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Volume I : Issue 5
May 2012
Welcome to Common Ground News
In this issue:
Feature Article – Summertime Fun: Children’s Enrichment Franchises
Tips & Techniques – helping you get the most out of our online mapping application at GeoMetrx: “Saving Map Views” – how to save and retrieve multiple map locations without readjusting settings
Thematic Map – Where Are All the Children?
Trivia Challenge
Upcoming Events – GeoMetrx “How To” Webinar Series “Utilizing Your Own Data”
This and all our future newsletters will soon be available through our Knowledge Center resource listed on our website. We encourage you to share our Common Ground News with your friends and colleagues and we welcome your feedback. Visit our website and make a comment on the contact us page or send us an email at info@geo-e.com.
—-Kent Hargesheimer,
Managing Partner
Geo-Legend
Phone: 1.888.848.4436
Web: www.geo-e.com
www.geometrx.com
www.geoprinter.com
Email:
info@geo-e.com
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Summertime Fun: Children’s Enrichment Franchises
Across the nation, the last school bells of the year are ringing and kids are celebrating the arrival of summer break. Swimming pools, park outings, ball games, summer camps, backyard barbecues and so much more await them. On average, kids are out of school for 6 to 12 weeks and parents are scrambling to finalize their children’s summer activities schedules while balancing the child’s interests with the family budget. Fortunately there are many children’s enrichment franchises in operation offering parents and kids a wide variety of choices. The growing number of children in the U.S. keeps this industry among the top franchise trends in America, and not just during the summer, but all year-round.
The number of children in the U.S. has been steadily rising since the mid-1980s and is projected to continue well into the future. By the year 2030, it is expected the number of children under 18 will reach nearly 88 million.
Further driving demand for summertime activities as well as extracurricular activities during the school year is the number of households with working parents. In 2010, the estimate for the number of households with children under 18 reached 35.2 million. The following pie charts reflect the employment status in two-parent married households and single-parent households.
The most common categories for children’s enrichment franchises are:
• Art Programs: painting, cooking, music, drama, photography, etc.
• Education / Tutoring: mathematics, science, technology, early childhood
development, foreign languages, etc.
• Sports and Fitness: sports clubs, dance, martial arts, children’s gyms, etc.
Traditionally businesses offering child enrichment programs operate from a fixed location with families providing transportation to and from the activity venue. However, a growing trend in the industry is the advent of mobile activities, in which the main program or supplementary programs are brought to the children in after-school care programs, day care facilities, summer resident programs and more. Whether operating from a fixed location, providing a mobile activity or offering private instruction, the opportunities are boundless. (For a comprehensive list of children’s products and services franchise opportunities visit Entrepreneur.com.)
Working with children can be a very rewarding experience, yet it’s not for everyone. It takes a special mix of business and personal skills including patience, flexibility, a sense of fun and wonderment, empathy, and a lot of energy! Finding the right franchise opportunity is also a special mix combining the business owner’s skills and interests with the best opportunities within a market. The GeoMetrx business database, along with our demographic data, can help franchisors evaluate territories to reveal the competitive landscape, market size and ROI potential. Whether expanding into new markets or realigning existing territories, it’s vital in today’s eco nomy to map your success.
Tips & Techniques – Saving Map Views
In GeoMetrx you can save multiple map views, allowing you to easily navigate among your locations. Saving a Map View is quick and easy. Saved map views retain the area, scale, and any overlays thus reducing the time and frustration of adjusting your map whenever you switch from one location to another.
To Save a Map View:
• select Strategy Map
• format with your preferred settings
• click the drop down arrow in the Map Panel
• select Save Map View
• in the dialog box enter a name and an
optional description
• click Save as New Map
To Return to a Map View:
• click drop down arrow in Map Panel
• select Restore Map View
• Select the view you want to see from the list of saved map views
• click Restore Selected Map View
You can also delete any map views in this step as well by selecting the saved map view from the list and clicking on Delete Selected Map View.
This is probably one of the most valuable yet least used features in GeoMetrx. Try it, you’ll like it!
Where Are All the Children?
Children’s interests are broad. Parents are constantly looking for new avenues of exploration to fuel their offsprings’ natural inquisitiveness and enthusiasm. With the large variety of children’s enrichment franchise opportunities currently available, a thorough market analysis can help determine which activities are abundant in a market and which are lacking a substantial presence. As this industry continues to burgeon, introducing new and innovative services for children is limited only by one’s imagination.
Below is a density map of the population count of children (ages 0-17) in the lower 48 states generated from our GeoMetrx mapping application. The population counts increase from the lighter to darker areas. Demographic data, such as population density, combined with competitive business data is an extremely useful resource for determining market potential.
U.S. POPULATION DENSITY (Ages 0-17)
Click to see a larger version of this map.
Successful franchisors utilize these data and mapping tools to create highly refined territories, which is important in both sparsely and densely populated areas. The location of competitors can be overlaid on the map and enhanced by distance and drive-time radiuses. Being able to visualize data geographically, rather than merely presented in tables and charts, allows for a greater understanding of market opportunities and risks.
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May 2012 – Trivia Challenge
1) What is the most popular sports-related activity among children aged 7 to 17?
Click here for the answers!