The ultimate office moving checklist

Moving your office can be as complicated as moving your entire household. After all, you have a lot of bulky office furniture, electronics, documents, and so on to pack. In addition to this, you also have another problem. When you are moving your office, it means that you can’t work during those days. Being out of work equals less money for your company and, ultimately, for you. For this reason, you won’t have enough time to pack everything slowly and stress-free. In order to have a successful office relocation, you should use the ultimate office moving checklist. These would be all the steps you need to take, including hiring the best long distance movers, packing office furniture, etc. Usually, plan your office move at least six months in advance.  

6 months before your office relocation 

This list should start at least six months before your office relocation. The first point would be about your current lease. You should check the date when your lease is going to be up. Then you have to check all the conditions related to your deposit. This usually includes any small repairs, property damage, broken lights, and so on. You need to contact your landlord in this case. The same goes for your new location. For example, finding a suitable office in New York City is extremely competitive. At the same time, New York City is one of the most popular places for expanding your business. for this reason, before you start looking for the best long distance movers in New York, you need to ensure that you have the new lease signed. It can take a lot of time to find a suitable new office space. 

Set a budget and start making concrete plans for your relocation 

After finishing revising your contract, you should see if you want to be responsible for the moving process or if you want to assign this responsibility to someone else. This depends on how much time and energy you have for your relocation. In addition to this, this also depends on whether you are going to find interstate movers in California or not. Since California is quite a popular destination among people that want to move their office, it would be smart to have professional moving help by your side. After all, moving your office long distance is not going to be cheap. This brings you to the next point on the list which would be setting your budget. Your budget should include moving company fees, decommissioning plan, possible new furniture, etc. When you are planning your budget, make a list of priorities and some points that you can negotiate. 

Start researching moving companies 

Since it is always better to have professional help by your side, you should start researching moving companies that offer moving services to the location that you are interested in. Considering that you are moving to another state, you need to find a moving company that has this location among their moving services. For example, if you are currently living in California but want to move to Washington, you need to find the best long distance movers in Washington that are operating in California as well. How should you do the research about moving companies? Here are the most important points when it comes to searching for a moving company. 

• Get referrals 
• Read all the moving reviews 
• Check the BBB for any complaints 
• Visit the FMCSA to check the license 
• Make sure that a moving company is offering commercial moving services 
• Contact 3 to 5 different moving companies 

Get at least 3 to 5 moving quotes 

After you check all the points mentioned above, you need to contact three to five different moving companies. There are several reasons why this is important. First of all, if you are planning to move long-distance, this means your precious items will spend a lot of time traveling. The greater the distance the higher your moving costs will be. In order to prepare your moving budget properly, you need to have at least an idea of how much your relocation might be. The best way to find out would be by contacting three to five different moving companies. For example, if you are moving to Texas, you need to find interstate movers in Texas. Once you contact them, ask for moving quotes and an in-house estimate. In your case, representatives from a moving company will come to your office and do the estimate. 

Talk to your employees about your upcoming plan 

When you are moving your office, this does not only affect you. You have to notify your employees about your upcoming plan. This is also part of your office moving checklist. For this reason, you should send an e-mail about an in-person meeting. It is always better to inform your employees about this change in person rather than only through e-mail. After all, it is a huge change, especially if you are moving your office to another state. You need to give a chance to your employees – to decide whether they want to move with you or look for another job. Meeting, you can decide whether your employees will participate in the whole process or not. After all, some of them might recommend the best long distance movers in Florida if they have moved recently. Make sure to ask your employees for suggestions. 

The office moving checklist includes doing an inventory 

The last thing you should do around this time is to ensure that everything will be in your new office. Sometimes, you might not be able to find an office big enough to fit all of your furniture. For this reason, it is extremely important to check whether you can move everything or not. In case you cannot, you need to find another solution. It’s usually either selling or donating office furniture. Another option would be to store it for the time being. When looking for the best long distance movers in New Jersey, you might want to check storage options there as well. Furthermore, make a list of everything you’re taking and what you’re leaving behind. Even if you have a limited budget, you might need to part with certain items, particularly if the new office has a different layout.  

