Supporting the Franchisor Sales Process with Map Visualizations

Posted on July 12, 2023 by Geoffrey Ives

Franchise businesses are generally intimately connected to geography. McDonald’s fast food restaurants, one of the world’s most successful franchise businesses, consider several location-related factors when contemplating the construction of a brand new store. Business mapping software provides tools that enable the quick and easy construction of franchise territories.

Large, small, urban, and rural franchise organizations require tools supporting franchise territory creation. These franchisee territories are often based on ZIP code alignment layers with roughly equal population levels.

Have it Your Way

McDonald’s franchise planners look at the overall population of an urban area or significant crossroads. Using MapBusinessOnline, business planners analyzing a population supporting a central restaurant could consider one or more ZIP codes, a metropolitan area containing several cities, or a county as a franchise operating area. Population data gathered using various mapping tools are totaled to approximate areas within a reasonable driving distance, perhaps a 30-minute driving time.

Fast food franchises such as McDonald’s also consider the total number of retail businesses in an area. These franchise restaurant chains are seeking shopping customers. Shopping centers and retail malls are particularly important to McDonald’s new store selection process.

In MapBusinessOnline, plotting points of possible store placements can quickly provide a map visualization of the most promising areas based on the above location requirements.

Gather ZIP Codes – Zip code maps are the most popular map alignment layer. Using MapBusinessOnline polygon draw tools, critical area ZIP codes can be gathered into labeled areas of interest (territories) for demographic analysis.

Demographic Analysis – Population, income levels, ethnicities, and critical census-based categories are included in  MapBusinessOnline for analysis.

Download Business Listings – Business listings data can be searched by industry code or business name to identify retail malls and large retailers that often share critical real estate presence with McDonald’s and other significant franchisors.

Color-code Major Retailers – Mall anchor stores are strong indicators of an area’s franchise viability. Symbolize and color-code those most critical anchor stores, like Walmart, Home Depot, or REI, for fast visual identification.

Calculate Driving Distance/Time – Population centers in urban areas can be used to rough calculate driving times to stores and service centers. Concentric circle maps and driving time windows can display driving time and distance options in 15-minute increments.

With business mapping software tools, franchisor marketers can create informative map visualizations displaying the core elements required to ensure a successful franchise business launch.

A franchisor business creates franchise territories from ZIP codes in the Lancaster, PA, area.

And for the Not so Famous

For less famous franchise businesses in more rural areas, online mapping software can be even more helpful in developing the franchisee business model.

Demographic categories are often telling in predicting franchise potential, especially for a consumer product or service. Population, just like at McDonald’s, is a standard metric applied. But the Census Bureau provides various options for franchisors to use in completing their sales pitch.

Household income by targeted segments is often applied. Particular population sectors are often associated with specific product price points – lower incomes being more interested and more frequent buyers of pizza and Slurpees. Higher-income densities are more likely to generate home sales and financial investments. You know, ‘Let them eat cake,’ vs. ‘Have Jenson bring the car around.’

Another Census demographic category worth exploring is Consumer Expenditure by subject group. Consumer Expenditure paired with age or ethnic segment can be very powerful for market estimations—for example, girls under the age of 12 years, coupled with expenditure data on specific categories, such as:

  • General Spend on Girls Ages 2 to 15 per Household
  • Food per Household
  • Cosmetic products per Household

Most rural franchise businesses using population or related demographic categories as a franchise opportunity metric will create franchise territories that use demography as one or more elements of a viable franchisee area. Each franchise territory will be marketed to franchisee purchasers.

Business mapping software and franchise territory mapping support and inform the franchisee’s investment decision. Territory maps are beneficial to the franchise investment process in these keys ways:

  • Location Awareness – Franchise territory maps visually represent a franchise area of interest. Specific ZIP codes and city areas help potential investors understand the scope of the franchise opportunity.
  • Demographic Awareness – Franchise territory maps sync the area of interest with end-user sales potential and store or service accessibility.
  • Collaborative Interactions – Franchise territory maps set up a collaborative relationship between seller and buyer. Maps tend to engender trust.
  • Transactional Documentation – Franchise territory maps serve as contractual records of the franchisee investment referencing area of operation, sales potential, relevant resource locations, and, where appropriate, customer lists.

Through the power of optimized map visualizations, MapBusinessOnline helps sell franchises. It serves to both grease the wheels and seal the deal, encouraging a collaborative relationship between franchisor and investor.

Go to Www.MapBusinessOnline.com to learn more.

Posted in Business Mapping Software blog post, Franchise Mapping, How to instruction, Sales and marketing | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Why Should a Business Invest in Business Mapping Software?

Posted on June 28, 2023 by Geoffrey Ives

There are many reasons why businesspeople invest in business mapping software, GIS, or location-based tools for solutions to common and sometimes advanced problems. Let’s take a turn in the business garden, shall we?

Stagnant Business Growth

Grow or die – it’s the American way. I’ve lived through tremendous growth periods and survived three periods of seriously dead sales activity over my four decades. 2008 with the economy at a complete standstill, I sat in the boss’s office and listened while he screamed at me for the sales decline. What fun. One thing I’ve learned is that luck matters. But so does careful consideration of the situation, which is where business mapping analysis comes in.

Viewing mapped customer locations overlayed onto a relevant demographic map can be idea-generating and sometimes earth-shattering. Conducting a thorough location-based market analysis, supplemented with customer feedback, helps to refocus marketing decisions and leads to test-market scenarios that can provide real breakthroughs in sales.

Business mapping analysis is work. It requires thoughtful planning, good data, and often a map geek or someone who can organize the map development. But the results are usually surprising, more than just reaffirming some questionable assumptions. Examples of market turnarounds I’ve seen in business:

  • Market Expansion Mapping – Develop a list of the top five major urban areas to invest in based on demographic characteristics and competitor locations.
  • Product Release Planning – Product release prioritization by state based on historical sales in states with similar demographic and recreational patterns.
  • Site Selection – Facility location planning when incorporating commuter driving habits, major physical obstacles, and key demographics.

Planning is generally more successful when location-based data is considered along with other business factors.

Retailer market analysis with demographic and heat map assignments.

A Need for Deeper Customer Insights

Who buys your products and why? Hopefully, you’ve got a good grip on that question. But the answer changes over time as products morph, competition rolls in, and economic condition shift. We’re all prepared for the advent of AI. (Gulp.) Things change, and you must reassess your markets.

Business mapping software helps your marketing and sales professionals develop a baseline set of properties or elements that roughly define success for your business today. You can turn to industry groups for business data related to products, customers, and industry trends. Often these internal and external elements have location components. Example location components are neighborhoods, addresses, ZIP codes, city limits, and counties.

Once imported into business mapping software and optimized for map viewing, these location-based business elements can suggest obvious and subtle suggestions about strategic initiatives, marketing campaigns, and perhaps new facility locations. For instance, if an analysis of all location-based marketing showed zero sales for any customer who lived further than a 30-minute drive time from a retailer, then marketing outreach for those products to that set of customers could be limited by geography and the savings spent on other campaigns.

