Businesses move for lots of reasons — to grow, to save money, to get closer to clients and/or vendors, or perhaps just for a new look in a new location.
We recently finished unpacking boxes from our last (temporary) company move in February, and now we’re packing again for The Big Move to our new home at Market Square Shopping Center. It’s physically, emotionally, and fiscally difficult to move a company, let alone to make things happen in a short period of time … and twice in one year.
Our team is getting to be old pros at this. We may decide to give lessons on how to move a family business and remain on speaking terms. We have found that the challenge is to do it without losing orders, customers, and one’s mind.
Our last move was just four stores away from our current location, in the same mall that we had been in for more than 16 years. One would have thought that would be a breeze … NOT! It will be much easier this time, since we are uber-organized, color-coded, and smart enough that we hired the real pros to do the major part of the work. That’s the big secret we’ve learned. While it’s very easy to say, “Oh, we can get that ourselves,” the challenge comes when the doing has to be done.
Besides the usual things that need to be done to make for an easy business move, like scheduling the move outside of business hours when possible and sending change-of-address notifications, nowadays a company has to make sure the space it chooses has been wired and is ready for Internet service.
(Continued)
We called on friends and family to help with the last move, and thank goodness our friends are still talking to us. A great sense of humor got the family through with just a few bumps and groans.
In looking at the upside of doing all the work involved to make this an easy move, we keep thinking of how nice it will be in our new “interactive” showroom where folks will be able to touch, feel, and get acquainted with awards and promotional products.
There are never any guarantees in relocating a business. Moving carries lots of risks, but it can be one of the best things to do for a company. So here we grow again. Our new store is almost finished. We’re so excited. We hope you’ll stop in to see our new digs when the dust settles.
Click here to sign up for the free IB ezine – your twice-weekly resource for local business news, analysis, voices, and the names you need to know. If you are not already a subscriber to In Business magazine, be sure to sign up for our monthly print edition here.
