What To Watch For In Moving Your Business

It's something that no business owner wants to face, after all most business owner's think their first location is their last. Times change along with people and business that make for challenging decisions.

Relocating a business or moving is one of the biggest stresses around and if not done properly can leave your business handcuffed. Unlike a Broadway play, there really is no way to rehearse.

Moving a business does come with some short-term costs, whether moving costs or employees leaving because of distance and rehiring - the list is long.

Reasons For Moving Business

There are many reasons that a business might pick up and move its operations to a different location. Given the current economic conditions, many businesses are moving to different locations and taking advantages of lower rents. Something they might have not been able to get into a few years ago comes into play. Newer building, better amenities for employees, larger space for cheaper than current rent; the list could go on. Businesses are also downsizing or working on renewing leases to lower rates to better allocate funds.

Maybe you thought your landlord was on your side but now they decide to raise the rent on your current lease. Maybe your business is bursting at the seems in a tiny space and you're trying to get every inch out of your current space. Saving Getting closer to your core business users like customers and vendors is another reason that you might decide to move.

Be Realistic and Do Your Homework

Nothing's worse than having a few good months of growth and deciding to move into a new shiny corner office that with a 5 year lease and realize you bit of to much. Budget accordingly so you can support the new lease that you signed.

Understand the location that you are interested in relocating to. Even if it takes a year or two until you decide. You'll be there for a while and you want to make sure the location is perfect.

Here are some quick thoughts to take into consideration when trying to decide if a move for your business makes sense. Tour property with tenant rep and take notes of each properties characteristics to minimize as much risk as possible. If traffic is important, make sure to get a traffic count on the number of vehicles that pass by each day. The cost of the rent; is it a gross service lease where every thing is included or something like a triple-net (NNN) that has a base price plus the tenant is responsible for taxes, insurance and operating costs. What are the build out costs for the space going to be? Can this be negotiated with the landlord paying some or all?

Is there space for growth? What are the condition of surrounding buildings or traffic?

Does the landlord carry a good reputation? Just like the saying "A happy wife is a happy life", you could relate this to a landlord-tenant relationship.

Just a few thoughts to be aware of.

Plan, Plan, Plan

The moving date will sneak up and fast.

As the business owner, you like to do everything yourself. Probably not a good idea in this situation and delegation of tasks is the way to go.

Create lists that tell everybody the plan; 3 months out, 2 months out, 1 month out, then weekly if need be all the way down to the day of move. Breakdown responsibilities for every employee ranging in tasks from paper plates to web servers.

Most companies now rely heavily on internet connectivity. Seek out the correct IT advice to ensure everything is working properly the day you need it to.

One of the best resources to ask is other business owners that have been through the process, they can answer a lot of questions. Their input could be the greatest because they've survived it.

Make your move rewarding and important step towards the growth of your business endeavors.