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Case Study: Government Information

April 13, 2006

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Here's a look at some of the information you can get from federal government research tools. In this case study, presume the new business is a submarine sandwich restaurant in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The order of publications used for this case study is the same order as listed above.

Census of retail trade. In Cedar Rapids, in 1992 there were 284 eating and drinking establishments with total sales of $138,284,000.

These establishments are further broken down as follows.

Census of population. The total Cedar Rapids population is 164,646 with 54,779 people between the age of 20 and 39. These are the target customers of the new sub shop. Cedar Rapids has 53.5 square miles with an average of 2,032 people and 850 housing units per square mile. The median family income is $37,769 and the median gross rent is $379. Median is defined as half the people above and half the people below that amount.

Statistical abstract of the United States. In 1994 the U.S. average wage for eating and drinking establishments was $5.47 per hour. The projection for 18 to 44 year olds for Iowa in 1995 was 1,125,000 people, in the year 2000 is 1,128,000 and in 2010 the number will decrease to 1,061,000.

State and metropolitan area data book. Several of the statistics were repeated in other publications and we'll not repeat those here. This publication did list the 1989 new housing starts as 1081.

County and city data book. The 1988 births were 1,694 and deaths were 926. Total number of people in school including college is 28,022 with a dropout rate of 352. The percentage with a high school education or higher is 84.5. The percentage of people on Social Security is 26.3 percent.

County business patterns. Cedar Rapids is located in Linn county. The table below shows how many employees the eating establishments have.

Summary of the above research. In this example, for the new sub sandwich restaurant, several stats are useful in planning for the new business. Again we'll follow the order of publications above.

• All the eating places in Cedar Rapids averaged $548,866 in annual sales, with an annual payroll of $147,203, (compute to 26.8 percent of sales) and an average of 22 employees.
• The perfect location for the new sub shop has already been located. There is not another restaurant within a mile of it in all directions, thus four square miles. This four square mile area is typical of the whole city. In this four square mile area, there will be approximately 8,128 people and 3,400 housing units.
• The average wage in 1994 is $5.47 per hour.
• In the business plan, the intentions are to employ high school students and retired individuals. In Cedar Rapids there are 28,022 students, which should provide a sufficient labor supply. The owner also wants to hire retirees who want to work on a part-time basis, which should not be a problem with 26.3 percent of the Cedar Rapids population on Social Security. Also, the owner wants an educated workforce, which it appears exists, with 84.5 percent of the population with at least a high school education and the dropout rate at only 352 kids.
• Finally the last stat shows the number of establishments that have certain number of employee ranges. The mean number falls in the range of 10 to 19 employees. This will help in the future when planning for employee needs for the new business.

The above case study's main purpose was to show you that the federal government compiles a huge quantity of information. Some of the information will be of great value and will be a good starting point for you when you are planning your new business.

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