Blog
Five Things to Think About When Moving Business Premises
Every year, entrepreneurs around the country decide to up sticks and try their luck in new premises. Others make the move into brick-and-mortar premises after spending time selling online first, or trialing the goods on a smaller scale. The internal US relocations market is worth a respectable $25 billionevery year, a reflection of the fact that whatever a business’s current situation, the grass could always be greener.
Cost
There are any number of reasons to relocate. But one underlying question for anyone thinking about relocating is: how much is it going to cost you? Above all, will the long-term savings and gains you’ll make from your new location compensate your moving costs in the next five years? If the answer to that second question is no, then you should call a halt and regroup to marshal your resources. Either that, or seriously consider getting a long-term loan.
Revisit insurance
Upsizing is probably the single biggest reason for relocation. Whether companies are looking to tap into new markets or increase their market share. Oftentimes, doing either of these will involve scaling up your operation. As your operation grows in size, so do your insurance premiums. Relocation is the perfect time to make sure you’re covered by a comprehensive insurance package provider like Hiscox that provides public liability insurance and protects you against employee lawsuits.
Planning
Setting up new business premises is considerably more difficult than moving house, even if you’re only intending to rent premises. The bigger the business, the more difficult the move. Budgeting is essential to ensuring a smooth transition. Involve a property lawyer in your search from the offset, and make sure your realtor provides consistent price forecasts for you. For anyone looking to move, time is another important factor. You need to have the ability to juggle day-to-day business responsibilities while also responsibly researching every aspect of your new premises.
Location, location, location
One International Business lecturer cites “tax, talent and trepidation”as the main factors driving major corporate relocations across the globe. And all of these things have a bearing on domestic relocations as well when entrepreneurs consider the best city to start a US business. Location factors play more than an incidental role in any business’s decision to relocate. Funding, customer base, talent pool, premise costs, city and state taxes: these are all important considerations for any business that’s thinking about moving its operations. Isolate the factors which matter most to your operations and choose a location accordingly. Remember there’s always a balance to be found between all of these things.
Involve your employees
Communication is a vital part of the process here with everyone needing to be informed about the relocation process. If you’re moving further afield, employees may reconsider their positions. It can cost you a lot of money to move personnel onto pastures new but you’ll be looking at $17,000 per head at the low end of expenditure. It’s good to get a read on this as early as possible, so you can plan accordingly and adjust your relocation packages if necessary.
Where possible, you should consult staff on any proposed changes and try to involve them in the discussion to help them understand your thinking. Keeping your team in-the-know and on-side will help you to smooth the transition period and limit the retention issues when you do move on.
Comments