Don't Put Off the Move
It’s already August. Think back to your New Year’s resolution. Did you stick with it? Be honest. If you fell short on your goals, you’re not alone. Often, people abandon their resolutions shortly after committing to them. Much like personal goals, businesses often fall short of their professional goals.
For example, one of your goals this year might have been to move your office to a more optimal location. Businesses choose to move for a variety of reasons. Employees may need more room to work or the owner may be paying for space they don’t need. The location could also be declining in exposure and foot traffic. Even if managers recognize these problems, they still may choose to stay. Moving, of course, requires a significant investment of money and energy. The moving process will also temporarily lower productivity and leave less time to focus on clients. For these reasons, it’s tempting for managers to put off their 2018 move until 2019 or 2020.
However, procrastinating for another year may create additional problems. Much like the old euphemism “the time to repair a roof is when the sun is shining,” the time to move is when the economy is booming.
2018 has been a good year for commercial real estate. The City of Salem, in particular, has seen an abundance of new real estate projects and opportunities. However, economies tend to fluctuate. Interest rates can rise, prices increase, and the number of properties for sale can decline. Therefore, if the economy is good, moving will be much less costly.
Even though its August, you still have time to make moving a reality. Gauge your progress (if any) to this point and reaffirm your commitment to moving with your stakeholders.
After reviewing your progress, you should identify the steps that you need to be taken to execute your goals. Figure out what your budget is. What makes the most sense financially? How are you going to move your staff, equipment, etc. into a new facility? What will be a good day to move?
Keeping this in mind, you should write down the most important activities for you to give attention to. Ideally, the list will have some sort of timeline for when you should accomplish things. This will help you to strategically check-off tasks and work towards your objective.