Xpand

Search Your Way to Success

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Pitch

Xpand is the soapbox for small businesses, the bond between communities, and the spotlight for an important movement. Don’t let that round-the-corner family hustle drown - especially not now.

Inspiration

The main inspiration for this project was seeing the impact that the current economic state had on small businesses. Due to COVID-19, the economic state of small businesses is dire, so they need the opportunity to make valuable, long-lasting connections within their community and increase their own brand awareness. Not only this, but many people who have skills in app development, web development, etc. find it hard to get in contact with small businesses who may need some help. It is to be discoverable on larger social media networks such as Instagram and Linkedin which makes it harder to compete with larger corporations, especially in saturated markets. Also, Xpand provides opportunities for community initiatives, such as youth councils or local events, to collaborate with small businesses. As members of youth councils ourselves, we know how meaningful these connections can be, for both parties.

What it does

Xpand connects small businesses with members of the local community through an online website. Businesses can input their information which will then be taken into our database, and posted onto our website instantaneously. Members of the community can then search for businesses based on location and easily contact these communities.

How I built it

Small businesses or anyone wanting to get help promoting their business/service will be able to fill out a simple registration form in which they will provide their city, business name, and other contact information. This data will be sent to our SQLite database, which will then be used to create a custom page for that business. Any new business will be able to register on our site. The pages of these businesses will then be accessible to youth groups, smaller organizations, or just anyone looking for local businesses to help. By choosing their city, they will be led to a page with all the registered small businesses in that area and will be able to contact them directly. This can be done by filling out the built-in email forum or calling the

Challenges I ran into

We’re all beginners in terms of web development and it was our first time designing websites from scratch. Therefore, we all had to learn HTML, CSS, and any other language that we needed to incorporate into the website through crash courses, tutorial videos, and learning from websites. We needed to understand each language’s syntax and implementation. Before this hackathon, most of us only had minimal experience in back-end development, therefore making this hackathon a whole new learning experience. Making a website from scratch was challenging because we had to write the code ourselves without using templates or sample code.

A few of the challenges we ran into included formatting all the pages to look alike, linking all pages of our website together on the same project (also including attaching the database, emailing, and registration forms). A challenge that we are grateful for running into was learning how to use GitHub to collaborate on our website together. If we were not placed in an online workspace we probably would have never thought to use this beneficial tool. The most challenging part of our whole development process was implementing the SQL database to hold all the business registrants information which would then generate a new page for that business. We also struggled implementing flask which resulted in many issues such as our CSS styling not displaying on our HTML files, but after troubleshooting the issue, we were able to fix that problem.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

Having a finished final created website in two days despite only being introduced to front-end and web development was a massive feat for us. We can all agree that learning and becoming comfortable with a new language in just two days is something to be proud of. Some of the achievements we accomplished were being able to set up an efficient, multi-page website that is easy for users to navigate, learning how to webhook, and create a functioning site. Though all of these achievements were practical skills learned to help us in the future with web development, the greatest and most valuable attainment was understanding that it is not too late to start coding and proving to ourselves that anyone can learn to code.

What I learned

This was our first Hackathon and thus a HUGE learning experience for us. Since the four of us are beginners with programming, most of our website is created from concepts learned during these past two days. We learned many new languages used for Web Development including HTML, CSS, Python, Flask, Javascript, and SQL. Not only did we have to learn the syntax, data structures, and implementation, but we also had to become competent in combining all the languages to enhance the features of our website. Additionally, the task of developing a collaborative technology project, given the circumstances of sharing files and integrating various features through an online setting posed an interesting challenge. Merging everyone’s ideas and formats to create one final synchronized project while working remotely. The biggest challenge we faced individually and as a team was getting solutions to many of our ideas. We all had grand ideas but were limited to what we could learn in 36 hours. If one idea didn’t work, it was necessary for us to change our approach to the problem to arrive at a solution that would best satisfy our goal. We did this by breaking our problems into smaller steps and how to approach challenges.

What's next for Xpand

As a team, we would like to continue to develop and “expand” Xpand. We would like to develop an algorithm that allows users to be able to select certain categories of interest so that the businesses can be more filtered towards them. Furthermore, we want to implement a “save” feature in which users will be able to save/bookmark certain businesses that interest them. Also, we would like to further emphasize the importance of two-way communication by having a chat function on the website for users to contact businesses directly. To further develop the idea of two-way communication, we would also want small businesses to be able to contact individuals on the website directly, if the business is looking to be a sponsor or looking for some form of marketing. Currently, small businesses enter information in the SQL database when they register, but we want to implement the option for businesses to edit their own profiles.

Impact

Currently, there is not any website that is able to connect small businesses with local customers. Introducing a website that is exclusive to smaller businesses, allows them to market in a network where there are no larger corporations. This would have a positive impact on small businesses, especially due to the fact that the state of the economy is very poor because of COVID-19. It is harder, at this time, to market and retains customers which is why this marketing stream is vital for the growth and survival of many businesses. The registration and access to all the features within this website are free for all small businesses. Furthermore, customers would now have a website in which they would be able to find local businesses and get into contact with them. Another example of the positive impact that this website would have is for youth groups and student-run organizations. It can be difficult for student-led organizations to contact businesses for sponsorships and to build relations. However, through the two-way communication, this website enables, customers and other groups would now be able to discover and contact local businesses which in turn increases the sales revenue and improves the brand awareness of the business.

Creativity

The idea of Xpand is unique because there is no other website like it. Starting a business with no means of promotion or ways to grow will usually take years with little success. Xpand targets a niche market of small business owners to connect with sponsors, organizations, and youth councils in one place. This is a unique target market that is unexploited by many individuals and an area where people really need help. Our website tries to target people who may still not be able to get jobs but want to volunteer in the community to gain experiences. It is welcoming to all people who want to help and a good way to get the community involved. Additionally, it also lets students and people of all ages ask questions, get answers, and gain relevant work experience regardless of their qualifications

Effectiveness

This website is very user-friendly and provides instructions??? The problem that we wanted to solve is the lack of ability for small businesses to create platforms and reach interested customers, and this website does exactly that! The program is able to run without any underlying issues and the approval for businesses.

Reusability

Xpand will be able to fill a niche in the market as there is a clear need for this website for small businesses. The implementation of Xpan is feasible as the basic prototype of the website

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