WHAT TO THINK ABOUT DURING AN OFFICE RELOCATION?
Moving even a section of your company might be prohibitively expensive, much alone the full enterprise. However, it is occasionally worthwhile to do so, whether as a first step toward expansion, a relocation to a more profitable region, as part of a merger, or as part of a significant restructuring effort.
Managing an office relocation entails being aware of every contributing or associated factor, from commute changes to immediate costs (the cost of the move, the cost of new equipment, the down payment on a new location, and so on) as well as long-term changes (changes to shipping and supply costs, changes in distribution, property tax changes, payroll changes, impact on your working capital and cash flow for the fiscal year, and so on).
Let's do a tentative office relocation step by step.
THE OFFICE CHANGE
Whatever your reasons for transferring the workplace, the first thing you'll need is a viable location to relocate to.
Assessing viability entails determining your budget for lease or mortgage payments, utilities, and other overhead expenditures, as well as a few basic requirements, such as proximity to the existing location, especially if you intend to expand and keep the business, and the overall cost of relocating.
Then there are the little but crucial concerns, such as your new location's proximity to public transportation, the ease of commuting for your current staff (and yourself! ), and local parking. Parking, yes. A parking nightmare outside your new office might not only ruin every morning and afternoon, but it can also make it difficult for clients to visit your company. For the same reason, the distance to the nearest airport or train station becomes a significant issue.
Transferring a small team with a few workstations and a printer across town is far less expensive than moving a 100-person shared office setting to a different city. These transportation costs must be considered when deciding if a particular location is viable.
If you're a smaller company looking to expand, the proximity of adjacent colleges and the saturation of the local talent pool may influence your choice of site.
If you're shifting to a similar-sized office, you might want similar monthly rates. However, if you are expanding, you will require additional funds to shift to a larger and better location. One option is to reassess your transition by rearranging the workplace to save money.
A COMPLETE RESTRUCTURING
The benefits of moving to a different town may exceed the expenditures, especially if it means being closer to a larger talent pool and customer list. However, you must still find ways to make the costs work.
Restructuring the firm to go largely remote or developing a hybrid remote configuration may allow you to save money on relocation by choosing a smaller headquarters, especially if COVID has already helped you restructure to a hybrid setup.
COVID compelled many businesses and offices to implement better work-from-home policies, and while many companies have celebrated the return to the office, a significant portion of workers want to continue having the option to work from home, or work remotely in some capacity, visiting the office only a few times a month at most.
The advantages of going at least partially remote include giving employees who don't want to relocate to another part of town (or another region entirely) the option to continue working from home part-time or full-time, saving you the trouble and enormous cost of having to rehire and train a significant portion of your workforce.
Integrating remote work into your office relocation can help make it more feasible by allowing you to choose a better, smaller location as your physical base for your business while focusing on improving your online infrastructure, creating a better intranet portal for your employees, and improving your company's protocols and policies surrounding remote work and work-from-home.
THE BENEFITS OF COLLABORATION
Another option to relocating to your own new office space is to take advantage of the benefits of an established workspace to significantly reduce overhead costs, eliminate the financial impact of a significant down payment, and enjoy the benefits of a fully branded, fully furnished tech-oriented workspace in a prime location at a fraction of the anticipated costs of moving to your own new location.
Coworking spaces assist independent contractors, freelancers, and small businesses in establishing a foothold in a new town and benefiting from the trappings of traditional office space while providing unique benefits ranging from a community of experienced professionals for networking opportunities to the flexibility of leasing a workspace on a monthly basis with no long-term commitments or upfront cash deposits.
ENSUREING A QUICK TRANSITION
Whether you've decided to shift to a larger office, a smaller office, a local office, a distant region, or a coworking space with a hybrid arrangement, the key to a seamless transition is planning ahead of time.
Give proper notice to your staff several months before the relocation is planned, and let your clients know to expect some turbulence as you pack up and relocate.
Planning around a slower time of year will allow you to focus on the practicalities of relocation while still handling a full job. Thinking in the long term is also beneficial. If relocating to a new city might benefit your company but you cannot afford your own physical site, a coworking space can serve as a beneficial transition area for your company to grow and expand until you can take on a commercial lease and transform your own space.
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