Everybody knows that office relocations are stressful, and even the best-laid plans often go awry or miss a crucial step. Everybody also knows that, in the process moving offices, you must remember to notify your suppliers and tell your clients you’ve moved.

But what about the other things that get forgotten?

There’s so much to do in an office relocation that you’re bound to forget something here or there. In this post, we’ll highlight the four important things that get forgotten about in office relocations so that you can write them down and make them a priority. Let’s start.

1. Update your address online

This seems like an obvious point, but it’s one that many business owners forget – especially in the midst of stressful office relocations.

You need to make sure that all citations of your address online are accurate. Remember to check and update:

• Your website. It’s likely that your address is on your ‘contact us’ page, in your page footers and in your Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy. You need to update all of these, especially the latter two – they’re legal documents!
• Social media sites like Google+ and Facebook which may list your address;
• Directories and listings like Google Places, Yelp, etc;
• Other websites that may contain your contact information, like those of your partners and suppliers, professional associations, trade groups etc.

2. Update your contact details with your domain name registrar

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) requires domain name registrars to maintain accurate contact details for domain name owners in the WHOIS database.

If you move offices, you need to let your domain registrar know and update your contact details. As the owner of your website’s domain, you are responsible for providing and updating full, accurate contact information ‘to facilitate timely resolution of any problems that arise in connection’ with your domain. Providing false or out-of-date information is grounds for cancellation of your domain name registration, and no domain means no company website.

Note: if you’re a Pensar client using our domain and DNS management service, all you have to do is notify us of your impending move. We’ll take care of the rest.

3. Notify Companies House

If you run a limited company, you need to notify Companies House about any changes to your registered office address.

You also need to tell Companies House if you’re changing where company records are kept (if different from your registered address) and provide the address of the place they will be stored.

4. Update marketing materials

You’d be surprised by how many of your marketing materials contain your full address. That’s why you should check (and update them) so that they accurately reflect contact details like phone numbers, office hours and your location(s). Remember to check:

• Landing pages, banners and other online marketing materials that might have your phone number or address on them;
• Flyers, brochures and direct mail materials (which may contain a return address);
• Marketing emails which, by law, must contain your contact address;
• Email signatures for your staff; and
• Signage and banners that you may use at events like conferences or trade shows.
  

Preparation is your key to success

Office relocations can be stressful, but a little preparation goes a long way.

The key to not forgetting anything in the throes of an office relocation is planning. Use these resources to make planning and preparation easier:

• The essential office relocation checklist for IT departments
• A guide to opening your first European office
• 3 common IT mistakes businesses make when opening an overseas office

Enlisting the help of an IT partner make a huge world of difference too. They’ll take care of the business-critical things like cabling and wireless infrastructure, hardware and software provisioning and your phones and video conferencing facilities – just to name a few. With the help of an IT partner, you’ll be able to minimise business interruption and downtime and ensure your team is productive from day one.

So there you have it: 4 important things that you need to remember in the midst of your office relocation, and resources for making the move go as smoothly a possible. Remember to plan, prepare and be proactive – and let us know if you need some help.