Every 5 years we seem to outgrow our space and it’s time to consider a move. With 22 years in business and helping numerous clients with their office moves, we’ve learned a few things along the way.
So, as we at MRW Systems embark on yet another office move of our own here’s some lessons we’ve learned for all of you contemplating a change:
Find a decent real estate agent.
Partner with a real estate agent to help you find your space. Our agent not only helped us find space, but he also helped us negotiate the lease. He saved us time and money.
Have your lawyer look over the lease.
Have a lawyer look over your new lease. Leases are long and wordy and filled with language that most people don’t use every day. It gave us peace of mind to have an expert review the lease and make recommendations and give us explanations when things weren’t clear.
Don’t forget about bandwidth.
Check your bandwidth. Internet Connectivity is super important to us. So, we made sure we would be getting the most available and sometimes that is limited by location so good to know upfront.
Find a reputable builder.
Hire a reputable builder if you need a build-out of the space. Our new space was just a shell, so we needed everything done. They literally took our Wishlist and turned it into reality. We only had to provide our input and pick the finishes.
Add low voltage cabling to your to-do list.
Don’t forget your low voltage cabling. Most build outs do not include low voltage cabling. Be sure to supply drops for not just all your workstations but for conference rooms and TVs. We use the same contractor we recommend to our own clients. They also do security cameras and key fob systems for your door so one less contractor to get.
Evaluate your office furniture.
Consider your office furniture and if you need it installed to get your Use and Occupancy permit. In some areas, your office cubes/workstations need to be installed before you can get your Use and Occupancy permit. This can be a problem if you are moving what you have. We are getting new “used” workstations. We found that if we buy used quality office workstations they last, and they are much more affordable. We’ve used the same company for the last two moves, and they’ve been great for both our new and used furniture.
Double-check your IT equipment.
Make sure your IT equipment can handle your new space. For example, now that 1GB internet is available you want to make sure your equipment like your firewall can handle it. We had to buy a new firewall to let the 1GB flow. You may also need more equipment if you are now on two floors instead of one. Your network equipment needs to be considered before you move.
Make sure your coverage for WIFI is adequate.
Consider your WIFI. You may need to do a heat map to see where and how many access points you will need to have continuous connectivity in your space. Ideally, you need to know this while the low voltage contractor is doing his thing.
Don’t move your old phone system.
Will your phone system survive a move? If you’re growing like us, now may be a great time to upgrade your phone system to handle more calls and more people. If your phone system is very old, it may not even survive the move.
Have a point-person for workstation setup.
Consider who is plugging everything back in. We’ve helped numerous clients move their offices. We help in the planning stages as well as the day of the move. You need to consider once you move all your equipment whose getting it networked and plugged in and ready to go. If your IT company doesn’t do that, maybe you should consider us.
Moving to a new space can be challenging and time-consuming. We hope these lessons learned will help you have a successful move.