When you’ve fully committed to moving your business from one location to another, your mind is bound to run wild with questions and concerns. The first of those questions is likely to involve money. Just how much will the process of moving your business cost you? The answer is certain to vary for each individual business, but there are a few easy steps to help determine just how much you should expect to pay.

One of the first things you can do as the moving process gets underway is sit down and hammer out a rough draft budget. A few steps can be taken here to make the move and understanding the cost a bit easier. Think about assigning one of your staffers with the role of “project manager.” This employee will be tasked with coordinating with your current and future landlord about the moving process. 

They can also get in contact with business vendors, suppliers, and clients about the potential move and how it will impact revenue and costs. To take things a step further, the project manager can take care of business essentials and determine how they will factor into your moving budget. That can include reaching out to internet providers and furniture suppliers. Handing those assignments off to someone you trust can make the moving process less stressful.

Don’t forget to contact suppliers to determine early termination costs, disconnection and connection fees, new lease or service agreements and any new equipment costs. This aspect of moving and assessing its cost can be lost in the shuffle as you search for a new place to house your business.

Optimal Networks, a Maryland-based computer consulting company, recently laid out a few steps that help determine just how much moving your business will cost. As we mentioned, this varies by business, but following some of these steps can make the process a bit more clear.

1. The size of your business. Describing yourself as “small” won’t cut it here. Exactly how many workstations will you need to disassemble and reassemble? How many desks will need to be properly arranged and cabled? How many servers do you need to transport?

2. The state of your new space. Does it already have the infrastructure in place to support your network and your desired office layout, including Internet and cabling? Will you need to build out a server room? Is the conference room going to be properly configured to have all of the capabilities you’ll need to conduct meetings?

3. How much of the move you’re outsourcing. Will your IT team need to follow you from site to site to physically move your equipment, or can staff members do that? Do you have someone in-house who could set up your workstations?

4. Your existing equipment. Are you simply transplanting equipment, or will you also need to purchase new hardware? (Note: We don’t recommend combining a large-scale upgrade project with a move projects unless absolutely necessary, since doing so can make it difficult to isolate the source of issues that arise.)

Clearly, each business will reach differing conclusions after following those steps. Some business owners will be left overwhelmed by the costs of moving, while others may react with a sigh of relief. While each location will find different results, there is a rough template when it comes to estimating the cost of the move.

The Small Business Chronicle in Houston has assembled a rough template of how much each step can cost.

  • When moving roughly 1,500 square feet of office space, pricing could range from as low as $750 to as high as $4,500. That will depend entirely on moving materials, furniture, etc.
  • The packing and moving of a 3,000 square foot space would likely start around $1,500 and range up to $9,000. Again, these numbers will depend on your files and furniture.
  • A 10,000 square foot space would likely start at $5,000 and range up to $30,000 due to numerous employees and workstations. Consider about $50 -$250 per employee.
  • You’ll have additional costs for a moving consultant, long carries and shuttling boxes through elevators, packing and moving cable, data lines, and computer or phone cables, and you’ll want to tip your moving crew.
  • New furniture could cost $200-$2,000 per employee, computers ranging from $300-$3,000 per employee and phone systems anywhere from $100 to $1,000.
  • You could also look at the expenses as it costing about $1-$2 per square foot for an office move or around $.75 per square foot for packing your office. Determine if you want a crew to pack up your office outside of business hours to save from losing out on your own operations or if you’d rather have your office staff pack their offices up during working hours which could affect your business income.

If you need help determining how much your move will cost, or if you’re ready to take your business to a new location, Advantage Moving & Storage is ready to help! Contact our professionally trained staff here to get started.