Denver, and the surrounding area, is an entrepreneurial hub. For this reason, and several others many employers and employees work from home. In many ways this simplifies life: no commuter’s traffic, casual work attire, and easier work-life-home-life balance. However, there are times when working from home is more of a nuisance than convenience, such as during a move.
Like all things, there are ways to mitigate the stressful effects of an office move, and here are just a few…
Create A Plan
You want a move to interfere with your earnings as little as possible. Ideally, you could move your entire office from old home to new home over the weekend, so you don’t lose a day of work. However, some people work weekends, or at least have to check in on business every now and then, and maybe for others a quick weekend move is something only dreamt about. After planning the most convenient time to move the office, during the least busy time of the week, you will have to strategically decide which parts of the office to move, and when.
Strategize
First, pack the items you won’t need immediately. Some people may only have a desk, a chair, and a computer. These people are the lucky ones, and they can easily complete the move within a few hours. Others will have to disconnect phone lines temporarily, set up Wi-Fi in the new home, and move an impressively stocked office, full of fragile devices and heavy file cabinets. Perhaps it is best to wait until an evening lull in daily operations to move the necessities, such as a computer, printer, phone, and Wi-Fi router, and have the big-ticket items, such as a desk or armoire, moved early on.
Or, if you are settling in your new home before as you move, you might want to reverse the above process, moving the most essential items first.
Organize
Do you need all the files, items, and furniture in your office? Do not waste time moving things you you expect to just collect dust. This is a great opportunity to clean up your workspace and declutter the office. Consider purchasing a paper shredder, if you do not already own one, to dispose of and recycle old documents. This will help to protect your company’s private files from theft or fraud.
Wires and wires and wires. As you bundle wires together, place a colored sticker on the wire, and an identically colored sticker on the machinery it plugs in to. This will save time detangling long strands of wire and reconnecting your devices in the new home.
Take Care of Your Customers
Customers still should be of concern, even if you are not actually operating business. To be considerate of your customers, inform them you are moving and may be “offline” for a few hours, or even a full day. This helps save face incase an emergency unravels and you are unable to address the problem.
Backups
Backup the computer’s hard drive. In the world we live, it is very common to use external hard drives, flash drives, or a cloud storage software to store and backup important documents. If you are already doing this, you can automatically check this one off your list! If you do not backup your documents, doing so before the move will ensure nothing is lost in transition.
Yes, moving an entire office can be one of the most stressful parts of a move; however, with the right steps it can be done smoothly and in a short period of time. By moving strategically, your business will be back online in no time!