What is the physical target market and why does it belong in a business plan for Electrical Contractor?

The physical target market for a small business like Lights On Electrical, Inc. is the geographic description of where its customers are located. Defining the physical target market is critical for a business owner like Andy Powell in order to be able to:

1. Reach the right customer - a small business must be able to reach out to those who they can serve.
2. Conduct market research on folks in the target market to understand their particular tastes and preferences.
3. Create targeted and focused marketing campaigns with advertising that has much better chance at generating real leads and thereby a better rate of return.

How should a small business define its target market?

The answer to this question depends largely on the kind of business you are in and the areas of the local, regional or national economy you service. If you are a small business with an online presence, then depending on your service your market could be both regional and national. In the event you are a small machine tool shop supplying parts to a few local manufacturers then your business would be regional but your potential market could be national or even international. If you are a an electrical contractor like Lights On Electrical, Inc., your business will most certainly be local. We define local as being in the county in which you are located. In some cases if you are located at the outer edges of a county, you would include the next county over to make sure that you are capturing enough of the target market. In the event you are a small business located in a remote or rural part of the county, you may have customers driving from two or three counties away for your product or service.

What physical attributes about the target market should be included in the target market description?

Just as we recommend to Andy Powell of Lights On Electrical, Inc., we recommend that you take this opportunity to describe to the reader of the business plan just what your target market is all about in broad terms. We will be getting into the specific geographic and industry analysis later, but here we think that a bank or potential partner would like to see the following data points about the target market of Cuyahoga County:

1. Airports - which are the major airports serving the target market of Cuyahoga County.
2. Railway - what rail services are available in the target market where Lights On Electrical, Inc. is located.
3. Buses - what are the kind of bus services in and out of the target market - rural areas tend to have very spotty bus service due to lack of population density.
4. Education opportunities - how many colleges & universities does the Cuyahoga County area have? This is very important for owners like Andy Powell and Jose Garcia when it comes to hiring employees.
5. Highways - which are the major highways that serve the target market where Lights On Electrical, Inc. is located.
6. Other potential target markets - which are the neighboring counties around the target market of Cuyahoga County.

Where can I find information on the physical attributes of a target market like Cuyahoga, Ohio?

Most State government websites like the one for Ohio in the this plan for Lights On Electrical, Inc., have a fairly large and informative website that will give you plenty of information on the local county governments. Many times you will also find a link to the county government's website from the State government website. The good folks at Wikipedia also provide an excellent venue to do research on the physical description of almost any county in the United States. In the event your target market covers two or more counties, we recommend that you mention each county separately and then give the readers of the plan an idea of how much business you expect from each county.

Quick Links:

1. Go to the Corresponding Business Plan section for this industry.