Corporate Relocation Guide: Moving Your Office to San Francisco
Featured image by Photo by Jared Erondu on Unsplash
If you’re planning to move your office to San Francisco, you’ll need to keep a few things in mind to ensure that your plan makes sense for you, the business, and your employees. It’s no wonder why a business would want to relocate to SF, either. As one of the most desirable places to live on the West Coast, there’s no doubt that the Bay Area and Silicon Valley are hotspots for commerce.
Keep reading for the ultimate corporate relocation guide — moving your office to San Francisco is easier than you might think:
Initial Planning
Before planning your office move, familiarize yourself the city and county’s key dates and deadlines. For example, all business license renewals for necessary permits are due on Mar. 31st for the:
- SF Office of the Treasurer and Tax Collector – From new business registration to paying property tax and more, the Treasurer & Tax Collector will be a valuable resource for your business.
- Department of Health – You’ll need permits and licenses if your business handles food, operates a public swimming pool, or services tattoos and body piercings to name a few examples.
- Fire Department – If you’re maintaining, storing, using or handling hazardous materials, you’ll need to submit a permit application to the Bureau of Fire Prevention.
- Police Department – If you need a commercial parking permit, tow car permit, etc. then you’ll need to submit an application to the SFPD.
- Entertainment Commission – If you’re in the entertainment business or need to plan a one-time live performance, you’ll need a permit from the Entertainment Commission.
Additionally, keep in mind that the fiscal tax year in SF starts on July 1st and ends on June 30th. When you make a timeline for your office move, including dates like these are important to track so that your corporate relocation goes as smoothly as possible.
1. Create a budget
First things first: You’ll need to finalize your budget and assess all the costs involved in your office move. Before anything is done, you’ll need to know what budget you can work with to find a new office location and manage moving expenses.
List out everything that’ll need to be moved to the new office: machinery, office equipment and furniture, electronics, assets, etc. You’ll need to know what you’re moving to San Francisco (and how much it will cost to move), and what needs to be ordered and set up in advance at the new location.
2. Finalize a timeline
Once you know how much it will cost to relocate employees and assets, you’ll have to build a timeline.
Because large offices will take much longer to plan for, work with team leads and key stakeholders to develop a realistic timeline. A dedicated project manager may be best suited to handle the coordinated effort to ensure that business operations continue as usual and deadlines are met.
Detailed Planning
At this point with your timeline and budget in the works, you’ll be able to plan the details for your corporate relocation to San Francisco.
3. Hold progress meetings with employees
It will be helpful to hold regular meetings with your employees to keep them up-to-date on details and expectations. It’ll also be a good time to address any concerns or answer questions that arise. Moving can be a stressful endeavor and it’s likely that your employees will feel the pressure and tension at some point.
To help ease the transition for your staff, you can provide resources for employees, like DMV license and vehicle registration information, voter information, property search information and more.
4. Create an internal moving team
One helpful thing you can do is create a moving team within your company. You can appoint people from different departments to lead their colleagues and departments in planning the details, fielding any questions and serving as a representative for those departments. They can help distribute moving updates and any informational resources that will be helpful for the move.
It’ll be even more helpful to elect internal moving leads as the move-out day draws closer since plans can be implemented per section or floor to coordinate the entire office move smoothly.
5. Assess your current space for what is and isn’t working
The internal moving team can be a great asset while planning the new office layout. Take a survey and find out what isn’t working in your current office to consider recommendations for the new office. It’s a great way to use insight from your employees to create a new and improved work environment.
For example – are you currently short on large conference space? Or do your employees have trouble finding quiet locations to take a phone call? This could be the perfect opportunity to address the needs of your employees. Consider upgrading the space of your community spaces. Get some insight on furniture arrangements for lounge areas or a new kitchen layout with extra cabinets and convenient appliances. If your employees feel like they have a say in the new office design, it will make them more enthusiastic about the move.
Hiring Professionals
As you’re getting ready to pack everything up and finalize the move, you’ll have to hire professionals to make your San Francisco move a reality.
6. Bring in movers who have the right equipment
One of the last steps is coordinating your move with professional corporate movers. Your office furniture, including desks and cubicles, will all need to be carefully disassembled, wrapped, and loaded onto a truck. Your moving team will also be able to pack up computers and monitors. They can pack any other items into boxes as needed.
An efficient moving team will ensure that your cubicles, desks. And computers are set up promptly in the new office so that your business will have minimal downtime.
If you’re ready to begin planning your office move, contact Ninja Movers at 888-646-5237 for a free Bay Area moving consultation.
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