Moving a business is part excitement, part anxiety.
Usually, a business relocates for growth, expansion, or a significant change. Exciting.
But then comes the anxiety. Costs of moving. Frustrations when things go wrong. Fear of losing customers.
Luckily, a lot of businesses have moved, allowing us to see what works, what doesn’t, and how we can do it even better.
Let’s see the most common mistakes businesses make when they relocate their business, so you don’t make those same mistakes.
Saving a Buck
A dollar saved is a dollar earned. It’s all the same on your bottom line.
This is a crucial aspect of survival in the business world; make as much as you can, save as much as you can.
But sometimes, trying to save a buck can cost a fortune.
One key example of this is deciding not to hire professional movers.
We all have experience moving, and the cost of professional movers can make it seem like doing it yourself is a pragmatic and doable move.
Odds are, it’s not.
The idea rarely translates to real life.
We take our highly efficient and skilled workers out of where they are at their best and put them in an environment where they aren’t comfortable, aren’t prepared, and don’t want to be.
What suffers through these actions is costly. Equipment can be broken or lost. Customer satisfaction would inherently drop as your team is pulled away. Employee satisfaction will drop, too.
And then, the worst bit.
You realize it takes a lot longer to do it on your own.
Saving a buck by not hiring movers, for example, can be too costly.
The idea is grand. Money saved is money earned. But the result is simply wasting money.
Communication and Updates
Communication is a vital tool for your move, making it much easier for you, your team, and your customers.
Not only should you communicate the basics, say moving dates, new location, and what to expect, but there are even more things you need to be actively sharing.
Communicate with your customers what this move means for them, what they get for themselves, and it can also be a great moment to give your customers something – a thanks to them for going through the move with you.
You see this often when stores launch a “grand new opening.”
You also need to make sure that your employees know everything they need to know to make every aspect of the move as easy as possible.
Finally, you’ll also want to make sure that your website, business cards, and newsletters all reflect that change.
Insurance
Sometimes, a thing will have a cost – but it won’t match with its value.
The newest, most streamlined computer is valuable to someone who plays video games, creates videos, or uses their computer for work. That’s value.
For an Olympic athlete trying to improve their 100 M dash time, a high-end computer is worse than having no value; it actually has a negative as it may keep them from practicing as they should.
Insurance is often like that.
The cost and value don’t match up.
But this doesn’t necessarily mean it has to be bad.
The few hundreds or thousands of dollars for insurance will provide unmatched value. The peace of mind knowing, no matter what, your business is protected can be priceless.
Trying to do it all
Moving anything is an endeavor that has to be 100% completed to finish. There is no middle ground – either it’s finished, or you’re still doing it.
But that doesn’t mean your initial moving plan needs to have 100% completion in mind.
Don’t try to do it all in one day.
Your goal while moving should be implementing just the barebones version of your business as quickly as possible. This needs to be your primary goal.
When you try to get all the finish touches in place before “turning on” your newly located business, you’re asking for trouble.
Those finish touches just take too long to be necessary before you’ve officially made your move.
Instead, plan to move just enough to start a barebones operation at your new location.
By having this partial move as your target, all your planning and set up with be laser-focused on the task at hand.
Waiting too long
You don’t want to wait until the last minute before moving.
It can seem like an attractive option, making sure your team is working for as long as possible right up to the deadline.
In some cases, waiting until the last moment won’t cause any problems.
However, the price of waiting is the magnification of any and every problem that does occur. Instead of having the flexibility and room to maneuver to tackle these problems, the deadline you’ve the panic and looming deadline will just make
In other cases, with the deadline looming ahead, any problem that does pop up is now incredibly threatening.
By making your move well before the deadline, there’s a lot less pressure to get all of it done.
Budgeting wrong – time and money
The difference between a successful move and an unsuccessful one might just break down to budgeting.
If you budget well, you succeed.
If you budget poorly, you don’t.
Time management is probably the most challenging aspect of moving. Budgeting your time is being strict when you need to be and incredibly flexible as things shift.
Too loose, and you may end up losing valuable time; too rigid and minor problems can break everything.
Budgeting money can be a bit different.
There will be times when spending extra money, say on professional movers, can save you a ton of time and money.
Other times, spending extra money can just be a waste – so you have to choose carefully.
It’s important to remember, time and money aren’t disconnected. Often, the more money you spend, the less time a task might need. But, on the other hand, if you’re saving money, it may take more time.
Be intentional about balancing these two elements of your budget, and you should come out on top.
Not looking for upgrades
One of the best times for a business to upgrade is when implementing that upgrade goes unnoticed.
And when all your equipment and supplies are on the back of a truck, no one will be interrupted by up
When all your equipment is already on the back of a truck, the interruption of upgrading won’t be noticed.
Better yet, upgrading certain things as you’re planning a move can save you money.
Some upgrades will allow you to leave large, cumbersome items behind, installing the new equipment at the new location.
Not only do you get to upgrade in this situation, but you also get to forget about moving heavy equipment.
When you’re planning your move, take a look at what things you may have that can be upgraded, replaced, or improved upon.
There’s nothing better than upgrading a piece of pivotal equipment while saving money as you do it.
Not sure what to upgrade? We can help. Book your free consultation with us to see what we can do for you!
Moving your business is often met with fear, frustration, and dread. Hopefully, with this post and the rest of your research, you’ll be able to develop and execute a plan that makes your move go from scary to exciting.
