Planning a Commercial Move
Whether you’re moving your business locally or across the country, commercial moving is a task that requires experienced professionals. The process is more complicated than residential moving, and the team needs to be able to adapt quickly and efficiently to your business’s specific needs and requirements.
Planning a Commercial Move
As with any other move, the preparation and organization required to make a successful commercial move begins well before the actual move date. This includes creating a moving timeline, conducting an inventory of the company’s equipment and documents, preparing the floor plans for the new office space, and obtaining insurance coverage.
Once these steps are completed, the business can begin moving into its new location as smoothly and efficiently as possible. In fact, it’s important to note that the entire process is much more efficient if all of the tasks are carried out in advance.
Start with a pre-move walk through, and if you can’t schedule that before the move, be sure to have a representative from the moving company take an inventory of everything at both your current and future locations. This will ensure that the moving crew isn’t rushed and will allow them to provide an accurate cost estimate for their services.
Begin identifying items that are not to be moved, such as old furniture, files, supplies and records. These items can be donated or disposed of.
Establish a moving coordination team within your company to coordinate the process of the move. Each department should be represented on this team. It should also be composed of a member from the building manager, the elevator repairman, the electrician and the plumber.
Prepare a list of emergency numbers, including on duty and off duty numbers for the building managers, elevator repair, electrician, plumber, moving company, all members of the move coordination team and senior management. This will ensure that everyone knows what to do in case of an emergency or if someone is injured while in the building.
It’s also a good idea to obtain keys to all of the offices, conference rooms and storage areas in both your current and future facilities. These should be color coded and placed on all furniture and boxes that will be transported to the new facility.
Check the temperature of both your current and future locations to make sure that it’s not too hot or cold for the moving crew to work in. If it is, ask the building manager to turn the air conditioning and heating on for the movers. This will make the moving day much more comfortable for them and can save you money on utility costs in the long run.
The cost of a commercial move will vary depending on the type of company that you choose and the services that they offer. A simple move may cost as little as $1500 while a large office space with numerous workstations could be as expensive as $30,000.
Calculate the costs associated with advertising your company’s change of address, including snail mail announcements and press releases. This can include printing new stationary, menus and other collateral materials, signs, product packaging and promotional items. It can also include ad placements in magazines, newspapers, radio and TV stations and billboards.