Localist

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  A mockup of the Localist app home screen.

Inspiration

We are consumers who frequent small and local businesses ourselves, and would prefer to support them whenever possible. However, we've noticed that it is sometimes actually difficult to even find or connect with these businesses when you need them. As we talked to others folks in their 30s and 60s, we found that many of them feel the same way. They, too wanted to support small and local businesses but didn't have a convenient way to do so.

Small businesses also face similar challenges on the other side of the coin. They don't have access to affordable tools to help them connect and stand out to consumers compared to the big box stores.

We wanted a way to connect these two disparate groups on a platform that serves both the needs of the small businesses and wants of consumers.

What it does

Our app connects small businesses and consumers with each other. The Localist platform delivers:

1. Search results that only return small businesses in a consumer’s geography with preset filters to allow users to narrow down options.
2. Curated options from local, small businesses to cater to specialized requests and/or experiences from consumers.
3. Enable easy sharing and voting for small groups of friends to encourage more/repeat visits for each small business.
4. Tools to help small businesses improve their ability to market themselves.

How I built it

We initially set out to work on the problem statement: how to buy from local businesses instead of Amazon. As we were performing user research by interviewing both small businesses and consumers, we realized that the heart of the problem was in fact “how do we encourage/prompt customers to think small and local businesses first”. We realized that choosing Amazon was a result of decision fatigue rather than a service that Amazon offered.

Based on this, we wanted to create an app that focused solely on small businesses and the consumers who wanted to shop local.

We used Figma to build the prototype of our app.

Challenges I ran into

There were a number of ideas that we had brainstormed to help small businesses connect with consumers. The biggest challenge was determining our scope and prioritizing the features we wanted to demo.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

We have come together in such a short time despite multiple commitments to build a framework for an app that our team is excited about. Based on our research, it fills a void in the market for both small businesses and consumers.

What I learned

Over the course of the hackathon, we learned:

• The amount of time and energy it takes to market a small business for a small business owner.
• Lack of a platform to connect consumers to small and local businesses.
• Working on a deadline gives us energy to fail fast and keep building in new areas.

What's next for Localist

There are a features that we are looking to add as the app gains traction:

• A feature that allows small businesses to use Localist as an e-commerce platform.
• Connecting small businesses with other small business owners to share resources and information (for example, work spaces).
• An AI tool to better serve consumers and businesses alike to create a match between services offered.

Built With

• figma