Case study · Franchise brands
Comparing franchise market fit and geographic overlap
An independent MarketGround analysis. The company is not named and is not a customer.
We used the pet daycare franchise locations available in open map data to build a reference profile, then compared six potential Chicago locations. The analysis considered demographic fit and overlap with existing driving areas.
The method
Use existing locations as a reference
Each location was analyzed using a ten-minute driving area. The comparison used median household income, daytime population density, commuting patterns and pet businesses per 10,000 residents. Three visible existing locations in Chicago also allowed us to examine geographic overlap.
The head to head
Two finalists, and the trade between fit and reach.
| Schaumburg | Naperville | |
|---|---|---|
| Fit to the chain, lower is closer | 0.89 | 2.38 |
| Residents | 124,417 | 131,402 |
| Median household income | $99,432 | $122,063 |
| Work from home | 20.0% | 27.6% |
| Midday population per km² | 2,280 | 1,703 |
| Pet businesses per 10,000 | 4.3 | 5.6 |
| Already served by a visible location | 20% | 1% |
| Net new reach | 99,349 | 129,764 |
| Distance to nearest visible location | 8.6 km | 14.8 km |
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
All locations use ten-minute driving areas. Source details are on the methodology page.
Schaumburg was closer to the measured network profile, while Naperville added 30,415 more residents outside the existing areas. Naperville had higher household income, a higher work-from-home share and greater distance from the nearest visible location. These differences give the two candidates distinct profiles for review.
The three that needed reading
Review candidates with different market profiles
Oak Brook combined high income and a high daytime ratio with 68 percent population overlap with an existing location.
Fulton Market had much higher daytime density than the typical location in the measured network, with one existing Brooklyn location offering a closer reference.
Skokie reached 361,812 residents outside the measured existing areas and had 2.9 pet businesses per 10,000 residents.
The part to reuse
Measure overlap before combining territories
Analyze the combined existing driving areas, then measure their intersection with the candidate area. This shows how much of the candidate population already falls within the measured network, and it is the same arithmetic that makes adding two territories together overstate the combined reach.
Questions
Questions people ask
What is a fit score?
A single number describing how far a candidate sits from the middle of the brand's own network across the measures that matter to it. Here those were median household income, daytime population density, the share of workers who leave home to work, and pet businesses per 10,000 residents. Lower is closer to the measured network.
Why does work from home matter to a dog daycare?
Work-from-home patterns help describe how a market compares with the franchise's existing locations. In this study, several affluent Chicago suburbs had higher work-from-home shares than the measured network median. That difference was included in the comparison score.
How was the overlap measured?
We combined the existing driving areas and measured the portion shared with each candidate. The shared area was analyzed once to calculate the population overlap.
Can I run this on my own network?
Yes, and it is the stronger version of the exercise. Import your locations, analyze them all on the same area, and every candidate afterwards is compared with the middle of your own distribution and tested for overlap with the units you already operate.
About this analysis
MarketGround prepared this analysis independently using public data. The company did not commission or review the work and is described by its industry. The study does not imply an endorsement.
The methodology page describes the sources and calculations used in this analysis.
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