Making Your Move

As Economaki discovered, when it comes to moving with as little disruption of your business as possible, the devil is in the details. About four months before moving day, she began transferring her company's accounts to ensure they could immediately conduct business once they reached their destination. "Some of it was a piece of cake, like dealing with FedEx, but transferring the payroll and having the phone system disconnected and transplanted took some time," she says. "And, of course, I was still doing my usual job during all this."

Thinking ahead netted ideas like printing new address labels so the newspaper could use up its old stationery, and good relationships enabled Economaki to bring her "computer maven" from New Jersey to North Carolina to set up the newspaper's system. Keeping her eyes and ears open--and not being afraid to ask for advice--also proved fruitful.

"Ask everyone on your staff for ideas--they inevitably remember things you've forgotten," Economaki advises. "And be proactive: Start two months earlier than you think you need to."

This article was originally published in the April 1998 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Making Your Move.