There is robust information locked in ZIP code-level data analysis. Do you realize that all car parts are tracked by area? The registry of motor vehicles in your state has an up-to-date record of all operating vehicles by year, make, model, and vehicle ID. These records include car mileage reported annually. A good marketing team knows exactly how many tires of which brand, size, and style will sell in each ZIP code this coming year.

Not all businesses are blessed with this level of detail. Still, if you dig, you will likely find demographic, business facilities, or other relevant data that can help you plan for growth over the next decade. MapBusinessOnline includes access to business listing data (for a small fee) that includes firmographic information for analysis.

Engaging Your Sales Force

Sales teams need leadership, and companies go through periods where leadership is wanting. It happens. Sales leadership is a delicate balance between implementing company goals and objectives while developing and incentivizing your sales team. Some people are born to sell; others grow into it slowly. And some people should have stayed in the warehouse.

I firmly believe that business mapping software provides the perfect platform for gathering a sales group and refocusing their efforts toward achievable goals. Sales territory maps are compelling visualizations of the sales team’s day-to-day business. A good map is easy on the eyes. It offers the focal point for a sales meeting – great for presenting numbers, discussing tactics, and suggesting new markets.

An overlayed customer list can generate intense and informative discussions about products, sales approaches, and problem areas. Talk about team building. Build an informative business map. Share an area of interest at your next sales meeting and ask for feedback on sales potential – see what happens when you use a map for the presentation.

Strategic Planning

Strategic planning generally involves many different but related initiatives. Expansion decisions, hirings decisions, sales forecasts – the list goes on and on. Some of those initiatives will require critical location components.

Decisions around facilities and expansion will involve dealing with new municipalities. Resources critical to your business must be understood before any commitment is made. Business maps help organize significant moves. Micheal Corleone would have killed for a business map for planning the family’s move to Las Vegas.

Competing businesses need to be mapped and ranked. A SWOT analysis must consider how the competition is approaching the marketplace. Where are their offices and warehouses located? What is their business center of gravity? Imported location data overlaid on competitor maps include:

  • Competitor facility locations.
  • Customer and prospect locations.
  • Sales representative start-of-day locations.
  • Key vendor warehouse locations.
  • Critical industry locations.

A fully functional competitor map provides a theater of operations view of your business’s competitive landscape. Now strategic decisions can be weighed with critical elements visualized and ranked.

New Market Analysis

Online business mapping software is particularly good at displaying where sales are brisk, and customers are plenty. Once the customer activity data is imported into the map view and territories are constructed, the viewers can get a good solid eye-full of where they are doing it right. And this is very important because where you are doing it right points to where you could be doing it right in other places around the nation.

A well-designed and uncluttered map visualization will display ZIP codes or counties that generate the most revenue for your product lines and services. Those areas have business and demographic characteristics that need to be identified. The market analysis process will expose population levels, ethnic concentrations, age densities, and other possible demographic traits associated with your best business areas.

For B2B sales organizations, NAICS/SIC industry code firmographics can expose industry trends by business name or industry type. Extract business listings by industry using MapBusinessOnline business listings search tools.

These are a few reasons businesses turn to location-based analysis to help with effective decision-making processes. While any business software costs money and involves a learning curve, we apply these tools because they help our businesses succeed.

MapBusinessOnline Standard and Pro are affordable software tools that make it easy to:

When you sprain your ankle, you use crutches. As you age and your vision blurs, you get glasses or contacts. When you get interested in buying a car or a house, you go to the Internet to get a sense of the market.

It is the same with business growth and decision-making; you seek new tools. One of those tools should be business mapping software. Keep in mind if you don’t use it, your competitors very likely will.

Posted in Business Mapping Software blog post, Franchise Mapping, How to instruction, Sales and marketing | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

How to Balance Territories Using MapBusinessOnline

Posted on June 21, 2023 by Geoffrey Ives

Sales, service, and franchise territory maps provide brick-and-mortar and cloud-based businesses with a geographic structure upon which to build a business. Using MapBusinessOnline, these territory areas are sometimes created from scratch by gathering ZIP codes or counties together using a polygon search tool as a lasso. When building territories, we refer to ZIP codes, counties, and states as Map Alignment Layers.

MapBusinessOnline territory map alignment layers include Census tracts, city limits, counties, MSA areas – even congressional districts. ZIP codes are the most popular territory alignment layer, but users regularly use counties and states.

Territory spreadsheets representing new business approaches can also be used to construct territories from map alignment layers. Once created, territory systems can be adjusted based on known demographic criteria such as population, household income, or the number of businesses in an area.

Map territory visualizations come in many shapes, colors, and sizes.

As mentioned above, MapBusinessOnline territory creation can occur by selecting individual ZIP codes or importing a spreadsheet that matches Zip codes to territory names. MapBusinessOnline Pro users can also create multiple territories from a set of radii or drive time searches, and in one pass, territories are born. Learn more.

The Choose Columns Database Manager

Once a territory is created, the MapBusinessOnline territory creator and map viewers will have access to a map visualization of the territory system and a tabular datasheet view of each territory in the Data Window. The Data Window includes a powerful yet simple database management tool called the Choose Column button.

A territory map visualization with tabular data for balancing.

Choose Column in the Data Window Territory tabular view provides access to imported data, imported business listings firmographics, demographic data, and geographic map layer options. The map creator can select and move data columns from these sources in and out of the territory analysis view. Learn more.

Balancing Territories

Territory managers often use Demographic, firmographics, and imported historical sales data to ‘balance’ territories. Balancing territories is a critical process for franchise businesses and sales territory management. In family life, we generally treat all God’s children the same. It is the same in sales and franchising, where sales representatives and franchisees seek to have roughly equal areas of opportunity.

Balancing territories is the process of equalizing competing territories so that all franchisee investors, field sales representatives, and even field service technicians are awarded similarly sized workloads, compensation programs, and groups of customers.

In the franchise business, a client franchisee purchases the franchise territory and then runs the business based on franchise rules. All franchisees work under the same guidelines and have, as close as possible, territories with equal geographic sizes and compensation metrics. In the real world, ‘identical’ is almost impossible, but MapBusinessOnline allows balancing territories to achieve relative equality.

We suggest franchisors give themselves some wiggle room by referencing margins of error in their contractual agreements. For instance, ‘each Florida territory for Dog Walker for Hire franchisees will service a population of up to 50,000 citizens within a drive time of 1 hour of a city center, +/- 5,000 people.’

A lack of wiggle room can create endless arguments around accuracy in tracking territory sales activity and franchise fees. Life just isn’t ‘dead on balls accurate’ in most arenas. Demographic data and firmographic data are estimates and, in many cases, algorithmic.

MapBusinessOnline Data Window

MapBusinessOnline Standard and Pro include territory balancing capability in the application’s Data Window view. The functionality is managed through the Choose Columns button in the lower right of the Data Window.

