Such an exciting time! You’re moving your Melbourne business to a new office and hopefully, it will be the space where you scale your company and realise your vision. Warning: don’t let the excitement ruin your long-term plans.
Moving a business actually requires some skill and extensive planning, or you could hamper your entire business’ functioning. Have you organised trailer hire Melbourne companies use to move large items? Did you do it soon enough so you can get the trailer you need on the day you need it? And how will your clients and suppliers know where to find you from now on?
From administration to implementing the moving plan, there’s a lot to be done. Use this checklist so you get it right.
Know Where You’re Going
From the moment you arrive at the new site, furniture, people and systems must be organised swiftly so you can simply carry on with your usual work. This takes careful planning.
Visit the new premises in person a few times or get a floor plan and perhaps some pictures. Ideally you need to allocate a new office, cubicle or floorspace for each of your team members. You need to know where furniture and equipment—from conference tables to printers will go:
- You want movers to place them where you need them
- With less moving about there’s less chance of damaging assets
- You won’t search for days looking for misplaced items that ended up in a storage room
Also consider interior design elements before you move in. Do it beforehand, so there’s no chance of paint dripping on your tables or designers disrupting your team hard at work.
Get Your Team Organised
You can’t simply jump in your cars, head over to the venue and move in. That will be chaos. Rather assign people specific tasks and better yet, create a team in charge of the moving, to organise their colleagues.
Get the Gear to Move Safely
It’s your decision whether you want to move or employ a professional moving company. With trailer hire, you can get a lot done while saving some cash in the process. The move can also be a team-building experience for you and your team.
General moving tips
- Use sturdy boxes
- Wrap furniture in protective layers
- Use furniture carrying straps if you plan on moving heavy items yourself
- Create ramps rather than navigating stairs
- Take equipment and furniture apart where possible
- Number boxes so you can easily count and see if all of them reached their destination
- Enable safe driving by keeping a trailer balanced and not putting all heavy items on one side
Contact EVERYONE in Your Network
Once you’re gone from your old address, will people know where to find you? An important administrative task is to compile a contact list of anyone that affects your business now, but also contacts from the past:
- Clients
- Suppliers
- Business partners
- Employees
- Community business leaders
- Charity organisations
If anyone wants to contact you in the future, make sure they have your new information. A simple email will be enough for most of them. For clients and suppliers, you’ll have to warn them well in advance. They may have to plan for scenarios like new delivery schedules.
Manage a Budget
A move has a lot of small expenses that quickly add up. Budget for as many of them as possible, so you don’t run into cash flow problems. For example:
- You’ll probably end up buying lunch for the team on moving day because you’ll see how hard they work.
- What about the cost of boxes or an extra roll of moving tape?
- Fuel for workers who use their own vehicles to help with the move
Make Sure You’re Covered
Insurance is an administrative task you need to handle long before the move. Find out what the costs are for cover at the new venue as well as for your assets while in transit. All these will be needed for an accurate budget.
Your broker must also know exactly when the new arrangement kicks in. Make sure you’re not accidentally left without business insurance cover for hours or days.
Ensure Swift Setup in the New Venue
You want to get back to work as soon as possible, so talk to service providers long before you move. You don’t want to have everyone in place at the new office, with moving glossary resource to perform their tasks. For example, IT and telephone systems can be in place before you arrive, or at least have the technicians on-site while you set up.
Have a Strategy
There’s no right or wrong way to approach your move, but these tips may help you create a practical strategy:
- Let each department organise their items that need to move
- Use a colour coded system so each person knows what to move, where they will sit in the new venue and what their responsibilities are
- Take photographs of all your assets as proof and use them to make sure it all gets unloaded at the new site
Final Task: Clean Up the Old Space
Whether you’re selling the old space or leaving it for a landlord to find a new tenant, budget for a cleaning company to come in once you’ve left. It will only do your business reputation good if you show respect to the next team using your old office.