Bloom

Bloom solves a common problem: amazing local deals often go unnoticed. Our platform instantly connects you to nearby offers on everything from food to retail, helping you save and businesses thrive!

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Inspiration

My Journey to Bloom When I first heard about the "no code" platform Bolt.New that lets you build applications and sites with simple prompts , my mind was absolutely blown. I instantly knew I wanted to be part of this. I've always had a basic understanding of code, and like many, I tried my hand at building websites with tools like Wix. But I always found myself getting stuck, unable to fully translate my imagination into a working product. Now, with no-code, I can finally bring my ideas to life. I've developed an MVP for Bloom that, even if it's not 100% polished, is a joy to see come to life.

The core idea behind Bloom has been with me since university. I took entrepreneurship courses and even pitched a different concept to over 200 people in a event. The biggest hurdle was always the lack of a tangible Minimum Viable Product to gain proper support. Bloom truly began to take shape in my mind during the COVID-19 lockdowns. During that time, we saw the massive explosion of online platforms like Alibaba, as more and more people turned to online shopping. I was genuinely amazed that I could order things from China for less than a dollar and have them delivered directly to my door. This experience made me think about the sustainability of such models and ignited my desire to understand consumer behavior and purchasing drivers.

My Master's in Marketing and Digital Transformation further deepened this understanding, showing me how businesses create value for customers and how customers perceive that value. With Bloom, my goal is to create a true win-win scenario: a space where users can save money on things they enjoy and businesses can effectively showcase their promotions and attract customers.

What it does

A single platform where people could effortlessly discover all kinds of deals, from retailers, restaurants, bars, groceries, and more. Bloom leverages location-based technology to highlight special offers right in your immediate area, making everyday decisions easy and convenient.

For businesses, Bloom provides a vital competitive advantage. They can now significantly expand their reach, release quick deals to boost traffic during slower periods, and track sales data to better understand market trends.

How we built it

This website was solely built using bolt.new. Prompt by prompt, using the 10M tokens provided by the hackathon. Following all the live events I was able to learn about bolt.new partners which helped me build the platform. Netlify to host the website, Supabase for the Database and Pika for the APIs.

Challenges we ran into

There were many issues when developing the website, mainly due to my technical understanding of coding and implementing various APIs.

The first challenge was implementing Google Maps as the map interface to display various deals. However, due to my limited knowledge, I was unable to successfully integrate it. After expending a significant number of tokens, I decided to use the map provided by Bolt and display deals using dummy data instead.

Another challenge was ensuring all pages and buttons were fully integrated for a seamless user experience. This required some time and thoughtful planning to link the pages coherently, but Bolt handled it very well.

Implementing AI recommendations as originally intended also presented a challenge. While OpenAI is integrated, the initial idea was to leverage it to analyze user's past deals and likes for personalized recommendations. Instead, I pivoted to using OpenAI to create recommendations for populating the map interface as visual markers for the Minimum Viable Product (MVP).

Lastly, I encountered an issue creating two user profiles: a business profile and a standard user profile. I successfully implemented authentication for the user profile, allowing sign-ins and message sending via the Gmail API. However, I was unable to create a business profile despite persistent attempts. The business profile was intended to allow businesses to upload promotions and provide a robust dashboard. I believe this issue stemmed from the database table structures and missing fields, but it was a complex problem I was hesitant to alter within the existing build.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

I am really proud of the build I have created with the 10 million tokens gifted. Running into issues and having to pivot to maximize the tokens was a challenge, but I am extremely satisfied and happy with this result.

Showing the website to close family and friends, and gaining their approval and utter surprise that I was able to build something like this alone and in such a short time, was incredibly rewarding.

Being part of a community of builders who inspire others to create something great and share their knowledge openly is truly invaluable

What we learned

I learned how to connect different services to create a fully functional website. The process was taught and made so simple that it truly felt like magic. I gained a greater understanding of how all these services are connected and how I can leverage them to run my website. I always thought this level of functionality was exclusive to big companies like Google, Microsoft, or Amazon, but these up-and-coming companies are making it incredibly accessible for anyone to participate in these environments.

What's next for Bloom

What an exciting statement! Now, I'm thrilled to move into the testing phase of the app with close friends and family. Their feedback will be invaluable in refining the application and ensuring it meets user needs.

If the initial feedback is positive, the next step will be to expand the team. I'll be looking for other enthusiastic builders, particularly those with strong back-end development expertise, to complement my skills.

Concurrently, I'll begin comprehensive market research, engaging directly with businesses to understand their needs and challenges. This will inform my approach when pitching to investors, seeking the necessary capital to scale.

Once these foundational elements are in place, we'll set a launch date and focus on building our business database, preparing everything for a successful release. Finally, we'll execute strategic marketing campaigns through social media and events to generate buzz and attract users.

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