Now that you have a signed lease, you have a lot of planning to do. We did all of our planning through our company goal tracking service that we use called Lifetick. We divided out the work this way:

• Change of Address:
  • Utilities like phone and power
  • E-Commerce Sites
  • Vendors
  • All online directories (Chamber of Commerce, Google Local Search, Trade Associations, etc)
  • All Federal Agencies (IRS, DOL, etc.)

• Old Office Prep
  • Create a task for the packing of each area / room (thanks to Carceron employee Jim McKinney for heading up this grueling task)
  • Office deep cleaning and repair (after the move)
  • Turn in Keys
  • Get any deposits back

• Transfer Operations & Communications
  • Email (only matters if you run an in house server for email, such as a Small Business Server or Exchange)
  • Telephones  & Internet (this is a good time to shop your service, I recommend using a telecom broker like Elite Telecom Services who can shop it out for you and get you the best deal)
  • You’ll need to time this carefully and make sure that you involve your telephone system and computer support vendors who will need to disconnect from your old office and reconnect you at the new one on the same day
  • Core Network Infrastructure: Servers, Switches, Firewalls should all be up before anything else – especially if you have remote users.

• New Office Prep
  • Buildout completed to your specifications prior to move in (thanks to CKW & Associates taking care of our needs)
  • Certificate of Insurance from your commercial carrier
  • Security System installed (we used LOUD Security)
  • Lock in any maintenance agreements required by your lease (e.g. HVAC)
  • Keys copied and distributed (recommend distributing (DO NOT COPY keys to employees and keeping a couple of copy-able masters in a secure place; this prevents you from having to re-key every time you lose an employee)
  • Signage – meet with your signage vendor early to discuss your needs
  • Furniture – engage a commercial furniture rep regardless of whether or not your are expanding or shrinking. They can help you get rid of stuff if you are shrinking and can get you deals on anything from new to used. (special thanks for Preston Barnes of Provident Office Environments for helping us out)

Tags: change of address, ckw associates, elite telecom services, HVAC maintenance, john loud, lifetick, loud security, mike russell, office move, packing an office, preston barnes, provident office environments, transfer communications, transfer operations

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