7 Steps For a Better Business Move

Did you know that moving to a new home is more stressful than getting married or having a baby? It’s true. And moving your business can be equally stressful. Despite the positives — lower costs, better location, more space, etc. — change can be scary, especially when that change has the potential to be highly disruptive to your business.

But moving doesn’t have to be terrifying. In fact, it can be the perfect opportunity to get more organized and more unified. How? By learning from the mistakes that other small businesses have made, and using cloud technology to create a less cluttered and less costly communications system for your business. If you’re planning to move your business in the future, the following 7 steps can help you reduce stress, disruption and unnecessary costs.

Step 1: Re-examine your service provider contracts right now

If you’re like most businesses, you have contracts that control your business phone and fax, mobile phones and Internet access. Leave the party early, and you could be looking at a hefty bill.

• THE FACTS: Your service provider contract is a legal agreement that includes a penalty, in the form of an early termination fee, for breaking it.
• THE FIX: As your service contracts end, replace them with cloud-based services that can move with you to the new location.

Step 2: Avoid getting tripped up by high cabling costs

Business owners often underestimate the cost and complexity of re-cabling their new office for voice, power, Internet, etc.

• THE FACTS: Network cabling can cost $125-$200 per drop.

THE FIX: Ask yourself whether wireless could be an option at your office location, in lieu of network cabling.

Step 3: Back up everything you can lose, because you could lose everything

Moving your business also means moving your business data, emails, voicemails and more. And that can put valuable data at risk of theft or loss.

• THE FACTS: 41 percent of security professionals say that data loss is their biggest worry.

THE FIX: Move your data into the cloud once, and never worry about moving it again.

Step 4: Make sure you stay connected to your customers

Office moves can lead to relocation limbo while phones and computers are down. Businesses need to ensure seamless connectivity to customer service channels during the move, or risk losing customers.

• THE FACTS: An always-on communications system can increase revenue by 10-15 percent.

THE FIX: Select an always-on cloud solution for your business communications platform.

Step 5: Make the move to being a mobile business all of the time

Having a mobile business strategy doesn’t just help during a move; it can pay dividends every day. Empower your employees to work from anywhere—in the office, at home, on the road—and you’ll be more productive, more of the time.

• THE FACTS: Global spending on enterprise mobility solutions is growing nearly 25 percent year-over-year.

THE FIX: Choose a cloud communications platform that supports mobile connectivity from anywhere on any device.

Step 6: Anticipate IT issues with your move

Getting your old PBXs and servers up and running in a new location can present a lot of unexpected problems, leading to delays, disruption and disappointment.

• THE FACTS: Businesses are spending $3,000 less per employee on IT services than they did five years ago.

THE FIX: Stay lean and keep it simple with a managed cloud service.

Step 7: Don’t just move your business location, move your business forward

A new office can mean a new start, especially in terms of your old office technology. By embracing the cloud, you can get more value from business applications such as Microsoft Office, IP Fax and more.

• THE FACTS: Software as a Service (SaaS) is growing more than 20 percent year-over-year.
• THE FIX: Talk to your service provider today about moving to unified communications (UC) in the cloud powered by BroadSoft, the UCaaS market leader.

Universal Connectivity is a full-service Unified Communications as a Service (UCaas) provider. We offer VoIP business phone solutions along with IP fax, teleconferencing and contact center platforms. As “Your Link to Your World”, we strive to work cooperatively to help your business be more efficient and grow. For more information, give us a call at 866-808-1412 today or contact us online.