Site Selection and Demographic Tips for Establishing Outlets

Many cities have home pages on the Internet. Many of these cities use these sites to promote their town. They use it to attract large corporations who will provide jobs and large retailers who will provide sales tax revenue dollars for city budgets. The first thing you need to do when surveying a town for a likely candidate for a company outlet is to visit their website and that you can do from where you are sitting right now. Websites can be great sources for general and statistical data. Here is some of the information you will find at these Internet sites: Upcoming City Events; Job Opportunities; Library Hours; How To Pay Water Bills; Statistical Data; Basic City Information; Etc.

What you generally won't find on these sites is any information that may be negative to retailers, large employers or home-buyers such as, but not limited to: High Crime Rates; High Unemployment; Degrading Schools; Traffic Counts; Accessibility Of Transportation; HUD Information; Low Income Housing Areas; Etc.

This type of negative data is vital to your understanding the economics and future economics of the city and region, that you will have to find out from a look see in the area, a personal visit. These are things you over hear in local coffee shops talking with police officers, local business people and concerned citizens.

Many Chambers of Commerce have BBS Bulletin Boards or home pages on the Internet. Usually they offer incentives to membership by putting these new members on the Internet and giving them a listing on the chamber's home page. Generally, the information on these systems is of more value in site analysis and selection than the city's home page. This is because it is created by and for business people. It is also usually tailored to the small businessman and the large employer.

A few of the companies that collect data and run ESRI programs will make customized reports based upon criteria you specify and then search, sort and modem or fax the information to you in one hour or less. These companies include: Thompson Site Selection Research, Inc.; Urban Decision Systems Equifax National Decision Systems.

Equifax can give us demographic variables such as: Total Households; Total Population; Household Growth/Decline; Population Growth/Decline; Average Income; Median Income; Specific Income Ranges; Population By Race; Number Of Owners/Renter Units; Property Values; Age Of Population Education Level Of Population; Occupations Of Labor Force; Number Of Vehicles

Equifax can also give us the following business variables: Number Of Businesses (Automotive); Number Of Businesses By SIC Code; Competitive Businesses; Number Of Retail Businesses; Etc.

Equifax supplies this information in many different formats. By calling an 800 number, you can have an eight-page report faxed in three hours time. Maps can take a little longer. Equifax's latest software called Sparta-Site is PC based. Sparta-Site integrates demographic, consumer, expenditure, shopping center, highway and road data into one comprehensive package that provides automated site evaluations on any computer or laptop. Business data, mailing lists and sales contact data bases can also easily be incorporated with this site software.

To make this actual analysis easy for users, all information in Sparta-Site is pulled into site evaluation modules similar to those you will find from Urban Design Systems on the following pages. When analysis is complete, Sparta-Site produces a series of maps, charts and reports which allows us to quickly identify locations which offer us the greatest potential for high profit car washing before we set up route schedules for the franchisees. With this software, we can analyze an unlimited number of locations in our target regions and conduct an endless number of 'What if?' scenarios. This flexibility will enable us to select cities or areas that offer the most or least potential, compare demographic characteristics of multiple locations throughout a city, analyze past and future market trends, track rapidly growing markets and evaluate areas for the second, third and fourth locations to open in the future. You can also down load information from the U. S. Census Bureau at; http://www.census.com and all state government contracts which have been sent out to bid at; http://www.govt.dgs.com .

Certainly, market data cannot provide you with all the answers nor guarantee the outlets success. The process of determining which variables are important to us and which are 'nice to know' is part art and part science. In the last decade business owners, site selection specialists or studiers of demographics and economic vitality of regions have had the advantage of computer generated feasibility studies and it has certainly helped. The more we know about market characteristics, the better our chances of choosing the best areas that will contribute the highest profit to our outlets thus greatly enhancing their potential for winning in an extremely big way.

These techniques of real world site selection and study has helped our company tremendously and it can help yours also.

"Lance Winslow" - If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs

---

Secrets Of Effective Brainstorming

Have you been in a "brainstorming" session where each person... Read More

Turning On The Lights

Fun From The StartFor those with the will to start... Read More

Creating a Vision That Achieves Results

How important is a vision statement to your company or... Read More

Vendor Relations Strategies Sample Outline

One of the quintessential parts to any business is your... Read More

Thinking Like A Farmer

One of the difficulties we face in our industrialized age... Read More

Family and Friends Referrals Make the Best Franchisees

As a franchisor it is imperative that you seek, find... Read More

How to Grow Your Business by Clearing the Way to Growth

Is your business growing as fast and effectively as it... Read More

Expanding your business in a franchise system

If you are a successful franchise of a large franchise... Read More

Menu Driven Business Planning

A menu is the foundation of any restaurant; Guests will... Read More

Dotcom Business Plans Archive Project

One of the most important initiatives in the domain of... Read More

The Magic Of Exponential Business Growth

Is there a 'magical' way to exponentially grow your business?It's... Read More

Business Plans Keep You On The Success Course

Where would your business be without a proper plan? A... Read More

10 Critical Facts to Put On the Cover of Your Business Plan...

In most business plans, no matter how striking the idea,... Read More

Leverage - A Small Step For You /A Big Change For Your Career

Cassy was an employee of a nonprofit who had been... Read More

The Chief Cause of Business Failure & Success

Business rises and falls on leadership. According to business guru,... Read More

Do You Have A Customer Identity Crisis?

The trick is to determine what uniquely identifies your best... Read More

Scheduling of Additional Auto Detailing or Mobile Car Wash Units

If you own a mobile car wash business or auto... Read More

Legal Strategies in Business Plans

Writing a Business Plan these days is tough, venture capitalists... Read More

ERP Role in Selling Your Mid-size Business ? Microsoft Great Plains and CRM Example

If you own the mid-size business and actively work in... Read More

Business Planning and the ?Bozo? Factor

"Bozo" ? A clown with a forlorn look, always finding... Read More

Business Results - Four Critical Success Factors

Scenario OneDuring a recent presentation, a business owner was given... Read More

Online Promotion: 10 Ways To Use Focus Groups To Ignite Your Profits

A focus group is a group of employees or current... Read More

Business Plan Descriptions of Computer System

Entrepreneurs often give little if any consideration to their computer... Read More

Top Ten Traits of Strategic Thinkers

Want to become more strategic? Add these traits to your... Read More

Akron OH; A great place to do business

When looking at Akron carefully one cannot help but notice... Read More

Corporate Contingency Planning

Part 1A few weeks ago I attended a seminar sponsored... Read More

Business Plan: Planning the Operations

Writing a business plan is no easy task, sure you... Read More

Offense: Beat the Odds

When in doubt, cut that out! Yeah, yea, doubting Thomas... Read More

Sales Planning and Business Plans

Writing a business plan can be tricky when all the... Read More

Mobile Franchise Business Expansion Strategy

If you own a mobile franchise business and wish to... Read More

The Importance of Value Mix

( * - the word 'product' can be substituted to... Read More

How To Kick Start Your Business And Double Your Profits

This will make some people angry as hell, but it's... Read More

Corporate Venturing For Emerging Growth Companies

The boom of the dot-com era in 1999 brought the... Read More