Whether you’re a small business or a big company, moving your entire operation to a new space can be daunting. One of the biggest concerns is how much downtime you’ll have between the move, which can be a concern, especially if there are hiccups in the process. You can avoid downtime (or minimize it) by planning ahead, here’s how:
Move During Your Slow Season
Just about every industry and business has a slow season – a period during the year where things are a lot less busy than usual. Take advantage of that downtime if possible and plan your move when things aren’t quite as demanding as they typically are. In some cases, this could mean being able to take off entire days to speed up the move and get everything back up and running quickly.
If you can’t move during your slow season, consider planning far enough in advance that you can “blackout” or take off a day or two to move without having too many commitments to clients that are due on or around that time. This way you can ensure you’re moving all the important stuff over to your new space, so you’re functioning well enough to minimize downtime for your clients and deadlines.
Temporarily Switch to Work From Home
If your business can go remote, consider allowing your employees to temporarily work from home while you complete the move to the new space. This means no downtime for your clients and workers and your new space will be finished and ready to invite them back into the office in no time!
If you’re a bigger company, you may need to do this in stages – allowing the most important departments to work from home first so their new space is set up as soon as possible and going department by department until your move is complete. Assess your company’s personal needs and plan accordingly.
Hire Qualified Movers
While it may be tempting, especially if you’re a smaller business or company, to try and do the move yourself with the help of a few friends or employees – chances are you’ll be setting yourself up for disaster or extending the time it takes to get you moved into your new space. Hiring a qualified moving company like Macho Movers Inc, who are experienced in corporate moves and understand how precious your time is, can make your move as seamless and efficient as possible; maybe even eliminating downtime all together!
Have Your Layout Planned
If your new space requires any decorating or extensive planning, make sure you have that done ahead of time. Having a physical layout for your movers to use to set up and organize furniture and boxes will greatly minimize the time you have to spend hunting for the right box of supplies, or setting up furniture.
Most qualified corporate moving companies will be able to not only move your things between your old and new space but set up and build any furniture that you have so that all you need to do is organize and get people back in the office!
Move the Most Important Departments First
When you’re a larger company, it can be unacceptable to have any downtime, especially in your most important departments. If that’s the case, plan to move those important departments or employees first – either on your usual days off, weekends, or when their work is slow and they can work from home temporarily. That way the employees you need to keep your business going are set up in their new space and can keep the ball rolling as you slowly work on moving over the rest of your company.
Hire The Right Help
In addition to movers, certain tasks come with moving that may require a bit more time and work to get properly set up – like your IT department. While your employees are likely well-versed in their jobs, properly setting up a whole IT system is a lot of work and needs to be done right to avoid more downtime or mishaps. Hiring specialists, whether it’s to help your IT department set things up in the new space, decorating your space, building furniture or installing light figures or electrics, can cut back on downtime significantly. Not to mention, when it’s done right the first time, you’re less likely to face a bigger issue (or longer downtime) later on.
Conclusion
With proper planning and hiring the right movers, you can minimize or eliminate the need for any downtime between the move and any inconvenience for you and your clients.
