How To Manage A Commercial Move As A Small Business Owner

Make Your Customers Aware

When you’re moving premises, you need to make your customers aware of your plans and when they’re likely to take place. Don’t be too conservative with your estimates here; be honest, and thank your visitors for their patience.

This is to ensure anyone who wants to get in touch, or wants to buy something and get it delivered as soon as possible, isn’t let down by your lack of response. 

Popping up a notice on your website will ensure any new customers clicking for the first time know what to expect. Any previous customers can also be notified via email or your social media, if they’re following you or signed up to your mailing list. 

This is also the time to ensure your website works to the benefit of your customer during your move. 

Like we mentioned earlier, many people are still likely to head to checkout with a product in their basket, and may pay extra for ‘next day’ delivery. If you’re not going to be able to pack and ship their order in such a timeframe, be sure to remove this option from the checkout for the time being. 

Once again, you can put up a notice to inform your customers of why a 24 hour turnaround isn’t possible right now. This will help to keep your customer base in the loop, and lower the amount of confused (and possibly frustrated messages) you may get when people realise this option is missing!

Decide on a Time Frame

How long is it going to take to move your workplace from one to the other? It can be difficult to know exactly how long, but you can have a good educated guess for this. Give yourself enough time to move things back and forth, and then make sure there’s at least two extra days available just in case. 

For example, say you want to be in your new premises on the 1st of May. That would mean securing a new location at least three months beforehand, in late January or early February. If you’re building a new location, however, it would be best to start this process at least a year before. 

Once the new location has been secured, paid for, and signed over, you can initiate proceedings and get moving. The first thing to do is call around removal companies and get a quote that works for your budget, then make sure your staff are able to keep in line with the moving time frame too. 

Of course, if you’re going to be relocating a long distance, your staff will be the first people to notify. Some may have to find new jobs while others may be happy to relocate with you, but that’s something you need to give them plenty of time to decide over. 

Move Crucial Staff First

The more crucial the staff member is to the running of your company, the earlier they need to be set up in the new location. You want to keep their workflow interruptions to a minimum, as they’re helping to hold your business together at such a vulnerable time. 

Try to move these staff members in tandem. If you can, it will ensure coordination between your teams, even if you’re not around to personally oversee them getting settled in. 

Remember, there will be a crucial employee in every ‘department’. It’s not just your senior level team that needs to be moved before anyone else! Anyone with select skills, such as your IT support desk or your customer service expert, should be counted amongst these priority staff. 

Hire a Moving Company That Specialise in Commercial Jobs

You’ve probably got some very expensive and specialist equipment to shift. You’re going to need a removal company capable of handling such equipment; you don’t want a bunch of broken machines and smashed boxes to unload on the other side. 

You need to be sure your items have been handled with proper care, including being strapped down properly, stored in the vehicle correctly, and moved by proper lifting techniques that ensure no damage can occur. 

Not every removal company will be able to manage this, so do your research carefully. It may cost a little more to move a commercial company like your own, but that’s the kind of investment you make for peace of mind. 

Make sure there’s room in your moving budget for this higher hire cost, and shop around for as many quotes as you can possibly get. Like we mentioned earlier, if you start looking for the right removers early enough, you won’t delay proceedings by not being able to find the right ones! 

Constructing Your Own Office? Invest in a Temporary Modular Space

Those moving to new premises where they’re managing a construction project are in for a bit of a nightmare. You can’t get up and running properly until the office has been fully built, fitted, and assessed as a safe place to operate a business. 

That could be months from now, especially if something has occurred to make you leave your old premises unexpectedly early.

So what can you do? Well, a temporary office space will provide you with somewhere safe, warm, and powered to work. That ensures any ongoing work you’re heavily invested in won't leave you stuck in the middle of a chronic downtime period. 

This way ensures that it matters far less how slow the project is coming on, or if you run into trouble at some point and have to find money somewhere in the budget. You’ve invested in modular buildings for your staff to use in the meantime, which can also be fitted with the necessary amenities for eight hour office work. 

Once your genuine office space has been completed to code, you can then have the temporary buildings taken down and removed. 

Draw Up a Layout to Work From

Once everything has been moved to your new space, and you’re good to use it for its intended purpose, it’s time to fit things into the right places. This can take a lot of time when you don’t have a pre planned layout to work from - so, make sure you do have one! 

Try to create a layout that’s ‘to scale’, as you can’t just sketch out a box and then scribble down furniture doodles inside it. That won’t give you the detailed overview you need here at all - take measurements, including depth, and use them to draw up the layout you really need. 

Once this layout has been put together, you may even find there’s a lot of space leftover. If that’s the case, you’ll have a good excuse for maxing out the office furniture budget in the new place! 

Think About Working From Home

If you run the kind of business that supports this model, why not get your staff to work from home whilst the move is ongoing? Again, this is a great way to ensure the essential workflow isn’t interrupted, and it provides a bit more flexibility to your team at such a hectic time. 

A hybrid working setup is usually beneficial, and it provides a lot more stability at a time when productive working is impossible anywhere else. 

Keep your business on the up by letting your team handle things where they are, and try not to fall into the trap of micromanagement that could even delay your moving timeline. 

Handle Your Commercial Move with Care

Moving your workplace from one site to another will always have its challenges. However, you can negate their effects from the get go by following guidance like that above. 

This will then ensure you handle your commercial move with care - and that’s the kind of result that keeps a small business like yours thriving for another day. 

So let’s get set and running properly by accounting for the many moving parts. Commercial moves might be a headache, but they don’t have to be the kind that tank your business!