Turning profit from company relocation possible

By Rachel Walls of The Golden Gate Company, LLC

** This article has been published in IndUS Business Journal.

One of the biggest challenges in making a decision to relocate an office, branch or laboratory is identifying all of the expenses associated with such a move and managing them. While controlling costs is, indeed, a primary concern when considering a move, few companies realize that there are also several ways to actually make money during a relocation.

As an experienced move coordinator for medium- and large-sized corporations, I have developed several guaranteed and creative techniques that allow my clients to realize some income during their relocations as well as to achieve their cost-control goals. Here are just a few of the options we suggest to our clients:

Turn surplus furniture into surplus funds

One of the biggest ways to make money on a move is to sell old or surplus furniture. Most companies rarely consider how they will dispose of their used furniture after a move.

Generally, a company will strike a deal with the landlord to leave the furniture in place or, if the landlord is not interested, they will pay movers to take the excess furniture to the dump, which can be costly. Movers will charge a company for moving the furniture and the disposal center will charge the company for using their facility.

However, if you have 50 or more workstations that you need to dispose of, your furniture may be a good candidate for liquidation. Few companies realize that liquidators will work with organizations that have such a small number of units.

By selling used furniture, a company not only eliminates the need to write off these assets but they can also offset some of the costs of their relocation.

So, where do you find reputable liquidators? Your move coordinator should have a list of companies they work with on a regular basis so you can be assured of quality service and achieve the best price. If you are not working with a professional move coordinator, your moving company may be able to supply names for you, or you can search the Internet for “used office furniture” sources located in your city.

A move coordinator, however, can realize the best deals as they can readily obtain three to five quotes on the sale of your furniture to insure that you get the best possible deal.

In addition, as the furniture’s brand name, color, condition and dimensions will influence the price, your move coordinator, who is familiar with fair market values for used equipment, will be able to negotiate the best sales price for you. With my company’s help, our client Selectica, a technology company specializing in sales automation, recently retired some fixed assets. By getting multiple bids, we were able to find an offer that was 35 percent higher than what the company was able to acquire on their own.

Move to upgraded technology

A move is a great time to update your company’s technology. Taking this time to upgrade can easily improve productivity at the new location as well as the efficiency and speed with which employees respond to customer requests and internal responsibilities. For example, upgrading your telephone technology to Voice-over-Internet can offer you lower operating costs and a lot more features and functions.

Generally speaking, most businesses hesitate to upgrade technology because of the downtime involved during the installation. However, since systems will be taken down, disassembled and reassembled during a move, it’s a perfect time to upgrade technology. Although it can be a large initial expense to most companies, considering the expected increases to employee efficiency, new technology can often pay for itself within a year of its purchase.

As part of our move coordination package for our clients, we not only manage the dismantling of the old and installation of the new technology, we also help some clients sort through competing technology to find out what is best for their company. And, we dispose of your old technology for a competitive price.

After you’ve made your selection, your old technology may be another good candidate for liquidation. Given the number of new businesses emerging at any given time, startup companies often settle for older technology at a cheaper price during their initial phases of operation.

Consider sub-leasing your new space

Another great way to save money during a relocation is to consider sub-leasing. In many markets in the United States, a company can save significant amounts of money by taking advantage of existing leases instead of paying rent at the current market rate.

The best way to find a good sub-lease is through a commercial real estate agent. Your move coordinator, again, should have a list of preferred companies to work with. A good agent, for example, will point you in the direction of any available space that will work well for your company’s needs. As leases can often be complicated documents, it’s important to partner with an experienced person when negotiating them. Leave it to an expert to figure out which lease works best for your company to insure you don’t overpay expenses throughout the term of your sub-lease.

Outsourcing can pay off

Smaller companies should also consider moving to serviced offices as a way to save money. We saved a 20-person office over $100,000 per year in operational costs by suggesting they move from a three-story building to a Regus-serviced office.

Regus offers offices that are fully furnished and equipped, along with a shared receptionist, IT and other services. Shared expenses with other tenants brought costs down. Because the space came furnished with desks and phones, it was a relatively inexpensive move with virtually no downtime.

The expense of a move can really add up. But through implementing a few strategies, such as selling your surplus furniture and equipment, upgrading your technology, selling your old technology, and looking for sub-leasing options or other real estate and service deals, one can achieve some immediate profits and ongoing savings that will offset the expenses of the move.

As each situation is unique, it is always advisable to consult with a professional move coordinator who can assess your situation, manage your move expenses and find ways to actually make you money during your move.