How To Plan A Move Around Your Home Business
Working at home can be chaotic
Working at home can be chaotic. Working at home while trying to move, even more so.It's not just the time loss. It's being extra tired.
Like everything else in home business and much of life, it comes down to planning.
1. Figure out the times that you'll be working versus house/apartment hunting, packing, etc.
The balance here depends on how fast the move needs to go. The faster you want to move, the more you need to tilt the balance toward finding a place to live and packing to get there.
Expect to lose some working days entirely. There have been plenty of days where I just have not had the energy to deal with anything beyond what it took to find a new place to live.
If you have clients, make sure they know you're moving, and work with their needs as much as possible, even hiring someone else if need be to do the work you can't get done due to your move. A virtual assistant for yourself may be a good idea too.
2. Pay attention to what you can live without for a while, versus what should be packed last.
You don't want to pack away anything to do with your home business until you're ready to have no access to it. For me, that meant my computer stayed out as long as possible.
Pack as neatly as possible, with all boxes labeled so that you can get organized again as soon as possible in your new home. If you aren't in a big rush, this can also be a great time to declutter and get rid of all those papers that build up over time.
Now is a very good time to back up your computer. You hope nothing will happen to it on the move, but stuff happens. Better to be prepared.
I do this regularly anyhow. I have an external hard drive that backs up my files at night. Big, big help. They're really quite affordable these days, especially when you consider the cost of losing all your files.
3. Check the rules for home businesses at your new home.
Don't commit to anything until you're sure that your home business won't be a problem. If you're entirely online, it really shouldn't be a problem. However, if you ever have clients come to your home, there may be issues. You need to be sure that you can still run your business wherever you go.
Sometimes you'll need a business license, sometimes a home occupation permit, sometimes a Fictitious Business Name or a DBA. Requirements vary quite a bit. Know what you need so you can keep your business legit.
4. Get your utilities and internet service hooked up in plenty of time at the new place.
How much in advance you need to take care of this depends on where you're moving to and what kind of internet service you need. When my sister moved she got FIOS, which had a two week lead time on it. Other services can be turned on more or less same day.
5. Plan the layout of your new home.
This isn't just for your home business. It's for entire family. With luck, you'll be able to dedicate a room as a home office. Maybe it will even have a door!
My home office at our new home is pretty much like what I had before, that is to say a room that is still a part of the main body of the house, no door.
Planning things a little in advance of the actual move helps when you're moving. It's nice to be able to put the boxes in the room they belong in, rather than in a big stack as you debate when you get there.
6. Keep planning your unpacking around your home business.
The move doesn't stop when all the boxes and furniture are in your new home. It doesn't even stop when you have the everyday basics set up.
Unpacking can be quite the process, and it too will interfere with your home business. You don't want to be living out of boxes forever. At the same time, you may be quite eager to get your business running again. When you love what you do, it's hard to ignore it once you're sufficiently comfortable in your new situation.
But you do need to get the unpacking done too. It can be quite frustrating dealing with the little issues caused by having this and that packed away.
Work on the unpacking at a rate you and your family can tolerate. How fast that needs to be is a pretty personal decision. But I don't recommend taking months and months to get the job done.
The idea, after all, is to get settled so that the move is no longer interfering with your ability to work your home business and enjoy your family. Once it's all out of the way you'll be glad it's done.
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