Bonsai Marketing

Site location analysis of regional service areas and planning for mobile businesses is just as important as choosing a fixed site for any business. The region must be scouted out whether you are simply adding another service unit or deciding to open an entire new marketing area. Now, assuming that you have decided to go for it and open a new territory, you must send in a scout. You must take the high tech data and then move your marketing ability in the right direction. Much like any well thought out military advancement, you need to find out what we will be dealing with, so you gather even more intelligence. Here are some of the information you must need to know. Lets assume you are in a automotive mobile maintenance business for this discussion, each type of business might have different parameters, but this will help you in your development of your own plan. First you must know where your customers are, you need to scout and locate;

Retail Areas

Office Parks

Large Industrial Areas

Major Employers

Upper Middle Class Areas

Retail centers provide a good source of income. Typically, such centers contain:

Insurance Offices

Bakeries

Hair Salons

Travel Agencies

Deli's

These are among some of the good clients for a mobile automotive business. Another major benefit of working in retail centers is that you will get lots of walk-up customers and hand out lots of business cards. You couldn't ask for better exposure, nor could a small business buy any better advertising.

Multi tenant office parks and complexes are also great because of the high density of business consumers. Most people who work are too busy to do things themselves. Since they are gainfully employed, you know they have the money. Once you do the service on their cars, others will see you out of their office windows. Next thing you know, you are flush with new customers and potentially every car in the parking lot. It is also very easy to take orders when walking door to door, since each door is only a few yards apart. (High density = High profit when it comes to office complexes.)

Major employers are also great because one company will have 100-2500 employees. One company might represent one day's work per week. These companies also have company pool cars. Large companies usually have company vehicles as well. The competition, the fixed auto businesses, also do their home work when doing site analysis and map out their greatest clientele. They too are interested in return on investment and they have a lot to lose if they are wrong. They usually hire professional car wash consultants who look at the following criteria:

Demographics

Correct Zoning

Lot Size

Visibility

Traffic Count

Traffic Speed

Ingress And Egress

Adjacent Surroundings

Existing Site Plans

Space For Repair or service work

Competition (Three Mile Radius)

Car Values In The Area

In their demographic studies they look for:

Population Of Area

Home Owners Versus Renters

Age Of Population

Number Of Vehicles

Average Driving Time

They constantly worry about what competition was there first and how strong the competition's customer base is. They look at the competition's image. Is it a well kept facility, clean plant, well running equipment, good management and a modern building?

They try to make their business convenient. But the fixed auto businesses can never be as convenient as mobile because they can't move it around. Therefore, they rely on location, location, location. Obviously, they can't compete with a mobile business; After all, we have every location any time we want it. Needless to say, areas around car washes are usually great areas in which to wash cars and it is so much fun to take their market share. It's easy too. No Prisoners.

Industrial areas are very important as well. There you will find distribution companies, small trucking companies and the bulk of your fleet accounts. The easiest way to find an industrial area is to follow a freeway or railroad track. Industrial areas are where you will find cement trucks, tractors and various loading equipment.

Many cities will have other bonuses such as:

Airports

Bus Terminals

Harbors

Train Depots

Military Bases

College Campuses

Large Government Buildings

These areas will require special sales letters and are also high profit centers. You would be well advised to consider these areas target markets as well. When scouting an area, it is important to gather lots of information and receive help from as many places as possible. Just because you run a mobile business instead of a fixed site business is no reason not to do your homework and scout out the areas.

