Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA
Customers, From a Consultant
Who Is Your Winter Park Customer?
Myth: in a city with a $98,076 median household income, everyone is your customer. They are not, and paying to reach all of them is a quick way to drain a marketing budget.
Your Winter Park customer is one specific person you can describe in one sentence: who they are, how often they buy, what they pay, and why they pick you over the places they already use. Dr. Paul, Winter Park business consultant, has helped 1,000+ owners write that sentence. In Winter Park, where the Census numbers look very different from most of Central Florida, getting it right matters even more.
Not sure who your customer is yet? Call or text (321) 948-9588.
Last Updated: 10/29/2026 · Written by Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA
Not Everyone
Why "Everyone" Is Not a Customer
A message for everyone reads like a message for no one. Nobody sees themselves in it, so nobody calls. Here is what the fix looks like, written out.
The clear versions turn some people away. Good. Those people were never going to buy, and every dollar spent reaching them came out of the budget for the ones who would. A clear sentence also answers the last two blanks: how often that person buys, and what they will pay without a fight. It is the Grow step in Dr. Paul's Organize-Plan-Grow™ Strategy.
Making the thing people love is your part, and you have it handled. Naming the exact buyer is the business side, and that is where Dr. Paul helps, with the sentence staying yours.
Ready for Help?
Four Ways to Work With Dr. Paul
01 · Start Here
Business Consulting
Bring your sales records. Dr. Paul helps you find who your best customers are and write the sentence that reaches more of them.
Business consulting →02
Business Plan Writing
Need the customer and market analysis in a formal plan for a lender or landlord? Dr. Paul writes the full business plan.
Business plan writing →03
Fractional CFO/COO
Already open in Winter Park? Dr. Paul helps you read which customers and channels pay off every month, part time.
Fractional CFO and COO →04
Small Business Education
Free guides on target customers, positioning, and marketing for owners who learned the trade first. Prefer to write your own plan? See the templates.
Free guides →The Winter Park Reality
Winter Park by the Numbers, and What They Could Mean for You
Census figures will not name your customer. They do tell you what kind of city you are selling in, and which questions to ask first.
| Census figure | Winter Park | What it may mean for your customer |
|---|---|---|
| Population, July 2023 estimate | 29,894 | A small city. You may not win on volume alone, so repeat customers could carry the business. |
| Median household income, 2019 to 2023 | $98,076 | Many households may pay for quality and convenience. Price on value, not on being cheapest. |
| Bachelor's degree or higher, age 25 and up | 63.6% | Customers may research before they buy. Your website and reviews could make the first sale. |
| Residents 65 and over | 23.5% | A large older customer base could reward easy parking, daytime hours, and personal service. |
| Median value, owner-occupied homes | $676,800 | Homeowners invest in homes. Trades and home services may find steady repeat work. |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, QuickFacts, Winter Park city, Florida (American Community Survey 2019 to 2023; population estimate V2023).
Those are citywide figures. Your customer is not an average. A Rollins College student, an afternoon shopper on Park Avenue, and a family on the west side near Hannibal Square could want very different things from the same business. Pick one first. Then build the price, the hours, and the marketing around that one.
From the Book
Dr. Paul's Insight: Anything for Anybody Means Nobody Calls
"I'll haul anything for anybody. Why isn't anybody calling?"
He did not have to send far. Her flyer was on the Lone Oak's own gate.
WE HAUL ANYTHING FOR ANYONE. ANY TIME. ANY PLACE.
"You saw it, right? Six hundred. Every door in the forest."
Dr. Paul's take: That is Dumpster Dani, the raccoon who opens Chapter 1, after six hundred flyers and a quiet phone. It is also a question owners often ask when they market to everyone. In the book, the answer was already in her records: the regulars she called boring paid on time, came back, and never haggled.
Winter Park works the same way. Your best customer may already be on your receipts. Sort them by customer, not by sale, and look for the pattern before you buy another ad. That pattern is your customer sentence.
