When the ball dropped to usher in 2025, we had just moved into our new location. “Auld Lang Syne” still rang in my ears as we shoved the last piece of pipe into the shelves at our new shop. By “move in,” I mean throw four desks into a garage and establish a Wi-Fi connection.

We had a makeshift conference table set up in the same garage bay, along with a few giant rolling toolboxes. The other three bays of the shop were full of pumps, heaters, parts and all variety of stationary tools. 

When we took over the lease on the new headquarters, which is about 20 minutes from our original command post, we didn’t have full access to the property right away. The previous tenant needed the office portion of the facility for a few more months. That meant bathrooms shared by two companies, much to the chagrin of our female staff members.

I’d rather have not moved, but there were a few contributing factors. The most significant consideration was that the owner of the building we previously occupied had sold the property. Beyond that, we’d outgrown the facility, and it was older than we’d have preferred. The location was convenient due to its proximity to many of our employees’ homes. That said, it was less ideal for accessing the highway and our major customers.

The new shop, which is 20 minutes closer to our clients and suppliers, is less than a year old. New insulation, new overhead doors and four giant bays serve as a blank canvas and made the daunting task of moving the company a little more palatable.

Do your due diligence

Moving a household is frantic. Moving a company should be less frantic yet more involved if you’ve done your due diligence. 

The planning phase of our move began last July. We implemented a new inventory program and started cleaning out the old shop. Some parts had become obsolete and there were old tools we never used anymore. We recycled everything we could and threw the rest away. 

Physically moving wasn’t a giant hurdle. We used our team and trucks to transport everything over the course of a few days. Big machines, forklifts and pallet jacks were moved by a local towing company.

As D-Day grew near, we began notifying customers, suppliers, the IRS, the post office, etc.

The best advice I can give in preparation for moving a service company is to take possession of the new property six months before occupying it. That wasn’t an option for us because we were being forced out of our old location by its new owner. There’s a financial burden to occupying two locations at once, but based on my recent experience, it may well be worth the money.

Having control of the new facility months in advance provides more time to develop the space and physically move your office and equipment, but there’s a more important reason to secure the property early. Just because you’ve done your due diligence doesn’t mean everyone else has.

Expect challenges

You can plan, start the work early and do everything in your power leading up to a move, but there will still be headwinds and aggravation.

Changing our invoice address was easy for us because we only invoice electronically and because we serve fewer clients than most service companies our size. Our suppliers were good to work with throughout the process, too, but the IRS and the post office are still the bane of my existence as I write this. It doesn’t help that moving 15 miles down the road meant switching post offices, either.

Oddly enough, our Comcast work phones created an issue. To change the physical address associated with our mobile plan, Comcast requested a letter from the IRS making it official. Not surprisingly, the IRS is 12 weeks behind on getting that letter out. Heaven forbid I pay my taxes 12 weeks late. The Pennsylvania Department of Revenue was only slightly easier to deal with. 

A few things fell through the cracks on our end, though. Changing the address on our business cards, for example, was an afterthought. 

At the end of the day, some degree of chaos is unavoidable when moving a company. Having a supportive team that’s ready to roll up their sleeves and take on the challenges as they come is invaluable. I can’t thank my team enough for handling it as well as they did.

My final piece of advice is — and I say this only partially in jest — simply don’t move. Buy a building and stay there. If you outgrow it, add on. 

Or, even better, just retire and let the kids deal with it!