An office relocation is one the most stressful events on a small business’s calendar. It’s disruptive, it’s complex and it can be expensive.
But here’s the thing most people don’t realise: one of the biggest costs associated with an office relocation often appears several months after the move (especially if you’ve moved cities). And it can dwarf all the other costs if you’re not careful.
Moving offices disrupts your daily business activities – and not just on move day. An office relocation has the potential to leave a big dent in your annual turnover long after you’ve moved and settled into your new space, so it’s important to minimise potential disruptions as much as possible.
Here are some tips that will help you keep disruptions and costs down:
Make your technology infrastructure a priority, not an afterthought
Many small businesses underestimate how important their IT and telecommunications networks are. They’ll often only realise just how crucial uninterrupted communications are to their business when it’s too late.
Whether you’re a one-man band moving from a co-working space to a small office or a global corporation that’s relocating its headquarters, you need to make sure that all your technology equipment and services are set up, tested and functioning when you move in.
Pro tip: use our office relocation IT checklist to stay organised.
Contact all your suppliers and customers
This is such an obvious task, and yet many businesses overlook it. Just as you would when moving home in your private life, you should make sure that everybody who visits your office or sends you mail is aware of your new address.
You can send a mass email, have change of address cards printed, or perhaps even do both. How you do it is completely up to you. Just must make sure that nobody is forgotten, and remember to also update things like email signatures and footers, billing addresses, your website and your Google listing.
Have your calls forwarded to your new number
Losing business because your customers are calling a number that is no longer in use has to be one of the silliest ways in which your company could suffer during and after a big move.
No matter where you’re going or where you’re currently located, it’s easy to get all your calls forwarded for a small fee. This is not something that you will need to do for years to come; forwarding your calls for the first 3 to 6 months should be enough to make sure you don’t miss out on new business due to a prospective client only having your old contact details.
Further reading:
- 4 important things that get forgotten in office relocations
- The essential office relocation checklist for IT departments
Hold important meetings off-site
If you are due to meet with potential clients to discuss a multi-million pound deal, the last thing you want is for them to be distracted by the sound of a removal team dismantling desks and moving mountains of paperwork.
Rather than making your clients think that you’re disorganised, show them how well you have planned for your move by hiring an offsite meeting room where you can discuss the matter at hand without interruption. You can find lots of meeting rooms for hire in London here.
Issue staff with mobile devices
Key members of staff that will find it impossible to do their job without access to information held on your company databases should be issued with secure mobile devices that have read-only access to such information online.
Further reading:
- Why a mobile-savvy environment is good for your small business
- Is your hardware fit for a mobile workforce?
When it comes to office relocations, preparation is key
If you plan in advance and don’t just expect everything to magically fall into place, there’s no reason why your office relocation should cost you a fortune in lost opportunities. Plan early and brief your team at the beginning of the moving process to make sure that they pass on all relevant information to the whole workforce.
Thinking about moving office? Let us help by taking care of your technology. Visit our Office Relocations page to learn more.
How to minimise disruption in an office move