Test It Locally
Two Winter Park Crowds, Two Very Different Customers
Winter Park puts buyers in front of you in two very different ways. One tells you who your customer is. The other can fool you.
The Saturday Farmers' Market
Every Saturday, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., in the Central Park West Meadow at New York Avenue and Morse Boulevard. The city says vendor space is extremely limited, vendors need a sales tax number, and it does not accept Cottage Food products. If you get in, it is a weekly room that may fill with the same local faces. That is where a customer sentence gets tested.
The Sidewalk Art Festival
The 67th festival ran March 20 to 22, 2026, in Central Park and along Park Avenue, and organizers say attendance usually reaches 250,000 or more over three days. The next one is listed for March 19 to 21, 2027. Big crowd. Many of them may be one-time buyers you never see again.
Sources: City of Winter Park, Winter Park Farmers' Market; Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival, 2026 press release and Know Before You Go.
What it means for your Winter Park customer: do not size the business on festival weekend. A great March weekend may tell you little about a Tuesday in August. Count the people who come back, not the people who walk by. Then write the sentence around the repeat buyer.
Score Yourself
Six Questions: Do You Know Your Winter Park Customer?
One point for every honest yes. No partial credit.
- I can describe my customer in one sentence without the word "everyone."YES / NO
- I know how often my best customers buy, from my own records.YES / NO
- I know the price they pay without haggling.YES / NO
- I can name the three places they use now instead of me.YES / NO
- I can say why they would switch, in their words, not mine.YES / NO
- My marketing goes where that person already looks.YES / NO
Where and How
Location Is a Customer Decision in Winter Park
The street you pick chooses a customer for you. Decide who first, then pick the street.
Park Avenue and Hannibal Square
The city's Community Redevelopment Agency lists both as retail corridors, along with Orange Avenue, US Highway 17-92, and Fairbanks Avenue. A walking, browsing customer is not a driving, errand-running one.
CRA Matching Grants
The CRA lists a Business Façade Matching Grant of up to $30,000 and a Retail Build-out Program of up to $20,000 in matching funds. The page does not say whether funds are open now, so check with the CRA.
Business Certificate
Winter Park issues a Business Certificate, and Orange County requires its own business tax receipt. City certificates expire September 30 each year. See the city's page.
A grant can lower the cost of the space. It cannot tell you whether the right customer walks past it. That answer comes from your customer sentence, and it is the first thing Dr. Paul works through with owners in business consulting.
Learn Who Buys
Find the Customers Who Already Want You
Dr. Paul's Fabled Forest Business School Series · Book 4
Marketing for Small Businesses
Book 4 of Dr. Paul's Fabled Forest Business School Series. Twenty forest owners learn to get found and get chosen, from Dumpster Dani's flyers in Chapter 1 to counting where customers come from. Target market, positioning, value proposition, and conversion rate are taught by their real names, with a one-page worksheet for each.
Get Book 4 on Amazon →FAQ
Customer Questions Winter Park Owners Ask
How do I find my target customer in Winter Park?
What is the median household income in Winter Park?
Why is marketing to everyone a mistake?
What do I need to open a business in Winter Park?
Can Dr. Paul help me define my customer?
Name your customer before you pay to reach them.
Keep Going
More for Winter Park and Central Florida Owners
Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA
Business Consultant, Author & Educator | 14+ Years | 1,000+ Clients Served
Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA is a business consultant, author, and educator, and the founder of Quality Business Plan. He helps Winter Park and Central Florida owners with business planning, market analysis, financial modeling, fractional CFO work, and the everyday problems of businesses that depend too much on their owners. He is the creator of Dr. Paul's Organize-Plan-Grow™ Strategy, author of numerous published books on Amazon including Dr. Paul's Fabled Forest Business School Series, and publisher of over 1,000 business-focused videos on YouTube. He has taught as an adjunct college instructor and teaches in Florida public schools.
This page is for general educational purposes only. It is not legal, financial, tax, accounting, marketing, or other professional advice. Census figures and city programs are cited to their sources and change over time; the customer sentences are illustrations, not data. For decisions about your own business, consult a qualified professional.