"Planning:

Your pull radius is the area surrounding your school, from which your students will come. Typically, a student will not drive more than 10-15 minutes to your school.

Yes, yes, yes, I know you have students who drive an hour and walk uphill both ways to get to your classes, but unless you are going to charge those three people $1,000 per class, you can’t build a school around them.

The real question is, how much of my potential ratio is within my pull radius? Here is just a sample of the factors that will influence the answer:

1. Regardless of the population of your area, what is the population within your pull radius? Multiply that by .02 to get your potential ratio.

2. Is your school near a natural barrier? Where I live, there is a subtle bridge north of us. While there is nothing stopping us from crossing it, we rarely do. We turn south on the main roads to travel to shops, restaurants, and parks.

I’m sure there are good restaurants and shops across the bridge, but we don’t go there, and I’m sure people on the other side don’t come south to our area. Other barriers include railroad tracks, rivers, bridges, busy highways, and tunnels.

3. What are the real demographics of your pull radius? Do you have the area’s largest trailer park or retired person’s community inside your pull radius? You’re not going to get two percent of those markets.

The demographics within your pull radius will make you or break you. Your job is to match your pull-radius demographic with your school.