Choose Columns allows the map creator to access four types of data for balancing territories:

  • Imported business sales data – A location-based Excel spreadsheet is usually imported into the map using the Add to Map – Datasets button.
  • Demographic data – A comprehensive library of US Census data by category and segment.
  • Calculated Data Columns – A MapBusinessOnline formula builder enables the summation of like columns – for example, Population Years 64 to 85 years and older.
  • Business Listings Firmographics – Downloadable business listings with sales and employment information by business name or NAICS/SIC code.

MapBusinessOnline map creators select the data layers desired on the left side and move them to the right into their territory analysis. Learn more.

Balancing data appears in tabular format in each territory’s Data Window view. Users can view the total of each column at the bottom. For instance, Territory A may show a 157,201 total Male population count. A territory manager can then balance the territories by adjusting the component ZIP codes associated with each territory to balance out the sales potential.

Additional territory management features include:

  • Export all ZIP codes segmented by territory. Learn more.
  • Color-code territories based on a demographic category. Learn more.
  • Create hierarchical territories, including divisions, regions, and zones. Learn more.
  • Control territory overlaps through color highlighting. Learn more.
  • Share territory files with applications that support KML import. Learn more.

Setting up your business with territory maps will organize your sales, service, or franchise business and keep your sales organization focused on the customer. It’s easy and affordable with MapBusinessOnline.com.

Posted in Business Mapping Software blog post, Franchise Mapping, How to instruction, Sales and marketing | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

NEW! Export Territories & Drawings as KML & KMZ Files

Posted on June 7, 2023 by Geoffrey Ives

Google Earth’s KML file formats are used to transfer map files across many mainstream mapping applications. Now MapBusinessOnline supports KML/KMZ file transfers for territory maps and drawn figures. Overlay MapBusinessOnline created territories, lines, circles, and polygon drawings over third-party KML-enabled software.

We are excited to present MapBusinessOnline support for exporting KML and KMZ files as overlays in Google Earth, MyMaps.Google.com, and many other KML-enabled third-party business mapping software. MapBusinessOnline KML territory exports can also be imported into www.Salesforce.com maps.

All MapBusinessOnline Standard and MapBusinessOnline Pro subscriptions will now include KML/KMZ file export access for viewing and content integration with KML-enabled third-party software. KML export allows MapBusinessOnline users to merge informative business analysis and territory maps with the ubiquitous Google business mapping products.

MapBusinessOnline Master Toolbar Export Button

MapBusinessOnline users can now access KML/KMZ file export capabilities from the application’s Export Territory button on the right side of the Master Toolbar. Map creators can export drawn figures or territory map views from the dropdown options provided. Exported files are stored in a user-selected folder and accessed through third-party software import processes. Refer to MapBusinessOnline KML help documentation for exact instructions.

KML and KMZ are geographic file formats used within Google Earth and other Google mapping services. KML file formats enable overlays of geographies and drawn figures created in third-party applications onto the three-dimensional Google Earth digital globe for map work. Google Earth users will import the exported MapBusinessOnline KML territories and drawings into Google Earth as a project.

A MapBusinessOnline Territory image overlayed on Google Earth.

MapBusinessOnline’s KML export to Google Earth and KML-enabled software includes the following features and limitations:

  • Territory color schemes and drawn figure colors created in MapBusinessOnline are preserved in Google Earth.
  • Pan & Zoom navigation and drill-downs are preserved in Google Earth.
  • Any MapBusinessOnline opaque territories and drawings will be rendered transparent in Google Earth, overriding opaque fill settings.
  • Unfilled drawings in MapBusinessOnline remain unfilled in Google Earth.
  • Original MapBusinessOnline label text is read by cursor-selecting territories in Google Earth.
  • MapBusinessOnline Map Titles and Legends are not included in the exported KML files.

KML Overlay Applications 

Critical applications of the MapBusinessOnline KML/KMZ support include:

  • The ability to export franchise, sales, and service territories to a Google Earth map project, MyMaps.Google.com, or third-party KML-enabled software for business applications.
  • The ability to mark up a business map in MapBusinessOnline using point, line, and polygon-drawn figures and share those drawings with KML-enabled mapping software users.

MapBusinessOnline KML/KMZ export has been a popular feature request for years by customers seeking to share territory maps and draw layers in various industries, including:

  • Finance Industry – Banks and loan agencies conducting financial impact studies and generating business presentations.
  • Food Service Industry – Restaurants must share territory maps with customers and partners to maintain service levels and differentiate from the competition.
  • Franchise Businesses – Franchisor organizations seeking to share franchise territory maps with potential franchisee investors.
  • Health Care Systems – Medicare facilities conduct intense market analysis as they consolidate disparate medical practices into a single network with defined areas of operation.
  • Insurance Industry – Insurance sales associates, claims adjusters, and site location managers seeking to share territory maps with constituents.
  • Retail Chains – District managers, sales analysts, and marketing associates conducting business analysis and marketing campaigns based on historical sales data and relevant demographic data drivers.
  • Sales & Marketing Organizations – Sales and marketing professionals conducting marketing research and sales analysis for strategic and sales planning.

A MapBusinessOnline generated franchise territory map exported to Google Earth as a KML file.

KML export is a customer-requested feature, once again showing how important it is to share your business mapping requirements and workflows with MapBusinessOnline so we can respond to relevant customer feature requests. Share your business map requirements to maintain MapBusinessOnline’s position as the best business mapping tool.

 

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A Word About MapBusinessOnline Demographic Data & the Decennial 2020 Census

Posted on May 24, 2023 by Geoffrey Ives

Any MapBusinessOnline subscription, Standard or Pro, provides access to USA Census demographic data, including population, household, income, and other demographic categories. Our business mapping software offers a comprehensive demographic data library that is very helpful for market analysis or other business applications such as:

  • Market Expansion – Searching for new market areas based on existing sales success.
  • Balancing workloads for commissions, compensation, and referrals for franchise, sales, and service territories.
  • Political Analysis and congressional district mapping.
  • Government Planning and critical resource allocation.
  • Financial Analysis, real estate, and insurance mapping.

The Decennial Count

Between Decennial year counts – decennial means counted every decade – MapBusinessOnline publishes updates once a year sourced from the American Community Survey (ACS.) The ACS is a Census Bureau operation. While the Decennial Census focuses on releasing actual count results based on their Constitutional requirements, the ACS performs targeted surveys of populations and areas that are then used to massage demographic estimates in the interim years between Decennial counts. Learn more here.

It is not unusual for a MapBusinessOnline client to inquire about oddball demographic shifts in numeric totals by category over a year or two. It is important to remember that the US Census Bureau is the expert in demographic data counts and updates. We can’t explain why population swings occur yearly and from area to area. The Census employs an army of intelligent people to massage those numbers and publish accurate estimates.

USA Population Map By County.

