Relocating your car business to and within the city can be a logistical nightmare. Even if you don’t have to go far, security concerns and transportation safety will need to be carefully considered as you move from site to site.

Loop In Your Employees Early

Change is hard. Don’t surprise your employees. Not only will you damage goodwill, but you may not get their best ideas on how to make the move as simple and smooth as possible. Poor communication damages buy-in.

Once you know where you’re going, a simple way that your employees can contribute good ideas to the move is in watching the budget with an eye toward the move. From office supplies to cleaning tools, you may be able to reduce expenses at the old facility if everyone on staff is ordering with an eye toward the move.

Add an Overnight Shift

Your moving sale will require you to have all hands on deck. Once the sales floor closes down for the night, moving the vehicles to your new lot can get scheduled. While some may be driven, there are car shipping companies in New Jersey and cities where you operate that can help you relocate vehicles en masse.

Obviously, this will take organization. Make sure your maintenance crew has checked cars to make sure they’re not full of fuel if they’re going on the transport vehicle. You may have a few temporary tags that you can pass from driver to driver to move individual cars. Fill your new lot from the outside in, leaving easy space for the larger transport vehicle to load, drop off, and head back to your old facility.

Make Your Move Part of a Rebranding

Loop in your marketing team and rebrand your business for the move. Send half the lobby furniture to an upholstery shop for a clean-up or reupholstery, then get them delivered to your new facility. On the last week before the move, send the rest out. If you’re having a moving sale, you want folks to move in and out quickly. Chairs encourage lingering.

This could also be your chance to go as paperless as possible. Consider upgrades to

• office computers
• your website
• social media sites

Do be aware that you will need to offer training and you may need to bring in additional support personnel to assist folks who have a tough time with change. Your computer security and website security may well require an IT professional on site.

Boost Your Security in Both Locations

Once your new building is secured, boost the lighting. You will likely need a fence around your car lot, so make sure your lighting improvements cover to the farthest corner of the lot once your fence is in place.

Cameras are critical, as are motion sensors around the perimeters of your lot and around your garage. Finally, you will want to hire a security service to patrol the facility, both in drive-bys and foot patrols. Anything that slows your move to a new facility will be costly; doubling up on security will reduce the risk of vandalism.

Market Your Move

Now is the time to pair a big sale of your existing stock with your move. If you offer a trade-in sale, consider opening up your mechanic’s shop early so you can assess trade-ins at you new facility and swap out the trade-in for the new car there. Of course, don’t store any cars or tools at your new facility until you have your security in place.

A moving sale will draw in a great deal of traffic. Make sure you have all your salespeople on deck in the weeks leading up to your building sale and grand re-opening. While a move can lead to a slowdown in sales once you’re settled into your new place, a well-marketed sale can help your salespeople can have a very good month leading up to the move. You can protect their income and your bottom line.

Consider offering a bonus to your employees at the end of your move. Of course, you can’t really give your employees time off during your move; you need all hands on deck for this important event. Consider sending out a survey to ask what each employee would enjoy as a moving bonus.