Running a business can be a rewarding experience for many entrepreneurs. However, it can be difficult to manage costs during a relocation. The following guide provides simple tips on avoiding profit loss when a business is moving.
When moving a business to a new location, it’s essential to plan ahead. Waiting until the last minute to plan a move can often result in problems. These problems can include missed opportunity costs, customer loss, and more.
Plan for Your Needs
Missed opportunity costs are one of the biggest issues faced by companies that are relocating. During a move, a business might not be able to maintain their regular revenue streams, because operations will not be functioning the way they normally do. To avoid this, plan ahead for your specific needs. If you are a service-based business that mostly does online work, you probably won’t see much disruption. On the other hand, if you have a physical location that your customers routinely visit, things get more complicated.
Move Physical Assets Quickly
For businesses with lots of physical assets that are critical to business, it’s a good idea leave these assets as the very last part of a move. If possible, try to have an overlap period in your occupation of both spaces and continue to run your business out of your old location until the new one is ready. Then you can move everything quickly and avoid being closed for any longer than you need to. You should also make sure you have the trucks and equipment you need to move everything in one trip. Many truck rental agencies offer commercial rentals and discounts to small businesses, so make sure you check for savings!
Minimize Downtime
Minimizing downtime of critical business components is essential. Before moving an essential piece of equipment (such as a central router or PBX system), make sure that there are clear, documented instructions on how to get everything set up again. If critical business equipment is disassembled by one employee and put back together by another employee, it can be very difficult for the second employee to get everything working again in the right way…especially if they aren’t familiar with the process. By recording instructions on how to put everything back together, it’s possible to avoid these types of issues.
Advertise Your Move
It’s also a good idea to advertise your move both to your customers and the general public at least one month in advance of a move. Customers that find an empty store may not be able to easily find the new location. If you can retain an old building for a week or two after a move, it’s a good idea to put up signage that provides simple directions to the new business location. If you have a website, you should use some space on your homepage and at the top of every page to advertise your new location for at least a few weeks after you move. If you don’t have a website, you should contact us today!
Moving can be fun or stressful, but it doesn’t have to be a loss for your business. Make sure you plan ahead and have everything in place for your move. It may also be helpful to go over the moving schedule with your employees to make sure any problems are worked out before everything starts going.
