Pointers on moving an internet business home from home

Moving to Scotland had been an idea for a while, but when the actual move came it was all done at very short notice. And I put my business at risk through improper planning of it.

We had been renting in Hull, and looking to rent in Scotland while we looked for that final property we’d want to settle down in and buy. The plan was that I should spend a few days in Easter viewing the rental market in our target area, Stirling, then visit again around June, and sign for a property we could move to in the school summer holidays.

Things didn’t go to plan.

When I arrived, I saw an opportunity, and grasped it. The contract was signed within a week, and two weeks later we had moved in.

I didn’t stop working until 9pm the night before moving - but I couldn’t restart work for a few days after.

The problem was that the property was brand new - it didn’t even have a phone line. Although I had pre-booked for an activation of the phone line, I was unable to ensure the phone would be active at the time of moving in.

Additionally, something none of the broadband providers had mentioned is that to use broadband on a BT line, that line has to have been active for 7 days before being broadband enabled. And to book an engineer in for that would take 10 working days.

The result was a business headache and a potential risk, with extended time offline, and the inability to work efficiently once connected to the internet.

So a few pointers on moving a home internet business:

• Make arrangements with the relevant telecomes provider - usually BT in the UK - at least one month before actually moving property. This way you can ensure you will have an active line and working telephone number before you even set foot in the new property.
• Make enquiries with your preferred broadband provider a fortnight before before in, to ensure you have broadband enabled and ready for the day you move in. Remember that some areas are not broadband enabled or may only have limited broadband access, so it is especially imporant to be aware of such issues before moving in.
• If you are moving into a newly built property, expect things to be additionaqlly complicated. For a start, the building will probably be referenced by its plot number, rather than actual street address. Bear in mind that the line may need to be working for a specified period before broadband activation.
• Remember that if you need to book any engineers for line installation or activation, or even for extension sockets, that you could be waiting anywhere between 7-14 working days for the relevant work to be carried out. This means you need to plan for weekends and public holidays
• When working from home, for telephony and internet services, you may find yourself with a choice of residential or business line options. The important distinction is that when you pay a higher price for a business line/business broadband, you get a much higher level of service with it. An issue that a business customer may have fixed within a day, may take a week to be resolved on a residential tariff.
• Inform customers of your moving and provide an emergency contact number if necessary - but emphasise the continuation of normal services. However, do ensure you have a list you can carry of customer telephone numbers and e-mail addresses, just in case.
• Of course, in an environment where you are required to provide constant support, ensure you have some form of staff coverage for the periods in excess of the time you expect to be offline. Ideally, you should not rely on a single person.
• Laptops can be extraordinarily useful in a move, and allow you to do work even while most of your other equipment is packed. It also provides a very versatile point of connection to the internet, both before and after moving, as well as inbetween. This is not least because it may take you a few days or even a few weeks before you can have your home office fully set up again.
• If you don’t already have one, then a free e-mail address, such as at Hotmail, Yahoo!, or GMail, means that in the event of something going wrong, you still have a point of e-mail contact and communication. That way if you have to book into a hotel, you can still at least reach your clients/customers via e-mail, and vice versa.
• Of course, if you are moving telephone provider, do ensure that you redirect your e-mails to an account you can monitor at any time. Free e-mail addresses may again be especially useful here.
• Remember that you will need to change your contact information on your business stationary - business cards, invoices, and letterheads. Don’t make any of these changes until you have at least signed a contract, or better yet, actually moved in.
• Consider researching information such as hotel contact details, both along your route, as well as near the moving area. This can be esepcially important where long distances need to be travelled, and the risks may be greater of something going wrong.
• Expect the unexpected and be as prepared as you - but if something goes wrong, be prepared to accept responsibilities for the consequences.

As for the move itself, I’m connected to broadband now, but still using the laptop. Once I have my wireless connection up I can begin to sort out my office again.

And I’m now living in a nicer area, in a little village at the foot of the Ochil Hills.

And if you would like to see something of the are I’m now moved to, here you go: Clackmannanshire, the Wee County