Before retirement, I ran a mobile car washing franchise system, and I can tell you it was very difficult for our franchisees to know where all of their truck managers were at all times. If they were not on their route, they may be hiding behind McDonald’s having a big Mac sitting in the back of the parking lot. Without some sort of GPS tracking unit there was no way to know what they were doing only that the customers were calling in upset and irate because they were not getting their regular services. Okay so let’s talk about how GPS can help a mobile small business service company.
In Geo Community News there was an interest piece published on February 25, 2013 titled; “New Patent Pending Technology Changes the Way Businesses Will Access & View Local Data & Information,” which talked about a patent being filed;
“This patent pending invention obtains real-time data from thousands for US local and regional markets and uses complex location-based analytics to valuate real estate properties. It is a computer-implemented method used to acquire and compile geospatial data, and generate an interactive visual depiction of the geospatial data based on user input. It provides users with 24-month local predictive analytics that help businesses make informed decisions with regard to purchase and sale of anything real estate or location-based related.”
Well, this makes perfect sense, consider that the police departments are now using analytic tools of this nature to predict crime and then to schedule patrols in areas where crimes are most likely in order to have faster response times and catch criminals. In philosophical terms what’s the difference between consumers going to buy something at a given time or criminals going to steal something at a given time? Do you see that point?
Consider if you will that ambulances generally drive to specific zones, and they wait for someone to call and then the ambulance driver rushes over with the paramedics to help the person in distress. Knowing where to pre-position and stage their mobile ambulance units helps them save time and money with faster response times. The same thing is true if you are running a fleet of mobile car wash trucks, or mobile detailing units waiting for your next call. Think of all the businesses that could use this predictive GPS software? The applications are endless, and it’s something that is very much needed.
If you ask me, I think this is a great concept, a great idea, a great use of modern GPS software technologies, especially considering all the business analytics and big data available for even smaller companies these days. In fact, I’m surprised I didn’t think of it. Okay so, if you own a small mobile business, perhaps you might use this technology and find a vendor who can set it up in all of your units to help increase efficiency, save money on fuel, and provide better customer service.