A web app to find local independent shops, services and deals
I have been thinking of creating a web app which will allow small, independent businesses create a profile, add their description, products and place backlinks. It will be very local - targeting a town (215k population). The goal is to help small business owners get exposure and the consumers to find local shops, services. This part is going to be free.
I am thinking of monetising the deals/offers section of the website. A business will also be able to publish info about their special deals or feature a new product/service for a one off fee.
What do you think? Any thoughts on how I can add more value to the businesses and consumers? Are there similar sites you came across (apart from business directories) that I can have a look at? cheers
If I were you, I'd definitely do some Instagram scraping to get info about the shops in your town.
Last year I wrote a small webapp which helps people find guest tattoo artists visiting their city from abroad. It works like this:
(1) Enter a city
(2) App googles for all the tattoo shops in that city
(3) App finds Instagram accounts of tattoo shops in that city
(4) App finds which of those tattoo shops currently have guest artists visiting them
I think you could apply this idea to what you're building :).
I like this. Figure out what Yelp and Google Maps have done wrong, and play up those strengths in your MVP.
Personally, I look at Yelp/Google Maps and visit places I don't think are chains. The 1-5 star reviewing system is pretty reliable. As long as you know things like authentic Chinese or Indian food will be lower than 3.8-4.2 stars.
Yelp?
contact some businesses in thew town your look at and see what they say.
Interesting @pazitron
Is it going to be a Foursquare / Yelp for your small neighborhood? Would be great to offer some direct to customer features to help small shops.
I'm also validating a small idea, keen to hear your thoughts!
The idea is to keep it very local and for independent businesses only - a simple directory with categories, a few filters and search. Anyone who fits the profile can submit info about their business, product services and delivery info. Consumers can browse and signup to newsletter updates.
The only paid feature that I might later introduce is deals/offers section which will have a visibility of max 30 days and will be included in the promo comms that will go out to the subscribers.
Bottom line, help for small businesses to get exposure, and help for local people to discover new shops, products and services offered by local businesses.