When it’s time to move an office, commercial warehouse, or industrial facility, there’s a lot to consider. Storage solutions, packing, organizing, and prioritizing can make for a stressful experience. However, there are things you can do to ensure the process is as smooth as possible.
- Get an early start by taking inventory
Waiting until the last minute is a sure-fire way to guarantee a difficult relocation. Commercial moving is typically more complicated than residential relocations because there are more moving parts. This means you’ll need a head start and more time to get everything in order.
Avoid common pitfalls like:
- Underestimating how long your move will take
- Not considering the impact your move has on customers and employees
- Not realizing how much “stuff” you actually have to pack, move, and unpack
- Not labeling equipment and components like laptops, desktops, monitors, ups battery backups, keyboards, etc.
Commercial moving requires more than just relocating items to a new location. It requires cleaning, decluttering, and prioritizing. It’s a great opportunity to get organized if you get an early enough start. Take inventory of your company’s belongings by:
Going through physical files: See if you can shred or discard old files you don’t need anymore, or scan and save them digitally. That’ll lighten the load and give you an opportunity to start digitizing and saving space.
Analyzing the needs of your employees and customers: Are there old filing cabinets no one uses? Is the lobby furniture falling apart? Are you holding on to old equipment that doesn’t work anymore? Anything that you don’t need, consider donating or selling. You can earn some tax credits or raise enough funds to upgrade equipment, furniture, etc.
- Use labels and spreadsheets or maps to your advantage
One of the best ways to keep track of your inventory and avoid questions like “where does this go?” on moving day is to use labels! They’re cheap and easy to use. All you need to do is develop a quick organization system and label accordingly.
Label items by color or number: For example, any items that belong in the new office kitchen can be labeled with green tags or the number “one.” You can get as specific as you’d like to streamline the process even further.
If you have a multi-purpose room in your new location, you might want to use colors and numbers. If an item belongs in the multipurpose room’s storage closet, use the color blue and the number one. If an item belongs in the multipurpose room’s cabinets, use the color blue and the number two.
Easily develop a system that anyone can follow in a few minutes with labels. It’ll help keep track of what has been packed, where things need to go, and where things came from.
- Use a local commercial moving company and deduct the expenses
Dreading the backbreaking work of physically packing, loading boxes into trucks, driving, unloading, and unpacking on moving day? Partner with a local moving company in the area that specializes in commercial moves.
Commercial moving is complicated, difficult, and time-consuming. However, by working with a moving company, neither you nor your staff has to endure a stressful weekend or work overtime to get the job done. Plus, moving costs are typically eligible to be used as a business tax deduction.
- Invest in packing services to get everything ready to go even faster
Before your business can be loaded into a fleet of trucks or vans, everything needs to be packed securely first. This means investing in packing supplies like tape, boxes, packing peanuts, etc.
If you have IT equipment like computers, printers, cables, and more, you’ll need to take extra care if these are packed properly to avoid expensive damage in transit. Ensure you have all the necessary packing materials to help you make your move efficient and safe.
Alternatively, you can hire a commercial moving company that offers professional packing services. Skip estimating how many packing supplies you need and work with the experts who offer accurate estimates.
- Evaluate your storage needs ahead of time
Is your business upsizing? Are your employees going remote? Do you want less clutter? Consider storage solutions to help answer these questions. Customize storage options to help you prepare for your commercial move and the expansion of your business.
If you’re upsizing or upgrading the look and feel of your office, you might want to keep those bulky items you don’t use anymore (but can’t get rid of) in a local storage facility.
If you have a lot of inventory that won’t fit in your new space, a storage facility nearby can take care of that problem for you.
If you want to save money on commercial rent, but don’t want to give up any of your physical assets, consider storing everything you don’t need daily access to offsite. Storage units are typically less expensive than commercial rent.
