Inspiration
Because of covid-19, small businesses around have struggled a lot with all the changes. I've been more mindful and trying to shop at stores locally and within my country (Canada), so that was how I came up with this idea.
What it does
The app allows users to see small businesses around the area. The postings show what type of store it is and the contact information of the store. Then, users are able to google online to head to their desired store. As well, business owners can use the contact page if they want to promote their website as well.
How I built it
I used HTML,CSS, Javascript for the frontend, I used Node.js and Javascript and used Socrata API for the backend. I used these two to get data from Small Business & Supplier Diversity SWaM website, in order to make the postings and generate them onto the front-end.
Dataset websites: https://www.sbsd.virginia.gov/directory/ , https://dev.socrata.com/foundry/data.hampton.gov/vx3j-xqri
The Virginia Department of Small Business & Supplier Diversity Directory Listing, is to assist with locating Small, Women, and Minority (SWaM) certified businesses for contracting opportunities.
Challenges I ran into
This was the first time I used an API call and I thought I'd have to use some new unknown tech, however after a little bit of research I was able to use Javascript to get the API call. After that, it was a little hard to manage JSON data, but I was able to use it on the front-end. I also wanted to use other APIs such as MapBox or GoogleMap to generate a map and so users can input their address and find the small businesses that are the closest to them, but time was running out.
Accomplishments that I'm proud of
Able to use Socrata API to generate the small business information and write them to my front-end.
What I learned
Learned about APIs, web development, USA.
What's next for ShopFinder
I hope I can connect MapBox and set business categories so with a better user interface, users have a easier time managing what they want to search for. I also hope I'm able to replace the image placeholders with the actual shop or the type of items they sell by creating an program that can search images online given the company name/address.
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