How to Make a Seamless Business Move

Tips for pulling off your business move from the experts in commercial moving services at All My Sons Moving & Storage. 

The time has come for your business to make a move. You might have outgrown your current space and need more room for additional employees or merchandise. An advantageous business tax break or a wider customer base could be waiting for you on your new home turf. Whatever the reason you’ve decided to move your business, there are a few important steps you should take to ensure a smooth transition.

All My Sons Moving & Storage conducted roughly 8,520 moves for large and small offices in 2024, helping businesses both big and small make their relocation with ease. Here are five steps to ensure your business move unfolds seamlessly.

Your move will be as unique as your business, and your cost to move will depend on a variety of factors including the scale of your business inventory, whether or not you have special equipment, and the distance of your move.

Before you begin your move, you should craft a moving budget to ensure you have the funds to get through the process.

Here are all the elements you should consider while you are budgeting for your business move:

• Packing Materials: Boxes, packing paper, bubble wrap, and more. Whether you’re moving an extensive inventory of merchandise or a legion of desks and computers, you will need packing material to ensure everything is protected during the move. If you want your business inventory to be secured by professionals, you should look into packing services by a full-service moving company. 

• Movers and Truck Rental: If you are moving a small business you might be able to get away with a simple truck rental, but larger businesses should consider hiring licensed and insured professional movers who have experience in commercial moving services. 

• Preparing the New Location: Before you can move in, there may be renovations or remodeling in order for your new location. You may need to install new signage for your building or purchase furniture pieces you didn’t have before. You should incorporate every expense into making your new space yours into your moving budget.

• Business Legal Fees: You might need legal advice on your new lease contract or your new business mortgage depending on where you are moving. Incorporate any legal consulting fees into your moving budget.

• Lost Productivity: With all their desks and equipment in boxes, your employees might not be able to get anything done. Even the smoothest business move could result in some down time in which nothing can be sold or completed. You can cut down on lost revenue by planning your move during your least busy season or during off-hours of the week, but even a speedy move takes time and energy away from your primary duties as a business. 

Once you have mapped out all the possible expenses you could incur and accounted for any lost revenue, you’ll be ready to start tackling your business move head-on. 

With budget in hand, you can start planning your move in earnest. One of the most important tools you can create for your move is a moving checklist. A checklist can keep you and your team on track as you prepare for the upcoming business move. You should take some time before your move to create a list of move to-dos, and rank them according to their importance and priority.

Here are some items that should go on your business move checklist.

• Determine Best Time to Move: Your business might have peak seasons and slow seasons, which can help you determine the best time of year to move. If you have significant leeway for the timing of your move, consider moving during the off-season for movers, which is September through April according to data from All My Sons Moving & Storage’s annual moves in 2024. 

• Establish a Moving Timetable: Depending on the size of your office or inventory to move, you might be able to complete your move in an afternoon or it may take several weeks to get everything done. Write out a timetable of all the different tasks that need to be completed and when they need to be completed by.

• Select a Move Committee: If you have a large office to move, you might want to select a few employees to act as your move committee and oversee different aspects of the move. Smaller offices can probably elect a signal move coordinator or move liaison. Delegate moving tasks to your move committee members as needed.

• Make a Moving Inventory: If you are a business that keeps merchandise, you should already have an inventory of your items for sale. Now that you are moving, creating a moving inventory that contains all the items your business owns might be a great investment as well. You will be able to use this inventory list for insurance purposes should anything happen during or after your move. The only downside is you must take the time to create this inventory. 

• Get Quotes from Moving Companies: You should aim to obtain 3 to 5 quotes from different moving companies. Only get quotes from licensed and insured movers who have experience with commercial moving. If you are doing an interstate move, make sure your movers have a USDOT number from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). Watch out for common moving scam red flags. 

• Research Services and Utilities in New Area: There are some services you might want to transfer if the provider works in your new area, such as your internet or phone service. Other services, like your security system, you might need to find a new provider for. Now is an opportune time to compare prices for any services you use on a regular basis. 

• Notify Interested Parties of Change of Address: Your clients, customers, venders, employees, and your financial institutions like your bank will need to be informed of your change of address. Make a list of any interested parties and make sure you go through the proper channels for informing them of the move.

• Notify IRS of Change of Address: Use Form 8822-B to inform the IRS of your change in business address.

