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Moving a business to new premises is not always as easy and straightforward as it might seem. This is especially the case if you have been at your current location for a number of years. Whether you need to move because you have grown beyond your current physical capacity, are looking to downsize, or are simply looking to capture a new market, the only thing that changes is how to accommodate that move.
Even so, if you start months before the move with a checklist to follow, you can be assured that you aren’t missing something that could create chaos at the last minute. While every business will have a checklist tailored to its needs, they all begin with a framework that can be edited as needed. Let’s look at some of the common points on a moving checklist to get you started with yours.
The Preliminaries
Technically, your moving checklist should start at the point when you’ve made the decision that it’s time to relocate. This would be your preliminary checklist with points to tick off such as:
- A review of your current lease
- Moving companies in your area
- Setting a budget
- Create a team to manage the move going forward
While you will still be involved in every major decision from this point forward, all the research and footwork will be left up to the facilitation team. They will take care of arranging dates for each task on the checklist. For example, let’s say you are moving from one location in Charlotte, NC to another location that meets your updated requirements. The move would begin by sorting through, and disposing of, everything you won’t be bringing to the new building.
At this point, the team would locate dumpster rental Charlotte services. One company that stands out is Waste Connections which offers both commercial and domestic trash services including garbage pickup and waste management. Not only will a Charlotte waste management company be able to keep trash collected from your current location during the move, but they might even service the new location you are moving to, which would establish continuity in service going forward.
Connection of New Services
Every good moving checklist would have a list of utilities and services needed upon taking possession of the property. Although you probably have found a waste management service, now it’s time to look at other services your business would require before actually beginning operations there. Your facilitation team would compare pricing structures and available service plans in:
- Internet providers
- Phone service and commercial phone system installation
- Water, gas, and electric
Few, if any, businesses don’t have internet connectivity in today’s hi-tech environment, so business internet providers are essential. This would be especially important if your company hosted a business website. One of the things that some businesses encounter is that they need to change providers, even if only moving to another location in the same town. In fact, even if you could keep the same provider, it does not mean that their service offers the same reliability and connection speeds. This makes it a perfect time to compare rates and services.
Ongoing Liaison
Moving from one location to the next is not something that is going to happen overnight. It can take weeks, or even months, to facilitate a company-wide move, and this is why ongoing liaison between departments and management is vital. Your facilitation team would have a checklist of departments, and people within those departments, to check with regularly, perhaps weekly.
Also, there should be an open-door policy established by the team so that any employee or department head could approach them with any questions or concerns they might have. Keeping the lines of communication open is more important than you may realize because a company-wide move always seems to lead to doubts, and sometimes even conspiracy theories. It only takes one murmur to start the rumor mill going, and that is something your facilitation team should immediately address. Those individual meetings with employees are an important way to keep company morale high, so be sure to tick them off as you go.
One Final List to Check
So far, we have discussed the checklist for moving a business, but what about once the final moving truck has gone? There needs to be a post-move checklist to tick off so that nothing is forgotten. You will want to open your doors the next morning, knowing that production will be online, your office staff will be at their stations, and everything is a ‘go.’ Moving can be as easy or as complicated as you make it to be, but with a checklist to follow and a facilitation team on top of every task along the way, you are leaving nothing to chance.
You may also like: 7 Benefits Hiring A Moving Company For Your Business Move
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