Catchment areas versus territories

In this blog we aim to look at the difference between catchment areas and territories, but also, why they should be similar. First off, what’s the difference?

Catchment Area – The area from which customers are drawn to a business or franchisee.

Territory -  The geographic area assigned in the contract or agreement to the business or franchisee.

The image at the top of the article shows the two types of area. The catchment area is shaded green and encompasses the area most heavily saturated by customers (purple points), and the territory border is shown by the black line.

Catchment area analysis

A catchment area analysis can be a valuable exercise for any franchise to undertake. You can confirm whether the territories that you have awarded in the past and present are the right size, too small, too large or even just poorly created.

The right fit

Too small

Too large

Poorly Designed

Where we can help

Knowledge and advice

Our unique knowledge and experience gained over the years can help you with your current territory network and strategy. For example, we know that overlapping catchment areas aren’t always a bad thing, that certain types of sites complement each other when located close by. We can also provide advice in terms of what territory size is right for you and what is common in your type of industry i.e. Care providers, Children’s activities etc.

Ability to pre-plan

Based on the above, we can then pre-plan a franchise territory network that will best predict and fit your business’s catchment areas. We’ll do this throughout the whole country in the places that it works and if it doesn’t then we won’t map it. Our Franchise Territory Mapping project will cover all aspects of this topic, from analysing catchment areas to bringing the results into an entire network of territories that are right for your business, franchisees and customers. For more information on this, please feel free to get in touch.

Tools to do the trick

Don’t want our help? That’s fine, we also provide the tools for you to be able to do all of this yourself. Check out Vision and take control for yourself.

If you want to discuss any of the topics mentioned in this article, please contact us.