Population Estimate

The key word here is ‘Estimate.’ Any Census Bureau-published data counts are estimates. There is no such thing as ‘dead-on balls accurate’ in Census data. We must leave the accuracy assessments to those who are paid to worry about those things at the US Census Bureau.

An example of the difficulty in developing accurate Census data is the State of Florida for the 2020 Decennial count. Since 2019 the World has been turned upside down, in so many ways, by the COVID19 Pandemic. It should come as no surprise that the Pandemic impacted population totals.

Florida’s governor and the state congress took more or less right-leaning political positions on face-mask requirements, school closings, and vaccinations. This isn’t the writer’s opinion or judgment. The state passed laws to keep institutions open, for good or bad. This was national news. Consequently, people in other states, frustrated by local Pandemic related rules, chose to move to Florida. Population totals tallied for the 2020 Decennial Census showed extremely high increases for Florida. Shifts like this are sometimes difficult to swallow.

Changes such as Florida’s recent population increase occur in less obvious ways all around the nation. The average citizen using MapBusinessOnline cannot be expected to justify all of these demographic shifts. We must rely on the published data and believe in the Census experts.

Florida population shift noted in the state label.

Geographic Apples

When evaluating Census Demographic category totals per area, the investigator must make sure they compare apples to apples. Take geographic and demographic variables into careful consideration:

  • Are the data sources being compared identical? Are you sure?
  • Are the areas in question identical? Double check.
  • Are you aware that county boundaries, ZIP code boundaries, and state boundaries do not always line up?
  • Are the source ZIP codes used ZIP 5 Codes or Census ZCTA codes? They are not the same.

A client once objected to the number of College Graduates with an Advanced Degree published for the area around Seattle, Washington. It did look extraordinary until we started considering the number of hi-tech companies in the area – Microsoft, Amazon, Boeing, Starbucks, and, of course, Geocaching HQ! It was no wonder the population with advanced degrees outnumbered college graduates.

“I’m Late; I’m late…”

The Census Bureau has delayed the complete release of all categories of demographic data significantly and may not finish until early 2024. The Pandemic also made it impossible for the Census Bureau to complete the Decennial Count promptly. Learn more.

This means the demographic data you currently access in MapBusinessOnline is not yet derived from the Decennial Census.  MapBusinessOnline Demographic Data Sources are presently presented in MapBusinessOnline as noted below:

MapBusinessOnline Description                              Source

Population (2021)            Third-party demographic estimates.

Population (2020)            ACS demographic data update.

Population (2019)            ACS demographic data update.

[………………………………………………………………………………]

Population (2010)            Decennial Census.

Under each year’s listings are the various categories of demographic data available in the MapBusinessOnline library. It is an extensive list.

We look forward to updating our Census demographic library based on the decennial 2020 results when our sources are done processing the data. Look for the Decennial Census data in early 2024. In the meantime, if you run across downloadable demographic data with location components such as ZIP codes, you can upload the data into MapBusinessOnline and color-code and label your maps.

_______________________________________________

Discover why over 25,000 business users log into www.MapBusinessOnline.com for their business mapping software and advanced sales territory mapping solution. The best replacement for Microsoft MapPoint is the most affordable.

To access MapBusinessOnline, please register and download the Map App from the website – https://www.mapbusinessonline.com/App-Download.aspx.

After installing the Map App, the MapBusinessOnline launch button will be in the Windows Start Menu or Mac Application folder. Find the MapBusinessOnline folder in the Start Menu scrollbar. Click the folder’s dropdown arrow and choose the MapBusinessOnline option.

The Map App includes the Map Viewer app for free non-subscriber map sharing.

Please read customer reviews or review us at Capterra or g2crowd.

Contact: Geoffrey Ives at geoffives@spatialteq.com or Jason Henderson at jhenderson@spatialteq.com.

 

 

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MapBusinessOnline – Cloud-based Business Mapping Software for Businesspeople

Posted on May 17, 2023 by Geoffrey Ives

The MapBusinessOnline suite provides cloud-based business mapping solutions for general businesspeople with easy-to-use map visualization tools, hierarchical sales territory mapping, and location-based market analysis.

This business mapping software builds upon thirty-plus years of mapping software experience here in the USA. We cater to a wide range of industries and business users. Still, we are focused on bringing the power of geographic technology advancements in mapping to people like you who have no more training than the ability to use an Excel spreadsheet.

Drive Time-based Territories in MapBusinessOnline.

Geographic Information System software (GIS) is incredibly powerful and beneficial. But for most business users, it’s cost prohibitive and complicated. Business mapping software’s technical applications are generally straightforward and nowhere near as complex or expensive as GIS software.

MapBusinessOnline provides help documentation, a business blog, and an online Chat to assist with any mapping process or question. Our Maine, USA-based technical support is standing by during East Coast business hours to answer questions and provide map advice via email, chat, or phone.

Customer feedback is reviewed by all levels of the organization to ensure all processes work as designed and to gather suggestions for improvements and new features. Got ideas? Let us know.

MapBusinessOnline offers two products – MapBusinessOnline Standard and MapBusinessOnline Pro. Pro includes all the features of Standard while also offering advanced capabilities derived from driving time and distance queries. Start with Standard and move on to Pro if you require it and at your convenience. All upgrade fees are prorated to preserve and protect the customer’s investment. Learn more.

MapBusinessOnline Standard – The Perfect Business Mapping Tool for the Beginner through Territory Mappers.

  • Learn to generate business map visualizations with imported data layers, ZIP codes color-coded by demographics, and develop informative map lends and titles.
  • Create optimized sales and service routes with up to 150 stops per route, complete with turn-by-turn directions, distance, and time estimates.
  • Access a comprehensive USA Census Bureau demographic data library for map creation or data export.
  • Search for, download, map, and export Business Listings with firmographic data.
  • Conduct area-based market analysis for retail, service, or medical markets. Find your best market demographic profile by ZIP code and replicate it in new areas.
  • Import or build from scratch ZIP code, county, or city-limit territory maps for sales, franchise, or service businesses. Conduct historical sales or demographic analysis.
  • Color-code imported data location symbols or City, County, and ZIP code map layers.
  • Apply a variety of spatial searches to investigate data patterns: radius, polygon, driving time, and distance searches.
  • Import up to 50,000 location records per map, up to 50 territories per map.
  • Share view-only maps with constituents at low-cost or set up collaborative map editing with other MapBusinessOnline subscribers.

MapBusinessOnline Standard provides all the business mapping functionality the average user will need. But if you require driving times and distance estimates, or specific demographic layers are a set of locations, consider Pro.

NYC Franchise Map Development Targeting 800,00 to 1 million Population Segments.

MapBusinessOnline Pro – Advanced Location-based Analysis with Driving Time and Distance Queries for Mapping Professionals. Pro includes all the features of MapBusinessOnline Standard.

