Commercial Moving always presents more challenges than a normal home move. At times it feels like moving a family… of 200. Still, moving offices is something most companies will need to do at some point, whether to grow or to adjust to needs. Take a look at our 5 most important pieces of advice.

1. SEARCH LEASES 6 MONTHS OUT

Offices are not like apartments. In order to make a new office work for you and your company, a lot of maintenance and installation work needs to be done beforehand. Tasks like installing phone lines, internet, setting up furniture, etc. is much more time consuming than in a normal residential space. We here at Mid-Atlantic Moving & Storage, recommend businesses search leases 6 months ahead of time - giving them time to do any necessary renovations before they need to move in.

2. DETERMINE WHAT YOU’LL KEEP

Moving is a great opportunity for a fresh start. That might mean new supplies and/or furniture for the new office, in the case of commercial moving. In any move, the less stuff that has to be moved, the cheaper, easier, and faster the move becomes. Businesses should determine whether or not their old office furniture and/or supplies are the right fit for the new office.

Everything adds up and space is money in the commercial real estate biz - especially in our local Richmond community. Plan for the square footage confinements - if you’re looking for an office space and know what furniture you have, know what size of space you’ll need. If you’re looking for furniture to fill out the office space you’ve selected, make sure to pick the right furniture for that size of space.

3. GET ESTIMATES 2 MONTHS OUT  

A commercial move isn’t something you can do with a fly-by-night effort. Companies need the professional and secure touch of a licensed moving company with experience in commercial moving to ensure their job is done in the proper way. Office moves have a lot of additional logistics involved, and usually they are much larger than residential moves; which makes scheduling a move into a huge office tougher than scheduling a move from a 1 bedroom apartment. 
We recommend getting estimates at least two months before the date of the move. Companies should meet with their prospective movers to hear what these movers expect the job will take, in terms of cost and timing especially. Professional movers have ways of gathering estimates with accuracy that might surprise the common businessperson. The commercial representative from the moving company involved is also prepared to anticipate many of the other tasks you may need to complete in order to facilitate a successful moving day, such as acquiring a certificate of insurance and reserving freight elevators.

4. MAKE AN OFFICE MOVE CHECKLIST

A checklist is a great way to keep track of all the tasks that need to be done before a commercial move. Here are a few items on our office move checklist:

•   Check avails for utilities, moving companies, etc. all service providers who will be assisting with the transition between offices.

•   Arranging with utility companies can take a very long time, so plan ahead. Waiting on hold with one of these companies might take hours.

•   Create a timeline for any necessary renovation work on the new space.

•   Plan the times of the move & reserve elevators/access with property/building manager.

•   Compare the old space to the new space in terms of area/square footage and determine any challenges any differences might present.

5. FIND THE RIGHT MOVERS

At Mid-Atlantic Moving & Storage, the commercial department has a simple motto for office moves: "Create as little disruption as possible.” Commercial moving managers should use this motto to guide them through any difficult decisions that they make, and keep it in mind to remind them what defines a successful transition to a new office. The best commercial moving manager will let everyone else in the company do their job too.

At Mid-Atlantic Moving & Storage we understand that every move is different.  Whether you need a full-service Richmond based moving company or just a helping hand, Mid-Atlantic Moving & Storage makes moving simple and stress free at a surprisingly affordable rate.