan. Of course, that one thing is also the hardest of them all so rely on your team! Assign people to oversee movers, walk through the old space and make sure nothing is being left behind, and start unpacking in the new office. Following this advice should make your office move much easier!