  • Search for data by multiple areas and segment data results for export by ZIP code or driving time. Learn more.
  • Generate multiple radius or drive-time territories in one pass.
  • Import your location-based business data and append demographic and geographic data.
  • Conduct origin-destination transportation analysis across one or two large datasets – up to 1 million records.
  • Setup proximity analysis for multiple radii or driving time and distance studies.
  • Create calculated data columns that combine various demographic layers with import data columns for analysis.
  • Import up to 250,000 location points per map, and create up to 1,000 territories per map.

Business mapping software accesses many advanced GIS capabilities without the complexity or the advanced degree requirements. Contact a GIS consultant if your business analysis requires multiple tiers of complex analysis. They’ll wow you with their Map-attitude & GIS size consulting fee. But if you simply need a territory map to support your work and get it up and running fast, MapBusinessOnline is the most affordable solution.

Naturalists, medical researchers, and statisticians will probably want to apply www.Esri.com GIS tools to their data-intensive mapping projects. MapBusinessOnline users tend to be less sophisticated and require more basic mapping solutions. MapBusinessOnline users fall into these general categories of everyday working people in these industries and more:

  • Construction
  • Finance
  • Franchising
  • Insurance
  • Government
  • Manufacturing
  • Marketing
  • Medical & Dental businesses
  • Retail
  • Sales
  • Service businesses
  • Tech industries

Almost any industry will encounter a problem that can benefit from a basic business map. So don’t spend another day avoiding mapping, getting overwhelmed by GIS, or simply living without the power of location at your disposal.

Put your business on the map – the business map.

_______________________________________________

Discover why over 25,000 business users log into www.MapBusinessOnline.com for their business mapping software and advanced sales territory mapping solution. The best replacement for Microsoft MapPoint is the most affordable.

To access MapBusinessOnline, please register and download the Map App from the website – https://www.mapbusinessonline.com/App-Download.aspx.

After installing the Map App, the MapBusinessOnline launch button will be in the Windows Start Menu or Mac Application folder. Find the MapBusinessOnline folder in the Start Menu scrollbar. Click the folder’s dropdown arrow and choose the MapBusinessOnline option.

The Map App includes the Map Viewer app for free non-subscriber map sharing.

Please read customer reviews or review us at Capterra or g2crowd.

Contact: Geoffrey Ives at geoffives@spatialteq.com or Jason Henderson at jhenderson@spatialteq.com.

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Repurposing an Existing Saved Map Using MapBusinessOnline.com

Posted on May 10, 2023 by Geoffrey Ives

I like the map I created last week for a business mapping blog on franchise mapping. I like the map for a bunch of reasons, including:

  • The map is easy on the eyes because it is colorful but not overwhelming.
  • The map has a lot going on, but it isn’t overly cluttered, and the various aspects are described in the map legend.
  • I think the blue ocean space relieves viewing stress.
  • It is an informative sales territory map with multiple relevant data layers.

Repurposing a Saved Map

This map was created from a previously saved map. I build and save many maps and templates in my work. I regularly repurpose maps, and so can you. If I require a map to make a point, I first think about all the maps I’ve created that might help me complete my new map requirement faster. Learn more about saving maps.

As you become more experienced at map creation, your mapwork will become more informative for your audience of map viewers. Those viewers could be peers, executive team members, or customers. You will naturally develop a map style that optimizes your map viewers’ experience. This is why repurposing maps should be both a time saver and a way to fine-tune your map presentation skills.

The Save Map Dialogue with map description section.

You can Open the saved map library by clicking the Open a Map button on the toolbar. Here you will find several ways to review saved maps. There’s a master list of all maps in alphabetical or time-saved order. There’s also a most Recent maps list. You can also drop down to the My Templates option to save significant work you want to be protected from overwriting.

I use the Recent Maps folder a lot. In all the MapBusinessOnline library archives, you can scroll through the saved maps and click once on a map file to review the title, description, and a small image of the map.

Once I find the saved My Map or My Template I’m interested in, I open it.  I immediately save the map with a new name if it suits my current purpose.  This protects the original map from overwriting – you never know when an associate, client, or soulmate might ask you for ‘that map you made,’ low those many years from now. Anyway, it happens.

Always avoid map clutter. Opening my saved Breweries parent map and saving it as a (2), I turned the Street layer off. This map has so much happening with overlaid imported data, business listings, and demographic color-shading; leaving the Street layer on would create clutter.

I did make a few changes to my saved territory map:

  • Labeling – I changed and simplified the names. I tried to keep the text short and consistent from label to label. I also tested the Large Label setting by editing the Territory layer in Map and Data. The Medium size label option worked best – it was readable and took up less space. You’ll notice I added a few relevant data points to the Territory label, which are relevant to the map’s purpose. I selected and moved all territory labels with my mouse cursor so they displayed well and minimized any overlap with imported data layers. I moved the labels to open spaces.
  • Territory Color – I darkened the three territory boundaries and changed each territory’s fill color to be further differentiated from each other and from the background ZIP code layer. I adjusted the territory fill transparency from 60% to 30%, making the territories more opaque while allowing some of the ZIP code demography to come through.
  • Demographic Theme – The ZIP code layer is color-coded to show population levels as a heat map. It wasn’t critical to this map, but I loved how it looked. I could have turned on the layer in the map legend to explain it to the map viewer. But the minimize clutter rule forbade me from adding more info.

Read more about map optimization.

I made minor adjustments to the symbol sizes and color-shaded ZIP code layer for my imported data. I also adjusted my imported data labeling, making the Map and Data layer names and Legend labeling more relevant to the map’s intent. This keeps labeling consistent across the map view.  You could always turn off Map and Data for your final map reveal. Learn more.

A repurposed brewery supply franchise map using MapBusinessOnline.

In Map and Data Map Options, I turned on the Map Title box. A Map Title pulls the entire ensemble together. Use the title to explain the map’s purpose to the map viewer precisely and succinctly. By all means, inform the map viewer what they are looking at.

A few other touches included:

  • I turned on the State boundary layer with black color and a one-step-up thicker boundary. The fill was left unchecked.
  • The map is now centered, so New England is off to the West. This gives me that blue ocean space over which to hang my Map Title and Legend. I liked the balance this offered the map viewer.
  • I left the Canadian data points on with Canada itself turned off or not present. I want the USA to be the focus.
  • I turned the Map and Data Box on and moved it to the upper lefthand corner – out of the way but present.

All of these map adjustments were deliberate and considered. If a saved map is available, repurposing an existing map doesn’t take much time. Reusing a familiar map background is often helpful in communicating messages within an organization – map viewers come to understand certain features.

Certainly, when sharing territory maps with individual sales reps or franchisees, map repurposing saves time and provides consistent map characteristics across the business, building trust and reliability. It’s just another way to make MapBusinessOnline your goto tool for business mapping.

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Discover why over 25,000 business users log into www.MapBusinessOnline.com for their business mapping software and advanced sales territory mapping solution. The best replacement for Microsoft MapPoint is the most affordable.

To access MapBusinessOnline, please register and download the Map App from the website – https://www.mapbusinessonline.com/App-Download.aspx.

