7 tips for moving business premises in 2021

Moving house may be stressful, but moving business premises is even more stressful. After all, wasting time means wasting money.

You’ve found a new business premises for a new year with better terms on the lease and in a better location — what now?

How do you go about finding the right mover to help you, and how do you make the process as seamless as possible for you, your staff, customers, and suppliers?

1. Get rid of what you don’t need

Ask yourself whether that stuff you have in the backroom truly sparks joy, or whether it’s just sitting there.

Much like moving house, moving business premises is a good opportunity to take stock (both literally and figuratively).

If you don’t have a great inventory management system [internal link], now may be the time to invest in one.

Once you‘ve a handle on exactly what you have sitting in the bowels of your stockroom, you’ll have a better idea of what‘s necessary to move and what you can be rid of.

2. Hire a great professional moving company

You can try and move yourself to save a few dollars, and in these times that’s an appealing proposition, but by hiring professionals you may potentially save time and sanity.

Any mover worth their weight will have plenty of experience helping businesses move premises and will be able to give you the insight of their experience — not to mention a big truck.

Different movers will also have different experiences, and some may specialise in moving offices or specialist equipment for example — so make sure you talk to your potential mover first, or read reviews online.

3. Plan, plan, plan

A good carpenter measures twice and cuts once, and in much the same way, a little bit of time spent planning now may save you time (and money) later.

Have a plan in place for two weeks before the move, the week of the move, the day of the move, and what will happen when you open the doors on your new place.

All small business owners will know that time is money and planning rather than going with the flow means a more effective move with minimum downtime.

A great moving company should even help with the planning process, rather than just turning up on the day.

4. Communicate with staff and customers alike

Putting up a sign saying ‘we’re moving next week’ isn’t the best way to do things, unfortunately.

Giving plenty of notice to staff and customers alike is the best way to go and be ready for plenty of questions.

Regular customers may want to stick with you during the move or find out how they can order from you online.

For staff, a new premise means switching up their whole life.

Making sure they have plenty of time to work out how they’ll get to work from now on, or even if they’ll be able to, is paramount — especially if your staff will be helping you with the move.

5. Make sure you have utilities sorted — it may take longer than you think

There’s nothing quite like getting to a new premises only to find out that it’s going to take a week or so for the Internet to be connected — all the while you’re trying to run POS systems off a hotspot on your phone.

That’s not a great situation to find yourself in.

Instead, make sure you get in touch with your utility provider early and understand the process of getting your utility accounts switched over if applicable — and crucially, try and understand how long the whole process will take.

6. Make a checklist of all the customers and suppliers you need to tell about your new address

Just like your customers and staff, your suppliers are crucial stakeholders in your big move.

After all, moving to a new place might alter how much they need to charge you for supplies.

Or, there may be a better supplier able to service your new location. In any case, making sure suppliers are kept apprised of any potential move is just the polite thing to do.

7. Label everything

There’s absolutely nothing worse, no matter if you’re moving house or business, than having a bunch of unmarked boxes, but needing to find one specific thing.

That’s why taking the time to sort everything out before your move can save headaches down the road.

Usually a big marker on a cardboard box will do the job, but if you have multiple bits of equipment that multiple people use (computers, for instance) — it pays to individually label them.

Gediminas Burinskis is the founder of Wise Move and Up Move, helping Australian and New Zealand businesses connect with moving companies to make their next move as seamless as possible.