As we study the regional demographic variations of small service businesses, we see many things. Let’s take a mobile auto detailing business and look at the data and see what drives sales and growth. We should look for areas with demographic similarities in any new territory, whether we are installing a unit from a single unit owner operator or many units to cover a region. Proper data mapping helps and, if done correctly, eliminates risk and saves a lot of time, not to mention hard-earned marketing dollars. We are talking about very specific demographics when we break down our needs to particular mobile businesses and then into a micro-sector of the larger automotive aftermarket services industry, such as mobile car detailing. Let’s look at some of the data sets that are readily available and worth mentioning in our business study:
Average number of people per household
Average income
Number of cars per household
average price per car
ethnic makeup
Number of people in each five-year age group
disposable income
Median home price
Average education level
Number of recreational vehicles
Population
Number of non-perennial residents
Tourism-related sales tax revenue
diurnal population
We should also consider an overall strategy ahead of future events; that is, the expansion of the business. First we must ask ourselves the intentions regarding expansion such as:
How many trucks do you want to finally run
How fast do you want to expand?
What service areas are you most comfortable focusing on?
Who do you plan to use as your manager?
When do you realistically plan to have the next mobile car wash unit up and running?
By dividing the area into a grid and then overlaying the data, we can quickly determine the hot spots where most of the business will come from and where the most efficient use of time and schedule should be allocated to maximize profits. If you commit to methodically analyzing your market, you’ll find yourself in a better place and a much easier job serving your best possible customer base. Think about it.