There are a lot of reasons why businesses are getting in touch with office removal services to clear out their existing establishments, but one of the most interesting is when small businesses opt to relocate.
Businesses move offices for a wide variety of reasons, most commonly to more appropriate facilities in the local area. This is especially true for smaller businesses for whom local identity is a key selling point and appeal of their business to customers.
However, that is not to say that smaller businesses or businesses with a clear local identity do not opt to relocate. In fact, it is more common now than ever before with hybrid working environments and marketing that take advantage of the global village of the internet rather than local publications.
Relocation can be the way for a small business to find its home, its identity and its target market, utterly thriving in the process if the new location is chosen wisely, the relocation partner is highly efficient and the execution is excellent.
On the other hand, if the move is less well-conceived it can have the drawbacks of losing a local identity without any of the benefits of moving.
Whilst far from a small company, Ocean Software was closely tied to Manchester, but when they decided to move to London in 1996 to get closer to the business centre of the country, it ultimately backfired.
Few of the staff that made the company thrive travelled with the company, which ultimately shut down in 2005 after laying dormant for seven years.
However, at the same time, a carefully considered relocation can help a company thrive, either through the benefits of a new circle of customers, greater foot traffic or greater cooperation with local authorities.
Preparation is at the heart of any successful relocation, and that starts with examining the core motivations, the costs, the benefits and drilling down into how this will affect customers and existing employees.
Do not be afraid to ask why you want to relocate; are there financial incentives to moving that offset the costs? Is it a chance to recruit high-quality talent in the fields? Are the rent savings so significant that they pay for the costs of moving and a lack of access to the benefits of staying put?
It is worth scouting a location first and seeing what amenities are available, what the general commuting experience is and whether it provides benefits for customers and employees alike.
Keep in touch with your team, particularly those that you would like to keep on when you move.
Relocation is a huge step for a company but it is perhaps even larger for individual employees, who at the very least need to find a way to get to a new office but may have to upend their lives to travel with the company.
Start the planning as soon as possible and factor in the potential for any disruptions, changes in circumstances or potential reasons to cancel or alter relocation plans as well. Always have the metric in mind that the benefits of moving must outweigh the costs and if it looks like they might not, make changes as soon as you can.