Your business move checklist might contain other items depending on the scale of your move. Plan ahead to get as prepared as you can, and create contingency plans for any variables that you can think of possibly coming up. 

Hopefully by now your preparations for your move are well underway and you’re systematically checking items off your move list. Several months before your move, you should start taking steps to finalize your move. 

• Reserve Your Movers: As soon as you settle on a moving company, you should book with them, preferably at least two months in advance. If you are planning a move during the summer, which is peak season for movers, you may have to book your movers even sooner to get the best rate and to lock in your preferred date.

• Begin Decommissioning the Old Space: Start the process of stripping your old space of all the company logos and repairing any damage you might be liable for. Consider renting storage space during this process so you can get non-essential furniture pieces out of your way. Many moving companies offer storage solutions to their customer base as well, ask your movers if this is an option for you.

• Review Your New Lease: Familiarize yourself with all the ins and outs of your new space’s lease. Learn the new building’s rules and regulations to ensure you and your employees fully understand them before you move in.

• Declutter Your Office: Now is a great time to do some office spring-cleaning. You don’t want to move items that won’t have a place in your new office, so now is the time to get rid of anything that isn’t serving you. If you have a bunch of sizable office clutter to get rid of, you should consider calling a same-day junk removal company to come haul off your castaways. Junk.com will sort through your office clutter and determine what can be donated, recycled, and discarded. Book now to get a team out to appraise your junk removal job. 

• Check that Items Fit in Your New Space: Measure the dimensions of large pieces of furniture and appliances that you intend to move with you to ensure they can fit in the new space. If the item will not fit, then consider letting it go and purchasing a similar item that will fit in the new space.

• Plan the Layout of Your New Space: Provided your new office or place of business is ready to move in and all repairs, renovations, and remodeling efforts have been completed, make sure to create a layout for the space so you know precisely where to move all your furniture and office equipment when you and your movers arrive. 

Once these items are completed, you’ll be almost ready for moving day. 

The day of your move has arrived. Whether your move will take just a few hours or several days, there are a few things you should take care of as you vacate your previous place of business.

• Collect Keys and Access Cards: If you have keys or security access cards to your old building out with any employees, make sure you take them up and return them to the appropriate party by move-out day. 

• Supervise Your Movers: You or an appointed employee should act as the point of contact for your movers. This person should meet the movers at the old office and supervise them as they pack up your items. 

• Schedule Your Move-Out Cleaning: Once everything is cleared out of your old space, you should do a final walk-through to ensure nothing is being left behind and schedule a move-out cleaning service to make the place spotless before you hand off your keys.

Once the office is packed up and the moving truck drives away, the next and most exciting phase of your move, getting settled in, can begin.

You’ve formally left your old place of business behind. Now is the time to start making your new space your official home turf. A celebration could be right around the corner, but make sure you complete these final moving tasks before you break out your special office decorations.

• Reconnect Services and Utilities: Make sure your business internet, phone system, and security system are online and ready before you declare that you’re open for business. 

• Update Your Address: You will need to update your address wherever it is listed online, including on Google Maps and Google My Business. Update your address on your website, with all your providers for subscriptions and services, and in email signatures. Go to the USPS form for changing your address to get your mail forwarded. 

• Make Moving Announcements: Your customers and clients need to know how to find you. You should send a message out to your email list notifying all interested parties of the move, or send out a mail announcement if you more commonly work with customers by mail. 

• Update Your Printed Marketing Materials: You may have your old address in marketing materials like business cards and brochures. Make sure you have ordered new materials that contain the new address and discard the old material. 

• Throw a Grand Reopening: If you have a storefront, customer-facing business, then now might be an opportune time to reintroduce yourself to the community. Plan a grand reopening to get your new area of business talking about your store. If you have moved an office, then you can throw an office-warming party to celebrate completing the move with your employees.

Once the move is complete, you can enjoy getting back to work in your new area. Celebrate your expanded space or great tax break, and get cracking on making up for lost revenue. 

You want to make your business move with minimal interruptions to your daily operations. With a little dedicated planning time, you can make this business move a seamless transition. Happy working in your new office space!

Planning a business move? All My Sons Moving & Storage can help with all the details. Our business would be honored to help your business get settled and we offer comprehensive services designed to complete your commercial relocation with ease. Get professional packing, storage solutions, and more when you call on All My Sons Moving & Storage to get the job done. Call 1-866-726-1579 to reach one of our locations across the United States or get your quote online.