After installing the Map App, the MapBusinessOnline launch button will be in the Windows Start Menu or Mac Application folder. Find the MapBusinessOnline folder in the Start Menu scrollbar. Click the folder’s dropdown arrow and choose the MapBusinessOnline option.

The Map App includes the Map Viewer app for free non-subscriber map sharing.

Please read customer reviews or review us at Capterra or g2crowd.

Contact: Geoffrey Ives at geoffives@spatialteq.com or Jason Henderson at jhenderson@spatialteq.com.

Posted in Business Mapping Software blog post, Franchise Mapping, How to instruction, Sales and marketing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Developing Franchise Territories Using MapBusinessOnline

Posted on May 3, 2023 by Geoffrey Ives

Business mapping software combines the power of data analysis with informative map visualizations in a way that helps the franchisor define available-for-sale territories and assign market potential. That same software can make it easy for an investing franchisee to understand the potential and possible risks associated with their next business venture.

A business franchisor is charged with convincing potential franchisees interested in investing in a franchise that an available territory is worth the investment. Franchise territories usually include a geographic territory visualization with an associated sales potential datasheet view covering a specific market.

A franchisee in the market for a new business is tasked with selecting a business closest to meeting its goals and objectives. The franchisee’s task is to secure a franchise territory that offers a viable business with a ready market filled with customers or clients who are likely to purchase their product or service.

A franchisor is focused on defining a business area or territory and establishing its sales potential. The franchisee must conduct due diligence to assess the business viability, confirm the proposed market potential, and negotiate and amend any contractual agreement to their benefit.

Franchising businesses benefit from well-crafted and informative territory maps that combine robust map visualizations with accurate business data that define the franchisee opportunity and ensure sales growth for the franchisee investor.

Consumer-Focused Franchise Markets

MapBusinessOnline offers an easy-to-use franchise territory creation tool for the franchisor. We’ve talked to many businesses about the process for selling franchisees on territory viability. In general, the process for establishing a viable franchise territory map works like this:

Consider the Business – A franchisor must understand and report on what factors will drive sales in the sold territories. Those factors need to be considered when generating territories. First of all, the franchisor, having decided to establish the franchise business, must be able to describe its product and services and show evidence of past sales growth.

This is kind of a no-brainer. Come to the sales process with a story describing interest in the product or service and a sales collateral page pointing to potential revenue growth over time. Then show your prospective franchisee a territory map with one or more franchise territories available for sale.

Provide Evidence for Viability – The potential franchisee territory must describe the demographic or business reasons customers will purchase the products or services offered.

  • Are the products or services offered impacted by consumer demographics, such as population, income levels, ethnicities, or other demographic characteristics? Describe your market sweet spot(s).
  • Are there saturation limits in the marketplace? How many competing businesses exist in the market? Use maps to show competitor locations. Learn more.
  • Are there impacting location-based customer tolerances like driving times or distances? Know and describe how far most customers will drive to buy your product.

Franchise territory development using MapBusinessOnline ZIP codes & demographic categories relevant to the services offered. Note the single franchise datasheet view totaled by households.

Because the potential sales volume of a territory is the driving metric for franchisee decision-making, correlating sales potential to territory size is a critical calculation for creating the first few franchise territories.  The remainder will follow a similar pattern once the first two or three territories are drafted.

Adjustments to territories can be made as necessary. Territories tend to widen geographically as the target areas move from the inner city to more rural areas. Territories often are based on ZIP codes. To achieve appropriate population levels in support of franchise sales, territories will likely include more ZIP codes as populations decrease. Learn more.

Examples of potential market justification for a franchisor territory structure might look like one of these scenarios:

  • Sales could be dependent upon the number of children per household. The more children per area, the more inquiries are received, and more contracts are signed.
  • Product sales increase for neighborhoods with greater amounts of two working spouses. Two tired people arriving home for the evening are likelier to order pizza from a restaurant franchise.
  • More sales occur in areas with at least 10,000 people per ZIP code.

These general demographic considerations regarding franchise success are the starting points for developing franchise territories. A typical USA urban area can support up to ten franchise territory areas, based on population. Product and service offerings will vary in sales volume depending on the offering and the market target. Franchises dedicated to more niche products will cover more area and driving distance while tolerating fewer competitors.

  • Tutoring service franchises target families with children.
  • Dog kennel franchises target pet owners.
  • Tax preparation services require income earners.

The ZIP Code Alignment Layer

For most franchises, ZIP codes work well as a territory alignment layer. Depending on the business and the area in play, one to three ZIP codes compiled into a territory area are often a good start for territory development. Learn More.

Once you’ve created three to six territories, you can assess the situation, looking for reasonably similar territories to offer potential franchisees.  MapBusinessOnline franchise territory maps make it easy to confirm that:

  • Demographic totals between territories are within 5% of each other – relatively equal.
  • Overall area driving distances should also be pretty similar. Look for geographic obstacles like highways, rivers, or mountains that might warrant adjustments for fairness.
  • Identify competing businesses and develop logic justifying their presence. Review existing franchise businesses in the market and determine where too many competitors spoil the marketplace.

Franchisees will be sensitive to red flags in their due diligence. Do not avoid difficult questions. Be proactive and prepared. Do some research that helps to justify your selling position.

MapBusinessOnline franchise territory maps are easy to adjust for demographic leveling; get familiar with the tool so you can tweak the territory components with the client on the spot. This approach will engender trust in your selling process.

B2B Franchise Territory Analysis

For B2B franchise market assessments, look for industry location data. Non-consumer products and service franchises can’t rely on demographic data for territory development. These B2B franchises must look for industry data to justify their investment and maximize opportunities.

For instance, an automobile tire retailer or automotive parts store can look to the automotive industry and the Registry of Motor Vehicles office for business ownership and sales data related to tires and cars. You would be amazed at how detailed, accurate, and predictive automotive data can be. Cars are tracked from the model year of sale for all components.

MapBusinessOnline offers access to business listings that enable searches by area, industry, and business name. The tool uses Census NAICS and SIC industry code lookups. The business listing search results can be used on the map or exported for a small fee. Learn More.

Using business listings, a Franchisor can identify the following:

  • Number of total relevant businesses per area.
  • Number of specific industry business listings per area
  • Specific industry location data, including critical resources.

B2B franchise territory mapping with Business Listings counts.

B2B franchises might cover tax preparation services, general business consulting, real estate investment, or medical billing services.  Some general demographic categories available in MapBusinessOnline may be helpful, but B2B market analysis will require a more nuanced approach for the franchisor territory creator.

In addition to business listings, contacting an industry advocate firm may provide market information to help define territory potential. Look for data that has location components like ZIP code, county, city, and state relevance.

Franchisors catering to the burgeoning beer brewery industry will find some data available online and probably more information through industry organizations and consultants. Gather relevant data and include it with the franchising opportunity maps to entice and inform your audience of potential franchisee investors.

Flesh out the franchise opportunity to the best of your ability based on your experience and the industry in general. Generate a set of viable franchise territories with actual boundaries rooted in accurate business data. Use your optimized and informative franchise territory maps to help sell franchises.

