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While it’s by no means a definite rule, in general most businesses are only going to succeed if they have some sort of presence on the internet. Starting an internet business in most industries, this comes in the form of an ecommerce offering – in other words, customers have the ability to directly order products from a website.
If your company is experiencing rapid growth, as many are in this industry, planning an office move is often needed to maintain this growth. Within these office moves, the logistics behind selling your products online must be considered despite most of the company depending on small computer spaces for employees. A lot of ecommerce start-ups struggle to grasp this and make mistakes right off the bat. Today, we will mull over some of the most common.
Mistake #1 – You Don’t Plan For Any Physical Space
Sure, using your small office as a store room might have sounded like a great idea on your ecommerce business plan, but please note the short-term factor here. Not only are you having to live your life around products, deliveries and everything else that ecommerce will throw at you, but there are issues like security to consider. A common mistake is not planning how you might store things during an office move, especially if your business is growing with additional inventory during your office move. You should be looking for some specialized business storage solutions as soon as you can to store any additional office equipment and your products. Ask yourself questions such as does my business require all the current equipment? How much how much does storage cost monthly? Can anything be thrown out during the move? Asking these questions will help prepare you for a temporary lack of physical space.
Mistake #2 – You Do Not Maintain Steady Growth Whilst Moving Offices
Once upon a time, it may have been the case that you could move offices nearby and business would stay consistent. Now, if you are moving offices at the expense of your employees working hours, especially being in a competitive e-commerce industry, you can fall behind this competition quickly. There are some frightening stats doing the rounds about how the internet grows, and if your company closes down for a week to move offices then you could miss out on this growth.
Instead, you should find a temporary commercial space whilst the move is happening to ensure productivity is maximized within the company. You also need a proper marketing plan that can be implemented throughout the office move, to ensure your business is visible during the move. This might involve some temporary automated PPC or social advertising.
Mistake #3 – Managing The Change For Your Employees
Next, it’s all about making people feel reassured during the office move. For example, if the office is further from employees’ homes, or is further from a nearby train station, compensation might be needed to retain employees and ensure that they are motivated and productive. Far too many companies forget this – they just focus on the move itself rather than the impact on the employees. Instead, showcase your plans to compensate and share the benefits of the new office for the company. Give the employees a voice and listen to their concerns, as they are the most important part of your E-commerce business. It will make employees trust you, and this can be worth its weight in gold when it comes to productivity.
