IT and Geo-Mapping Help a Small Business Succeed

As a small business, we are always looking for ways to innovate and integrate technology into our company. One small business, The Tea Company, recently illustrated how Geo-Mapping helped them prepare for and initiate new sales for growth.

They utilize computer software that uses map overlays for different demographic and geographic inputs. Google recently added features to Google Maps Business API, which can overlay demographic maps and integrate customer reviews/pictures with their Google Local listings. This can show small businesses where their competitors are located and what consumers are saying about the area.

CULookup.com, a website for people in search of branches of their local credit union affiliates (especially utilized while traveling out of their home areas), recently added geo-mapping to their site to assist with mobile application search queries. An article from States News Service showed how geo-mapping is helping local credit unions let their customers know just where they are located. "CULookup.com is a great tool for prospective and existing members. With the addition of the shared-branching feature, consumers can easily find credit union kiosks as close as the corner 7-Eleven," said NAFCU President Fred Becker. "Today, with the new mapping detail, finding a credit union is easier than ever before."(States News Service, 2010)

By listening to what the local community thinks, and examining where the places they already frequent are, a small business can strategically place themselves where they will be most likely to succeed. Just another way technology is providing low cost solutions to traditional time-consuming market research and community survey procedures.