If your company is moving on to bigger and better things, it’s important to make sure the office moving process goes as smoothly as possible. That way, you can focus on your real passion – operating your business.

Here are 7 common mistakes to avoid:

1. Not Planning Ahead
   Plan ahead – way ahead. In fact, you should begin planning for your move while looking for new office space. Some properties may have moving obstacles that will factor in to your lease or purchase negotiations.
2. Forgetting to Back Up Your Data 
   If you don’t already have off-site storage, make sure you do. Either have a physical location holding your data or get everything stored in the cloud. Most likely, your equipment won’t get damaged and lose the data during the move, but that’s a risk you don’t need to take.
3. Underestimating the Cost of Time Delays
   There are a lot of factors that impacting your move date. Planning ahead and continuous communication with your team and all others involved can help greatly reduce the chances your timeline will slip. There are some circumstances that are out of your control so having a back up plan for your move will also help reduced last minute expenses and down time.
4. Not Thoroughly Interviewing the Mover 
   How does your mover higher employees? Are any of them temps? Do they do background checks? What’s the training process? Do they have chain-of-custody procedures in place? The more you know about the mover and the more concrete mechanisms they have in place for service, the better.
5. Not Having Enough Insurance
   Some items may get damaged during the move. First, check with your carrier to see if your policy covers items while in transit. If yes, you’re all set. If no, ask your mover what options they offer and make the best choice for your business based on the options they provide, keeping in mind most move related claims are under $1000.00.
6. Not Thoroughly Evaluating the Office Space Agreement
   Read through the document carefully with your own in-house staff, or hire a lawyer to do it for you. Make sure the document says what you think and that it gives you the space you need. Some office space lessors will offer documents with the Crystal Mark seal of approval from the Plain English Campaign, which simply ensures the agreement speaks its terms loudly and clearly.
7. Furniture Transition Errors
   You may assume you can use your current furniture at your new office, but be careful. That may or may not be the case. In most cases your existing furniture will not fit exactly the same as it stands today and even slight reconfigurations may mean having to order parts to properly assemble the furniture. Most furniture dealers don’t keep a lot of items in their local showrooms so make sure you leave yourself at least 4 weeks for any furniture or parts you need to order.
   Stay mindful of these seven common mistakes during the moving process, and remember, communication with your moving company and key personnel is key.