Three to four months before your office relocation 

Now that your moving date is slowly approaching, here is what you need to do when you have three to four months left. 

• Set your moving date officially – book the best long distance movers in Virginia and secure the date. 
• Solidify your office moving checklist and plan – this should include all the small and big details, such as taking care of computers, disconnecting the internet and phone, etc.  
• Notify your current landlord – as soon as you have the moving date set, you need to tell your current landlord.  
• Talk to your employees again – this time, you should assign all the roles to each of your employees depending on their time and willingness to participate. As mentioned, not everyone will want to move or participate 100% in the moving process. 
• Notify people outside the company – you should also inform all of your company associates, partners, clients, and others, that you are moving.  

See about specialized equipment and moving vendors 

See if you require assistance moving anything, particularly large or dangerous objects. You should talk to your best long distance movers in Nevada about this part. Order products that take a while to make and send in advance. There might be some specific pieces of equipment that need particular attention being replaced or upgraded. Therefore, you should work out a plan for these problems as well. Even if you used a full-service mover to pack and unpack your belongings for you, you might still need to find other suppliers for other moving-related requirements. Hire an interior designer if your new business requires decoration or something more. If the movers or your building don’t provide this service and your present one can’t manage the post-move cleanup, you could also need to employ an office cleaner. You should book these people in advance as well.  

Downsize and start getting all the moving supplies 

The last thing to do in this time period would be to downsize and declutter your office. For example, you want to open your business in South Carolina. This means that you have to transport all of your items a long distance, depending on your current location. Before you start gathering moving supplies, you should downsize and declutter your office. There are probably a lot of items that you can easily replace. As a matter of fact, it might be cheaper to replace them than to move them. In addition to this, you also need to start gathering moving supplies. You can probably get them from the best long distance movers in South Carolina. If not, you can try to look for free boxes. You can easily use the free boxes that you have in your office as well. 

Office moving checklist two months before your relocation 

Now it’s time to list all the things you should do two months before your relocation. First of all, you should design a floor plan. Make sure to know where each desk will go according to the Internet connections and power sockets.

On a similar note, you should also schedule transfers and set up services. This would include planning with your IT sector for the computers and the Internet. If you set this up as soon as possible after your relocation, you can start working faster. Then, you should see whether you need to buy some new furniture or equipment. Officially reserve offsite storage for all the things that might not fit in your new office or for the things that might need more time setting up. Lastly, you need to start slowly packing your office. 

One month before your office relocation 

You still need to keep packing your office. By this point, you should be in the final stage of packing your furniture. Then, you need to finalize all the plans with your moving company. In addition to this, you should also order all the keys and access cards for your employees. It is also important to back up all the important data on your computer. Make sure to have digital copies of all the documents. Sometimes, you might need to put all the documents in storage. This is the reason why it is important to have a digital copy of it. Then, you should coordinate the moving truck’s departure and arrival. Furthermore, you should also get a copy of your building’s rules. you might need to put up a notice that you are moving and similar lastly, you should move all the non-essential items first. 

One week before your relocation 

you need to update your address, company website, social media accounts, your financial account, and all subscriptions and business listings. In addition to this, you need again to review your moving day checklist with your movers. Finish all the packing that is left. During this week, your IT crew will pack all the laptops, computers, monitors, and other gadgets. The moving employees with you should be finishing packing their desks and cubicles. Lastly, the day before your relocation, you need to finish all the packing and labeling of the boxes. Collect your employees’ access cards and keys and return them to your landlord. 

Moving day 

Your ultimate office moving checklist is not complete without your moving day. First of all, you should meet your movers at a designated time. After they are done with your items, do a final walkthrough of your office to see if you missed anything by any chance. lastly, you need to do everything in reverse once you move into your new office.