Just like families can outgrow their homes, your company can also outgrow the current space. This is where Flood Brothers Commercial Relocation comes in. We can offer a solution, whether you plan to move locations or are experiencing rapid business growth. It is essential to have an office move checklist to let you have a smooth office relocation and reduce the challenges of an office move.
Below is a comprehensive office move checklist that covers everything from choosing the best relocation company to determining the moving costs. Follow through!
Six Months Before the Move
- Review your lease- Are you terminating your lease early? Are there damages you will want to repair before you move? Are there details about your lease contract that you need to pay attention to?
- Reach out to moving companies- Not every moving company can handle complex office relocations. Therefore, it is essential to contact moving companies, ask what they offer, and get one that best fits your budget.
- Figure out if you need relocation insurance coverage- Your company may have a unit or units of machines that may halt the operations if broken during the move. Even if it doesn’t, it is essential to have peace of mind knowing that you’re covered.
- Create a budget- Determine your moving costs and the services you can’t do without to avoid overspending.
- Assign a task crew- Select a point person in your company to take charge of the move. You should also determine whether you should get involved in the planning and moving process.
Three to Four Months Before Your Move
- Set a moving date- Once you find a new office space, you need to determine a moving date so that stakeholders can know what to expect. It is also essential to notify your landlord about the date you intend to move.
- Communicate with your task crew- Assemble the team involved and put a checklist of what they need to do before moving. You can also delegate responsibilities to each member of the task force.
- Notify parties beyond the company- You need to ensure that you inform suppliers, contractors, and vendors about your intentions to move.
Two Months Before the Office Move
- Create a floor plan- You don’t want to waste valuable time and effort moving around furniture, again and again, to settle on a floor plan that’s functional, so come up with a plan ahead of time. Remember to consider the location of power sockets and ethernet cables for computers, phones, and more – nothing’s more frustrating than setting up a space only to realize that the power cord won’t reach where you need it to, rendering your planning obsolete.
- Schedule phone and internet installation- You’re rarely lucky enough to move into a new office space with internet and phone services ready to go, so save yourself the headache of scrambling to figure it out yourself or get an installation company to help you by arranging this service ahead of time.
- Notify all other services you need ahead of time- Notify the security, cleaning, and landscaping companies before you move so you’re able to get in and settled quickly and comfortably.
One Month Before Your Move
- Let your suppliers and customers know where they can find you- Announce via email, physical signs, or social media to your customers where they can find you after the move. For suppliers, a quick phone call should resolve any outstanding or scheduled shipments.
- Gather moving supplies- Depending on the size of your business, this could mean just gathering up some cardboard boxes and renting a small Uhaul or coordinating a large-scale move with a professional moving service. Regardless, it’s best to take care of these things well before the date of your move so when it comes time, you’re well organized and have everything you need.
- Create an update of address listings- To ensure people know where and how they can reach you, update address listings on your business’s website, social media accounts, banks and financial institutions, accounts received and payable, listings on Google, Yelp, and other review sites, and anywhere else your address should be listed. Failure to do so can end up costing you a lot of business and results in confusion for your customers and clients.
Two Weeks Before Your Move
- Finalize moving plans with your team- To make sure everyone is on the same page, call and confirm plans with any companies you’ve hired to assist with your move, setup, and installation. Doing this two weeks in advance gives you time to fix any miscommunications that may have occurred.
- Back up important data and documents- This is done to ensure that you still have access all the important files you need should something become broken or damaged in the move or if you have a hard time rebooting things at your new office location.
One Week Before Your Move
- Pack and label all nonessential items- This would be a good time to remind employees to pack up and take home personal belongings and foodstuff they’ve brought to work with them, along with any other nonessential items lying around. This is less time you’ll have to send packing up all the more important office essentials when moving day gets closer.
- Audit keys, parking passes, and access cards- Create a master list of all of these things and identify who has what. As people turn then in on or before moving day, mark them off the list so you can have everything accounted for.
On Your Moving Day
- Set up your office using the blueprint you created- Remember the plan you created two months ago? Now is the time to put things into action and get your new office space set up the way you envisioned it.
- Plug your IT, phone, and internet systems- Maybe you won’t be needing to use these services to conduct business as usual on the day of your move, but you should still connect everything to ensure all is working properly. That way you can call the service provider or an installer to hopefully arrive the next day to make things right.
- Walk through your previous office to document damages- Just as you would when first moving into an apartment, go through your new office space and inspect everything thoroughly, noting any damage you see so you won’t be charged for them if you move in the future.
Contact Flood Brothers Commercial Relocation
Are you planning to move significant items in a data center or office to a new location? Contact us today at Flood Brothers Commercial Relocation to learn more about how our team can make your office relocation seamless.
