Your commercial property lease agreement is signed and you’re moving your business to a new location. Now’s the time to plan, the first step to making the move a smooth process.

You’ve finally signed a lease for your new commercial real estate office space, retail space or industrial space. Congratulations! It’s an exciting time.

Now the next step begins – planning for moving day.Unfortunately, many people find out far too late that there is more to a business relocation than just calling a mover and setting a date. It’s a seemingly overwhelming process of keeping track of details and making decisions.

The process of moving your company begins the moment the decision is made to move. It won’t be complete until every invoice is paid, every scratch is mended and everybody is settled into your new space.

Use a Systematic Approach

Moving your company doesn’t have to be a painful experience. Your move will be smoother and far less stressful through a systematic and thorough approach.

After you’ve selected a date, follow these steps:

1. Educate your company’s employees about the move.
2. Develop an action plan for the move.
3. Inventory all items to be moved, refurbished or sold.
4. Prepare requests for proposals from movers and other vendors.
5. Obtain estimates from movers and firm bids from other vendors.
6. Select a moving company and other vendors to be used in the move.
7. Pack and prepare your furniture, equipment and contents for the move.
8. Supervise the actual move.
9. Follow-up on post‑move issues.

Time is the one resource that is always limited when preparing for a business move. The sooner you can get people involved in doing the detailed work, the better off you’ll be.

Nothing can be done too soon. Operate as if it’s already too late. Lost time is never found again.

First Steps for Business Relocation

How can your company continue to operate smoothly amid distractions of an upcoming move? Here are some ways to get a business relocation started on the right foot.

Decide who’s in charge. Make one person responsible and with authority for the move. Even if you have a move committee, someone will always have to make the final decisions.

Get the word out. Cut off rumor and uncertainty. Tell employees what is going on. You’ll be surprised at what they will tolerate and how much they will pitch in to help.

Expect the unexpected. Assume nothing. Expect the worse and have a contingency plan for it.

Use checklists. A small company must consider 100 or more activities; a large company, upwards of 1,000. There are just too many things to remember. Use the checklists to help you plan, organize and execute your move. Plus, you’ll have documentation of actions of a hitch occurs.

Get cooperation. Keep your organization’s political structure regularly informed about each step of the business relocation. These employees must be included to keep your company’s internal process running smoothly.

For a checklist to get you started on planning your move, contact Michael Coretz, broker with commercial Real Estate Group of Tucson, michael@cretucson.com.

 Part 2: “Get the Right People Working on Your Business Relocation”
Part 3: “Create a Relocation Plan and Avoid Surprises“