At some point in the long, invigorating life of your business, you’re likely going to have to move to another location. Maybe you’ll grow to a larger facility, maybe you’ll downsize for efficiency, but either way you’re going to have pack and unpack EVERYTHING. Take a look around at your desk right now. Just the thought of packing that alone might have you in a cold sweat. Lucky for you, we’ve done the office moving thing more than once, and we’d like to help out first-time and fifth-time office moving parties.
The first thing you want to do is draw up a plan of your new space and designate where everything will go. This way when you’re physically moving boxes and furniture you have a specific area to drop each item so that you don’t create an unforgiving mess to sort through once you’re already exhausted.
Next, choose a moving date and make sure everyone knows and is on board. This includes your entire staff, your moving company/rental truck booking, and any IT personnel needed to set-up equipment that your team isn’t qualified to handle. Detrimental to the success of your move is to ensure that things like hydro, phone lines, phone numbers, internet connections, and plumbing are all good to go before the move so that you can set up and get back to work as quickly and as painlessly as possible.
Make sure you have the supplies needed to clearly label boxes and furniture. Stickers in different colours work well – Green is the staff room, Red is your office, etc. But also use markers to label the contents of each box so that you know what to open first. Protective packing like bubble wrap to safely nestle breakables and blankets to protect desk surfaces and chair cushions are also incredibly handy. Keep a tool kit on hand in case you need to disassemble 
something. Take pictures before you take it apart!
Purge as you go. Reserve some boxes or garbage bags for items to donate or sell so that you don’t have unpack them at all. Some donation centres will even send someone out to pick up your donation. Staff get first dibs on anything you’re letting go, of course!
It’s really okay to hire a professional moving company. Doing so avoids injury to you and your staff who are not trained in the art of moving desks, and professional movers can artfully pack a moving truck like it’s nobody’s business! Because, of course, it’s their business.
Last, but not least, don’t forget your change of address, and possibly phone number. Update your website, letterhead, email signatures, merch, and business cards as far in advance as possible. Send out a notice to your clients through email, social media, and snail mail to ensure you don’t lose anyone.
We’ve talked a lot about you, but the truth is that you may not have the time to dedicate to the details of the move. If so, assign someone who is – trust us, you’ll thank us later!
Need some help editing your website to reflect your move? Looking to update your logo in celebration of your latest growth spurt? Jelly Triangle can help! Call us to book a commitment-free consultation at (519) 624-8888.