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Discover why over 25,000 business users log into www.MapBusinessOnline.com for their business mapping software and advanced sales territory mapping solution. The best replacement for Microsoft MapPoint is the most affordable.

To access MapBusinessOnline, please register and download the Map App from the website – https://www.mapbusinessonline.com/App-Download.aspx.

After installing the Map App, the MapBusinessOnline launch button will be in the Windows Start Menu or Mac Application folder. Find the MapBusinessOnline folder in the Start Menu scrollbar. Click the folder’s dropdown arrow and choose the MapBusinessOnline option.

The Map App includes the Map Viewer app for free non-subscriber map sharing.

Please read customer reviews or review us at Capterra or g2crowd.

Contact: Geoffrey Ives at geoffives@spatialteq.com or Jason Henderson at jhenderson@spatialteq.com.

Posted in Business Mapping Software blog post, Franchise Mapping, How to instruction, Sales and marketing | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Service Territory Mapping Using MapBusinessOnline

Posted on April 26, 2023 by Geoffrey Ives

MapBusinessOnline Service Territory Mapping provides all the tools necessary to design and maintain territories supporting businesses that provide services to their customer base instead of products. Service territories can be generated by ZIP code, county, state, or city limit. Territories can be created incrementally, one ZIP code at a time, using your mouse cursor or imported from thoughtfully designed territory spreadsheets.

Business mapping software generally includes territory mapping for sales organizations, franchise businesses, and service organizations. MapBusinessOnline Service Territory mapping tools organize and optimize travel activity for traveling technicians in service businesses. Service businesses turn to service territory mapping to:

  • Reduce travel expenses.
  • Balance workloads across the field tech team.
  • Minimize inefficient crisscrossing travel routes.
  • Improve service delivery on timeliness.
  • Monitor travel and expense records.

Small and large service organizations use MapBusinessOnline territory tools to:

  • Define and share service coverage areas by county, city limit, or ZIP code.
  • Monitor field technician territories to keep workloads balanced and to maintain customer satisfaction.
  • Develop drive-time-based territories with delivery zones for timely arrivals and competitive pricing.
  • Support field staff with optimized routing, informative map visualizations, and shared service territory maps.
  • Control overlapping territories as required by the specific business realities.
  • Coordinate service location-based analysis with scheduling and accounting software.

Supports Various Service-Related Industries

Not all service industries are made the same. MapBusinessOnline service territory management tools support organizations across a variety of industries, including:

  • Rental agencies – Rental agencies require territory management software to help monitor national assets.
  • Home healthcare businesses – Territory services maps help this unique and growing industry of dedicated professionals serving aging Americans, disabled citizens, and other home-based people with limited abilities with efficient vehicle routing, minimizing travel expenses and improving efficiencies.
  • Insurance companies – Field technicians, inspectors, and claims adjusters investigating routine and disaster-related insurance issues.
  • Tech Organizations – Field repair technicians provide services to devise customers across the United States and Canada.
  • Local service providers – You name it – lawn and garden, swimming pool upkeep, floor coverings, roofers, carpenters, and a host of other businesses providing in-home services.
  • Large Retailers – Large retailers and retail chains use territory management tools to monitor and optimize store inventories, sales campaigns, and other business processes associated with significant investments in inventory.
  • Small niche businesses – New businesses offering tutoring, dog walking, nanny services, and delivery services are popping up.

A service territory map created using MapBusinessOnline.

The Driving Time Difference

Time is a factor that differentiates service territory management from traditional MapBusinessOnline sales territory management. The service industry must deliver its offerings quickly and on time.

The concept of ‘Service’ implies a timely arrival of a repairperson or technical service rep to implement a fix for a broken or faulty device, software, or system upgrade. Service businesses use business mapping software to create and analyze service areas. Service territories are monitored over time to monitor on-time statistics.

MapBusinessOnline coverage area maps can describe driving time and distance areas around a central starting point. Service organizations often use these driving time or distance outreach/delivery zones to establish pricing for service calls and delivery fees. Concentric circle maps are often applied to this delivery scheme by area or zone. Learn more.

Major tech companies that offer repair services often establish multiple zones for repair coverage. Zones are generally centered around large population pools and segmented into ½ day, one-day, and two-day travel times. Service territory maps offer rapid response times to high-population areas while offering some rural coverage to those less than a day’s drive away. Outside of those ranges may require customer delivery to a repair center for rework.

Concentric Circle maps are often used to generate delivery zones and fee structures.

Service territories can be created based on a multiple-center point query at specified driving times or distances. For example, a rental agency with 150 outlets could derive 150 territories based on a 30-minute drive time polygon around each outlet. This is a highly convenient way to create Zip code-based territories that reflect a known customer-tolerated driving time or distance period.

In addition to driving time analysis, MapBusinessOnline provides time arrival and stop duration support in the optimized routing tools. The vehicle routing software estimates times and distances for every generated route and segment.

Service Territory Analysis

MapBusinessOnline service territory maps provide analysis views to help measure progress toward company goals. The Data Window provides tabular data views of imported data layers. Industry location data can be easily imported into any business map and compared to organizational data.

Import the industry data into MapBusinessOnline and add the relevant columns of the data to the territory analysis using the Choose Column button in the lower right of the Territory analysis view. For example, industry statistics on specific medical incidents can be compared to organizational responses to determine market share. Learn more.

In this way, a business can compare industry location data to organizational data and derive market share, measuring progress against the competition.

Analysis views in service territory mapping can easily access and analyze Census demographic data categories. MapBusinessOnline includes a comprehensive library of demographic data for use in strategic and expansion planning. Learn more.

Create percentage calculations comparing demographic data to collected business statistics. MapBusinessOnline includes a calculated data columns function for summing and comparing like datasets. The Data Window also consists of a summation box at the bottom of the tabular view for quick sums of any column. Click the header of any data column to cycle through descending or ascending views.

Enhance your service delivery organization through service territory management. An efficient traveling field force is an asset to any service business. Make service territories part of your business success story.

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Discover why over 25,000 business users log into www.MapBusinessOnline.com for their business mapping software and advanced sales territory mapping solution. The best replacement for Microsoft MapPoint happens to be the most affordable.

To access MapBusinessOnline, please register and download the Map App from the website – https://www.mapbusinessonline.com/App-Download.aspx.

After installing the Map App, the MapBusinessOnline launch button will be in the Windows Start Menu or Mac Application folder. Find the MapBusinessOnline folder in the Start Menu scrollbar. Click the folder’s dropdown arrow and choose the MapBusinessOnline option.

The Map App includes the Map Viewer app for free non-subscriber map sharing.

Please read customer reviews or review us at Capterra or g2crowd.

Contact: Geoffrey Ives at geoffives@spatialteq.com or Jason Henderson at jhenderson@spatialteq.com.

