Bizy

Support small businesses by using AI and real-time data to predict revenue drops and provide financial and marketing tools to help them stay afloat, preserve local jobs, and culture.

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Inspiration

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 50% of small business will not survive the next 5 years, despite representing 50% of America's workforce and 40% of America's GDP. As a team that has found joy in enjoying local restaurants and other small businesses in our respective areas, we’ve witnessed firsthand how vital small businesses are to the fabric of our communities. From the corner café to the local boutique, these businesses bring life and joy to our communities. They provide community, resources, employment, and character. However, we've also seen how fragile they can be—especially in challenging times. Inspired by the resilience of small business owners, we created Bizy.

What it does

Notably, Bizy utilizes real-time data analyzed by a fine-tuned Google Gemini LLM to predict possible dips or rises in revenue of small businesses based on customer traffic, rigorous analysis, and historic patterns. Based on a business's financial state, Bizy will recommend financial decisions, visualize distributions, and provide optimized financial plans for maximum productivity.

Bizy also provides a management platform for local vendors and inventory, providing live updates on food and vendor contract expiry. It can also produce accurate and efficient emails and legal contracts. Additionally, it also has an "Uber-like" feature, where small businesses can post job openings when a member of their staff is unavailable. Instead of being short-staffed or closing for the day, they can directly use the platform to higher dayworkers (whose resume's have already been approved by the system), directly benefitting the business and helping out the community.

Also, Bizy helps keep business's online presence busy by employing a fine-tuned Gemini AI to produce marketing proposals, social media posts, and an integrated calendar that can link these marketing events straight into the company's Google Calendar. Lastly, Bizy uses your location and business statistics to determine local companies to collaborate with on events, connecting communities and intertwining culture.

How we built it

For our front-end, we used React.js, HTML5, and Bootstrap 5 for structure. Additionally, we used Tailwind CSS for styling. For our back-end, we used Python with Flask and Node.js as our back-end web development and MongoDB for our database. We used Pandas to manage our databases. For our various features like our calendar and event search, we used OpenStreetMap, Google API (Calendar/Maps), and Overpass.

Challenges we ran into

Our team had little to none experience in front-end development, so implementing React and Tailwind CSS was a struggle. We also struggled with implementing MongoDB as we had never used databases before. Debugging also took up most of our time.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are super proud to have gotten most of our intended features completed within the 36-hour time frame given. Additionally, we're proud of how much we've learned--both technical and practical skills. We're proud of being able to pick up new languages and frameworks and being able to efficiently implement them to try and better society.

What we learned

Throughout the development of Bizy, we gained a deeper understanding of the importance of small businesses and the challenges they face. We learned how to effectively collaborate as a team, leveraging each member's strengths and sharing knowledge in areas where we were less experienced. Specifically, we became more proficient in front-end technologies like React.js and Tailwind CSS, and we developed a foundational understanding of database management with MongoDB. Additionally, we learned about integrating APIs and the importance of user experience in creating a management platform that genuinely serves the needs of small business owners.

What's next for Bizy

As a community-focused project, here are some features we'd like to add in the future:

  • Customer Management: Tools for tracking customer interactions and managing leads.
  • Event Planning Tools: Facilitate joint events between local businesses to strengthen community ties.
  • Local Vendor Network: Connect businesses with nearby vendors for collaborations and resource sharing. Now that Bizy is able to search the contacts of nearby small businesses or vendors, we aim to build a platform for them to register accounts and socialize in the future.
  • Integrated Payment Solutions: Allow businesses to process payments directly through the platform, streamlining transactions and supporting local commerce.
  • Volunteer and Community Engagement Portal: Encourage businesses to post volunteer opportunities and community events, fostering a culture of giving back.
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