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

---

Google News Updated : Tue, 07 Oct 2008 20:50:00 GMT Union-Backed Party Opposes Term Limits Plan - New York Times New York Daily News Union-Backed Party Opposes Term Limits Plan New York Times - 1 hour ago By Fernanda Santos The Working Families Party began on Tuesday the labor community’s first major offensive against Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s plan to change term limit laws through legislation that would extend to three, from two, the number of terms ... UPDATE 1-NYC lawmakers to weigh bill raising term limits Reuters Bill to end term limits introduced in City Council New York Daily News New York Times Blogs - WNYC - Campaigns & Elections - Crain's New York Business all 331 news articles Publ.Date : Tue, 07 Oct 2008 19:15:23 GMT Get moving: Guidelines set healthy activity levels - The Associated Press ABC News Get moving: Guidelines set healthy activity levels The Associated Press - 38 minutes ago WASHINGTON (AP) - Get moving: New exercise guidelines released Tuesday set a minimum sweat allotment for good health. For most adults, that's 2 1/2 hours a week. Government tells Americans to take stairs, go out and play Bizjournals.com Get 2 1/2 hours of exercise per week, US says Reuters USA Today - Food Consumer - MarketWatch - MyFox Dallas all 183 news articles Publ.Date : Tue, 07 Oct 2008 20:11:51 GMT Study: Using fan on sleeping baby reduces risk of SIDS - San Jose Mercury News dBTechno Study: Using fan on sleeping baby reduces risk of SIDS San Jose Mercury News - 8 hours ago By Linda Goldston Ayde Gonzales's mother was surprised when she insisted that her newborn son must sleep on his back, not on his side. Fan Use May Save Your Baby’s Life, Reduces SIDS Risk eFluxMedia Fan in Room Seems to Cut Infants’ Risk of Crib Death New York Times Bloomberg - Wall Street Journal - U.S. News & World Report - WebMD all 612 news articles Publ.Date : Tue, 07 Oct 2008 12:46:19 GMT Fitch says AMD factory move has no ratings impact - Forbes Canada.com Fitch says AMD factory move has no ratings impact Forbes - 51 minutes ago AP 10.07.08, 3:48 PM ET Fitch Ratings said Tuesday Advanced Micro Devices Inc.'s ratings are not affected by the chip maker's plans to spin off factories into a new joint venture with investors in the Persian Gulf state of Abu Dhabi. What AMD's fab spinoff means for Intel, industry MarketWatch Who Benefits From AMD’s Financial Engineering? New York Times The Associated Press - BusinessWeek - Motley Fool - Bizjournals.com all 656 news articles Publ.Date : Tue, 07 Oct 2008 19:58:11 GMT Fed Announces Plan to Buy Short-Term Debt - New York Times Telegraph.co.uk Fed Announces Plan to Buy Short-Term Debt New York Times - 58 minutes ago By EDMUND L. ANDREWS and MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM WASHINGTON - The Federal Reserve announced a radical new plan on Tuesday to jump-start the engine of the financial system. Fed makes boldest move yet Christian Science Monitor Federal Reserve to buy up short-term commercial debt Los Angeles Times Bloomberg - NECN - The Associated Press - Wall Street Journal all 1,716 news articles Publ.Date : Tue, 07 Oct 2008 19:51:44 GMT Axelrod Says Obama Will Counterpunch if McCain Raises Ayres - New York Times Axelrod Says Obama Will Counterpunch if McCain Raises Ayres New York Times - 2 hours ago By Patrick Healy NASHVILLE - Senator Barack Obama is prepared to hit back, including with Keating Five scandal if necessary, if Senator John McCain uses tonight’s presidential debate to attack him over his associations with controversial figures like ... Video: AP Campaign Minute AssociatedPress Palin Adds Fannie Mae Execs to List of Objectionable Obama Associates Washington Post The Associated Press - U.S. News & World Report - FOXNews - Christian Science Monitor all 4,761 news articles Publ.Date : Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:32:14 GMT Kenya deports anti-Obama author - Christian Science Monitor BBC News Kenya deports anti-Obama author Christian Science Monitor - 4 hours ago Jerome Corsi, author of "Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality," tried to launch his new book, but violated immigration rules, Kenyan officials say. Barack Obama's African grandmother Sarah Onyango Obama roots for him Times Online Anti-Barack Obama author detained while promoting his book in Kenya Los Angeles Times AFP - The Associated Press - New York Times - BBC News all 507 news articles Publ.Date : Tue, 07 Oct 2008 16:09:55 GMT Rss Feed Reader Increase Traffic

PARLOT::Ebooks, Scripts, Websites, and more...

Adsense websites

Starting a Company on a Shoe-String Budget

A lot of people never start businesses because they believe... Read More

Franchises - Emotional Fulfillment - The Challenge

Does A Franchise Meet Your Needs?Do you look forward to... Read More

Oil Change Guys History; Part IV

One trait of franchisors and something you will find in... Read More

Rx for Falling Corporate Profits

Once again the squeeze is on as renewed inflation worries... Read More

10 Secrets of Successful Entrepreneurs

Running a one-person business is a creative, flexible and challenging... Read More

Franchise Business and Franchise Businesses

Franchise business is being part of a successfully proven business... Read More

Entrepreneurial Ongoing Education Advice

I would like to give some advice to all the... Read More

An Entrepreneurs Challenge

Living in the twilight zone has its advantages. In the... Read More

Starting Up and Keeping Going

So you had that fantastic business idea, the one that's... Read More

For Business SUCCESS... Listen To The Voices of Experience

Discover the pitfalls of owning your own business BEFORE... [you... Read More

Franchises - Success and You

Many people believe owning a franchise will make them rich,... Read More

5 TIPS for Home-Based Business Entrepreneurs

Have you ever heard that only a small part (5%)... Read More

How to Be an Entrepreneur and Keep Your Sanity

Define for yourself what an Entrepreneur is:What makes you think... Read More

Empathy - Not Business Plans - Key to Your Home Based Business Success - Do You Have Empathy?

EMPATHY is a Natural Talent, you were born with it... Read More

Differentiation Strategies for Franchise Companies

With the growing number of franchise offerings recently it is... Read More

Motivation and Commitment

Why do people start small businesses? The most frequently cited... Read More

Lets Not Forget About The Little Guy

Every business has to start somewhere. What truly makes this... Read More

Success Secret - How To Find Million Dollar Opportunities

They're really are powerful million dollar opportunites everywhere.Ok, let me... Read More

From Bank Clerk to Entreprenuer

What seems like a century ago, I left school and... Read More

Self-Esteem and the Entrepreneur

Isn't it funny how people think that being self-employed is... Read More

Franchises - A Proven Business System

Franchises offer the first time business owner a proven and... Read More

Lessons Learned from One Entrepreneur on Vioxx

For the past ten-months, I tried every drug from the... Read More

How To Get More Clients and Customers; Dont Sell Be of Service

Whether you are just starting your business or focusing on... Read More

What Qualities Do Franchisors Need?

When I got into business I wanted to build a... Read More

Raising Capital for Your Business ? How Long Does it Take?

Most companies vastly underestimate the time commitment necessary to successfully... Read More