The launch of the SME Business Navigator app to help entrepreneurs

In March 2017, we won a tender for this service development in partnership with Everpoint company. The Everpoint team undertook the analysis of geodata and the development of a web application; our team was engaged in mobile development.

We had a large-scale web service at our disposal. We needed to use all its functionality and create a simple mobile business tool.

If you want to choose the right place to set up a cafe, a shop, or a beauty salon, the application will show the most profitable areas in terms of unrealized demand and supply ratio. Tap on a zone on the map or select an area in the list and see what business areas are in demand in this part of the city. The calculation is available in the application for 172 cities of 85 constituent entities of the Russian Federation at the moment of writing the case.

Let’s say that you have 500 thousand rubles, and you do not know what to invest them in. Enter the amount and select a business from the list. You’ll be surprised to find out that it’s possible to set up your own business when you have only 100-200 thousand rubles. The cost of a mobile devices repair shop will be 166 thousand rubles, for example. SME Business Navigator offers its users 90 types of business in the city. We assigned to each sphere a special icon and color to make navigation in the list easier for users.

On the map, you can see competitors, commercial and state real estate. Look at deciphering the designations and hide unnecessary things using filters to avoid unnecessary complications with icons. You can get brief information about an object by clicking on each of them. Put the pin in the place where you want to set up a company and click on «Calculate a business plan».

The application calculates and shows an approximate business plan for 5 years per second. You can obtain information on investment volumes, payback period, assortment, and profitability there. To make the information easy to read on the smartphone’s small screen, we put it in infographics. Save the business plan in your account or send a detailed PDF document to your partner by clicking on the «Share» button. This document even can help to get a loan from a partner bank of the Corporation.

If the project payback period is longer than five years, the application warns its user about it and such a business plan could not be calculated.

Would you like to see all the competitors or available space for rent? Use the filter and find things you need on the map. If you are sure that you want a restaurant, not a dining room, you can change the format and the niche market in the filters: economy, mass, or premium market.

You have found several places for a coffee shop, added them to your Favorites by tapping on the star, and gone to look at them in reality. Take photos and attach them to your favorite places, so as not to forget how these properties look inside and outside, and what is located in the neighborhood. Take some notes not to keep important things in mind. When you get home, compare all the viewed objects and choose a property based on individual preferences.

Entrepreneurs use the application to find a place to rent, learn more about competitors and calculate business plans to start a business. The mobile application complements the geo-marketing analytics system developed by Everpoint.

In addition to the «SME Business Navigator», we have developed the «SME Business navigator. Supportive measures» (iOS and Android). This app is for those who are already engaged in entrepreneurship and look for business development tools. Find more about this project and its prospects in this case.