Do you want to move your home-based business into a commercial space? Moving any business can be complicated, and it may be even worse when it involves the shift from home to a real office or warehouse. How can you make this transition easier and more successful? Here are a few tips for any home business owner.

1. Hire Professionals

No matter how large or small your business move, professional assistance will make things easier. Small business owners who try to do it all themselves usually cannot handle both the physical move and running their busy enterprise at the same time. You also risk injury to yourself and to your helpers as well as damage to your equipment.

Call on professional movers for as much of the work as you can afford. This includes logistics, packing up the office or inventory, disassembly of equipment, transport, and placing everything in the new location.

2. Maintain Your Home Office

Don’t feel like you must completely vacate your home office just because you now have a professional space. In fact, the home office should likely serve as an important part of your plan. Why? You became used to having your business close at hand in your home. Continuing to have some access to it at home will make the transition easier and your work more convenient.

You might purchase new equipment for the new location and leave older equipment in your home office. Or, use the home office for certain specific tasks, such as accounting or marketing work. You can then use the new office as the public face of your company.

3. Start Out Small

Be wary of overcommitting yourself when it comes to size or budget. Many owners moving from their home office to a new space use cooperative rented offices, which often provide much of what they need to do business without having to buy it all themselves. You might also make use of separate storage spaces (for things like inventory) so you can keep the rented office smaller.

Remember, you can always move your business again in the future if it outgrows these transitional plans. But by not committing too much too soon, you protect the budget and only take on what you can handle at the moment.

4. Consider Other Upgrades

Since you’re committing to a new office and a new way of doing things, look for other ways to update your business. If you’re moving inventory from your garage or office into a rented storage space, is it time to update your inventory management system? Upgrades help you to think like a professional, long-term business owner rather than an entrepreneur who just tries to get the job done.

Consider how you can upgrade your business processes to take full advantage of your new setting. Perhaps you might want new equipment for the new space, a company vehicle, or professional bookkeeping software.

5. Communicate With Stakeholders

Any time a business changes locations, it should spend time at least one month before and after the move communicating with everyone involved. This includes customers, vendors, partners, and oversight agencies.

Because your move involves the home, though, stakeholders include your friends, family, and neighbors. If moving trucks will work on the weekend or after business hours, let neighbors know. And if you need to upend the home during the move, you might suggest your family take a short vacation so you can get the work done safely and quickly.

Begin planning for your home-to-office transition by meeting with experienced local movers. Island Movers has aided small businesses with all their relocation needs for more than 60 years. Let us help you craft the start of your new chapter as a business owner. Call today to make an appointment.