In our quest to empower small business owners, we encountered Stacy, a self-motivated entrepreneur in her 30s, located in Waterloo, ON, Canada. Stacy has a passion for traditional art-inspired clothing and started her own business, facing challenges related to time management, business operations, and marketing. Our goal is to create a support system that helps entrepreneurs like Stacy increase their local customer base, manage their business efficiently, and promote their products effectively.
Name: Stacy
Age: 30s
Location: Waterloo, ON, Canada
Gender: Female
Bio: Stacy is a creative soul running a clothing business inspired by traditional art forms. She immigrated to Canada four years ago, seeking to establish her presence in the local clothing market. She's an outgoing individual who values cultural diversity and community engagement.
Stacy maintains a second job to support herself.
She actively participates in local festivals and markets to sell her products and connect with potential customers.
Stacy manages her e-commerce site using website builders like Squarespace.
She takes charge of her business finances and bookkeeping.
Stacy promotes her business on social media but occasionally falls behind when overwhelmed.
She uses tools like Canva for digital design work and relies on customer support from website builders.
Needs
Attracting new local customers.
Creating a safe space for sharing her story with the audience.
Receiving support throughout her entrepreneurial journey.
Assistance in managing various aspects of her business.
Local promotion for her small business.
Opportunities to sell products in person.
Pain Points
Limited time due to other commitments like her job and family.
Lack of expertise in managing all aspects of her business alone.
Time-consuming social media management.
Costly website builders with essential features.
Limited local connections and support.
Balancing live events and other promotional activities with product creation.
Understanding of what all exists and some apps that are liked by the users. Building insights on the whys.
Understanding of what all exists and some apps that are liked by the users. Building insights on the whys.
Our long-term vision is to create a thriving ecosystem where entrepreneurs like Stacy can effortlessly grow their local customer base, receive ongoing support, and achieve sustainable success in their businesses.
We believe that the Creator Collections for YW IHCS Participants will help their businesses increase their local customer base. We will know this to be true when we see local traffic to their site increase by 50-100%, thereby promoting YW participants and attracting more local customers.
We started with low-fidelity prototypes to quickly iterate on concepts. These paper sketches and wireframes allowed us to explore different design ideas and gather early feedback from potential users.
Once we had refined our design concepts based on our client requirement, we moved on to high-fidelity prototyping. These high-fi wireframe closely resembled the final website.
Once we had refined our design concepts based on our client requirement, we moved on to high-fidelity prototyping. These high-fi wireframe closely resembled the final website.
In the journey to empower entrepreneurs like Stacy, our focus is on building a robust support system that enhances their social media presence, promotes local engagement, and provides ongoing support. By implementing the MVP features, we aim to bridge the gap between small businesses and their potential customers, ultimately fostering success and growth in the local business community.