Posted in Business Mapping Software blog post, How to instruction | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Determining an Area’s Population Percentages by Ethnicity Using MapBusinessOnline

Posted on April 12, 2023 by Geoffrey Ives

MapBusinessOnline business mapping software includes access to an entire library of Census demographic data. This data can be used to develop thematic maps based on demographic topics, summations, and calculations using multiple categories – including ethnicities.

In this example, MapBusinessOnline answers, ‘In a defined area, what are the Black and Hispanic portions, as a percentage, of the total population?’

Political analysis of populations is used to enhance polling indications, voter canvassing planning, and perhaps just political planning in general. Understanding the details behind an area’s total population can benefit various analyses. I imagine a political newbie considering a run for a Senate or Representative seat might want a handle on what ethnicities make up the electorate they are messaging.

Sales and Marketing professionals also seek to understand population breakdowns as they consider launching campaigns supporting large retailers or political action groups. All those issue-based direct mail pieces we throw away at home are not cheap. Great for starting a woodstove fire, though.

City and county planning offices like to monitor population shifts to maintain relative equity across neighborhoods. As rougher neighborhoods become more gentrified or vice versa, city elected officials are responsible for treating citizen homeowners and renters fairly, without creating ‘Red Zones’ or gated communities for the well-to-do.

The professionals mentioned above need an easy and fast way to gather that information. The data should be available for large areas, as extensive as a state, and for small areas, as small as ZIP codes or even Census tracts. Fortunately for you, affordable MapBusinessOnline is here with just the ticket.

A subscription to MapBusinessOnline business mapping software includes access to Census demographic data. The list of categories is comprehensive and consists of the following:

  • Overall population estimates as well as significant ethnicity breakdowns.
  • Household and median income levels.
  • Household totals, as well as head of household estimates.
  • Age breakdowns by populations.
  • Income breakdowns by population.
  • Major consumer expenditures.
  • Home ownership and rental estimates.
  • Many more categories, too numerous to list here.

Use Calculated Data Columns to Combine Demographic Categories or Create Simple Formulas.

Determining the Ethnicity Population Breakdown

Step 1 – Choose your area of interest.

We will be using MapBusinessOnline’s territory mapping tool to develop our breakdown. Territory management software is excellent for many applications, including sales territory creation, service territory management, franchise territory management, and, in our case, market and demographic analysis.

Areas of interest can vary widely. In your business, someone will ask for a relevant area – a five-mile radius around a major population center. A customized polygon might be appropriate for more wonky areas with known lopsided population anomalies.

  1. Once an area is targeted, choose your polygon or radius option from the Search Tools on the Master Toolbar, and draw the area.
  2. Use the Search option in the associated popup menu to search for the list of ZIP codes bounded by your map object. (ZIP codes are the most popular alignment layer for demographic analysis.)
  3. Save that result as a Territory with a name that means something relevant to your project.

Note: Any map object on the map can be searched for ZIP codes (or counties, Census tracts), but the resulting ZIP codes won’t match the exact area of a circle or polygon. Considering that Census demographic results are always an estimate, in most cases, the results are good enough. However,  the map creator does have the option, in Map and Data – Map Options, to adjust the extent of ZIP code/Area overlap. 

Click – Map Options – Edit Search Options. Click the dropdown to explore the intersection options – Intersect – Intersect at least 50% – Fully inside. These adjustments would impact spatial queries with any map layer intersection – ZIP code, State, County, or City Limit.

Create A Calculated Data Column

Back to our story.

With your territory assigned, we must develop a Calculated Data Column with a formula for percentages applicable to the two ethnicities within the total population.

  1. Go to Map and Data. Because we used ZIP codes as our alignment layer, Click into the ZIP code layer. Select Calculated Data Columns – the bottom option.
  2. Click Add Data Column. Name the Column – ‘% Black & Hispanic.’ (Your choice.) For format, in this case, select ‘Percentage.’ Set numbers or decimals as required.
  3. Click Formula Options and Simple Formula.
  4. Next is the Demographic Data selection process.
    1. Because it is a % of the total population, move the Total ‘Population (2021)’ to the right as the Denominator.
    2. Move the ethnicity populations you’re interested in (Black & Hispanic) to the right as the Numerator. (Isn’t using Denominator and Numerator labels at work fun? 4th Grade math.)
  5. Click ‘Add’ in the lower right. Your formula is now created as a Calculated Data Column and is accessible in the Data Window analysis view.

Return to the Data Window and drop down to your Territory.

  1. In the lower right, click Choose Columns.
  2. On the left side of the two-sided database tool that opens, drop down to the Calculated option for pulling data into the analysis. Find your Calculated Data Column named dataset. Move it to the right side.
  3. If it suits your project, you can drop down to Demographic Data and move various Demographic categories into the analysis. For instance, Pacific Islanders may represent only .5 percentage points of the total population, but listing that population segment may add value to your analysis.
  4. Click Set Data Columns.

Take a look at your territory in the Data Window. You now have ethnicity categories noted by percentage. High-fives all around.

Calculated Data Columns formula for analyzing % of the population.

The Results – Reporting on Your Demographic Analysis

Once your demographic analysis of the ethnicity percentage of the total population is complete, you have several options for reporting:

  1. Use MapBusinessOnline – the software, via a web share meeting or an overhead projector. Once you’re familiar with the tool, you will find using it as a live-sharing tool advantageous.
    1. You’ll have more flexibility to turn layers on and off as part of the presentation.
    2. To answer questions, you could quickly upload more categories of demographic data live.
    3. You’ll become known as the company Map Geek. (This cuts both ways.)
  2. The Data Window tabular view of demographic information, including your formula results, is exportable. Use the right-most button on the Data Window toolbar to export to a CSV file.

I think the above exercise in demographic mapping is an excellent example of how MapBusinessOnline provides advanced analysis capabilities for everyday businesspeople. The tool is both easy-to-use and affordable. And you get to use the terms Denominator and Numerator without having to apply to SpaceX for a trip to Mars.

Captain Numerator and Lieutenant Denominator relax at the Martian landing site – 2036 – while Private Dividend records. (SpaceX Image.)

_______________________________________________

Discover why over 25,000 business users log into www.MapBusinessOnline.com for their business mapping software and advanced sales territory mapping solution. The best replacement for Microsoft MapPoint happens to be the most affordable.

To access MapBusinessOnline, please register and download the Map App from the website – https://www.mapbusinessonline.com/App-Download.aspx.

After installing the Map App, the MapBusinessOnline launch button will be in the Windows Start Menu or Mac Application folder. Find the MapBusinessOnline folder in the Start Menu scrollbar. Click the folder’s dropdown arrow and choose the MapBusinessOnline option.

The Map App includes the Map Viewer app for free non-subscriber map sharing.

Please read customer reviews or review us at Capterra or g2crowd.

Contact: Geoffrey Ives at geoffives@spatialteq.com or Jason Henderson at jhenderson@spatialteq.com.

Posted in Business Mapping Software blog post, How to instruction, Sales and marketing | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment