GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A new app being developed in Grand Rapids is aiming to help connect small and minority-owned businesses to customers who may otherwise never find them.
KikcIt, currently in the alpha-testing phase, is hoping to launch by late spring or early summer of this year. The app has users take a personality test with questions based in psychology, then creates a profile and matches users with small businesses who fit their needs and characteristics.
It’s a two-way street of an experiment and app developer Ricardo O’Neal hopes it’ll get consumers out of their boxes and offer small shops a way to market without spending money they may not have.
“The lack of awareness is really critical for most micro, local businesses,” said O’Neal. “Especially BIPOC businesses if we just want to be realistic.”
O’Neal, who is working with Spartan Innovations on the project, is encouraging people to help them test the app early on. So far, 20 businesses have signed on and they’re always looking for more who could use the help.
“If you’re a micro local business on the southeast side of Grand Rapids, or you’re a micro local business in East Grand Rapids, you deal with the same things: lack of awareness, lack of engagement, lack of retention,” said O’Neal. “At the end of the day, those are some of the key elements that prevent them from scaling.”
For businesses like Good Judy’s Market and Juice Bar on Wealthy Street, it’s an exciting opportunity to float to the top among a crowded and thriving business environment in the Wealthy Street corridor.
“It’s an awesome idea, especially post pandemic,” said owner Dean Jeffrey. “You get into the questionnaire and it’s like, oh, that’s my customer and this is what they’re actually looking for and this is how they resonate with things. So just going through that process is a nice reminder of keeping it customer-centric.”
For entrepreneurs just starting out, the app is an opportunity to build a new client base that’s tailored to their experience.
“Being new to the entrepreneur world, marketing is something I obviously have to learn too. So it’s difficult to do the outreach if you don’t have those connections or that knowledge,” said Shakeir Footman, owner of Legacy 616, an event space off Division Avenue that’s also signed on to KikcIt. “I thought it was a great resource, definitely for us minorities who are new to the business world. Obviously sometimes they don’t have those connections so this platform is there for us to build connections; find resources and customers.”
You can help KikcIt test their app right now and they hope to launch officially in late-spring or early-summer.
