More of this Feature • Part 3: Lessons From Businesses That Have Relocated • Part 1: Hard Times Call For a Hard Look at Your Location

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A lower monthly lease rate is always appealing, but if you're thinking about relocating, you also have to think about how moving your business may affect your business' profits.

If you're operating a business that involves going to the client's site and providing the product or service, such as plumbing or tree pruning, where your business is located won't matter much to the client. But if you run a business where the client comes to you, such as retail or some professional services, location is paramount. Fair or not, many of your potential clients will judge your business by first appearances, and your premises will have to be substantial and inviting to a degree. If you operate this kind of business, you have to be especially careful about choosing a new business site.

Retail businesses are perhaps the most location sensitive. I've spoken to several local retailers about their business relocation experiences. As these business people have requested anonymity, the names with asterisks are pseudonyms.

Lease rates at shopping malls are often the highest around, and many business owners see getting out from under lease rates they see as excessive as a good way to lower overhead and increase profits. Moving out of the mall is certainly a quick way to lower operating costs, but is it worth it?

Kathy G.*, who operates a women's retail clothing store, says no. For years, her business was located in a medium-sized mall in the center of town, and her sales benefited from mall traffic. Kathy found the lease rates exorbitant, however, and decided to move out to a storefront along one of the main streets. She assumed that business would stay brisk, because her new location was only blocks away from her old one. The lease rate for her new location was a little over $300 less than the rate she had been paying.