You’ve decided it’s time to relocate your business. But moving business locations may be more complicated–and costly–than you think. Don’t make the same mistakes thousands of business leaders do.
There are countless reasons to move your business, each of which is different. You may want more affordable facilities. You may want the distribution to be closer to your customers.
But they all have one thing in common – they’re going to cause disruption. And it’s up to you to limit the negative effects of that disruption to both your employees and your bottom line.
There are dimensions to your business to account for. Not everyone does this with success. You can identify those trouble spots before moving business assets.
The First Things to Know About Moving a Business Location
Businesses usually cite at least one of three reasons for moving locations. Entrepreneur identifies them generally as labor issues, cost savings, or improving profitability.
Each of these concerns is either financial or workforce related. And improving each of these–or failing to do so–can affect the long-term success of your business.
Moving business locations is a huge opportunity. But it leaves your business vulnerable as well. It can disrupt your business, even with the potential benefits above.
5 Mistakes to Avoid When Relocating Your Business
You need to be fiscally ready for the challenge. Your employees need to be ready and taken care of as well. Finally, you need a winning plan to deliver success.
A key mistake among companies is failing to prepare for disaster. You don’t have to make that mistake. The following five errors are what get businesses into the biggest trouble when moving.
1. Overestimating the Value of Your Moving Resources
Aside from your comprehensive plan, there are two critical components to a move: movers and insurance.
Just like your plan, your moving services must be comprehensive. That means hiring a service that specializes in SMBs and business continuity.
Another common pitfall is choosing the wrong insurance. With every great initiative, you will encounter accidents. Some of those might be costly–even tragic, in the case of physical injury.
A project of this size should not be managed alone. You need a moving partner with a strong safety record. You need their advice on selecting the right insurance as well.
Strategic partners free you from the logistical nightmares of planning your move. With the right partner, you can focus on optimization and business continuity instead.
2. Failing to Communicate Changes To Customers and Suppliers
“Where did you go?” A question you never want to hear from your customers.
Your move will disrupt your customers’ lives or businesses. Consider how your new location will benefit your customers early in your planning. Communicate those benefits to them often.
New distribution standards or unexpected costs can throw them off guard, even after discussing it. You should prepare for disruptions ahead of time with a detailed and visible statement.
Your suppliers will likely follow you without complaint. But you may need to revisit your agreements. All of these costs or savings should be factored into the overall budget for your move.
3. Selecting a Bad Time for Your Move
Timing isn’t everything, but it can get in the way of everything else. There are internal and external factors that contribute to your move. Here are some things to consider:
Holidays and Vacations. Will you force your employees to spend their holidays packing? Give at least a year’s notice, so employees don’t plan vacations. You will also want to ensure you avoid holiday traffic and large local events at the time of your move.
Budgetary Reasons. Assume it’s three months until your planned move date. Your budget isn’t quite where you want it to be. What do you do?
Even as your employees prepare to move, don’t hesitate to push back your move date. You have to decide whether a loss in business continuity will be worth it.
The Children. You may be focused on the bottom line, but the lives most disrupted by your move are your employees’ children. It’s critical you give employees advanced notice so they can prepare their kids. You should avoid forcing parents to transfer their kids in the middle of the school year as well.
4. Failing to Calculate the Impact on Your Brand
Your transition may seem like an internal matter. The impact to your brand can be more significant than you think.
Your best customers may no longer have regular interactions with your sales team. Onsite visits and joint events will become difficult as well. If you have a reputation in the community, you may lose that as well.
Your marketing team should be involved in the discussion about brand impact. First, they will need to update all materials with your new address. But they will need to estimate financial effects as well.
5. Failing to Provide Relocation Support for Employees and Their Families
You may think moving your business is disruptive to cash flow. Never fail to consider how disruptive it is for your employees.
Even moving a short distance can turn your employees’ worlds around. And simply letting employees go without justification can shatter employee morale.
You need to take into consideration the surrounding area at the start of your moving plan. Are the neighborhoods within driving distance suitable for the lifestyles your employees enjoy? Is there public transportation for those who need it?
Salaried remote workers are becoming common. Consider whether or not employees can stay behind in a long-distance capacity. This might be useful to maintain sales relationships in the region.
Think about what the new area will be like for your employees’ families. If you’re moving to a well-regarded business area, you may find solutions for this quickly.
You will need an internal plan for these employees. You need to provide for their financial and personal needs. You also want to make sure your employees are on the ground floor right away to keep the business running.
Employee relocation services help you ease that transition for the people that make your business thrive. They offer valuable resources and insights you wouldn’t normally consider. They focus on moving your business forward, even as they help move your business elsewhere.
Moving is About Moving Your Business Forward
Your business doesn’t start and stop while your move is taking place. You need moving business solutions that take that into account.
You can get a quote today from OleRRelo for customized moving services. OleRRelo helps you keep your business value up and the cost of moving down. It’s the best strategy for your success.
