Gapp App: One stop shop for funding, training and business support

Businesses which identify weaknesses through Honey Bun Foundation’s new diagnostic tool, Gapp App, can also be introduced to partners for funding, training or other business support from the same platform.

General Manager of the Honey Bun Foundation, Nashauna Lalah said on #MoneyMovesJa recently, that businesses completing the built-in survey will most likely get recommendations relating to one or more of those three areas.

In developing the app, she said the Foundation consulted with subject matter experts with whom they had developed a working relationship. They also worked with a number of business support organizations who provided their input as to what exactly would be needed from companies to move from one level to another.

According to Lalah, the survey covers eleven areas of business, from marketing to exporting, and even provides links to where businesses can get help.

“The app takes the temperature of your business,” she said, emphasizing that the survey was designed to show businesses what could have been stalling any exponential growth.

“It shows you where the weaknesses are in your business because sometimes you may think you’re doing everything right and you’re wondering why I’m not moving from here to there…. It’s able to show you [for example] that you need more help in marketing. It might be that you need to enhance your digital marketing capabilities. It may be that you need to focus on your exports,” she said.

The Gapp App can be downloaded for free from the Google Play and Apple Stores. It’s programmed to allow surveys to be done once per month. The app also generates a report at the end of the survey, and the results can be retrieved at any time.

“We want you to work along with it, so we don’t want you to do it every week. So if you’ve done it this month, and it shows you where the gaps are, it will show you where to go to fill those gaps. We actually want you to go fill some of those gaps and then come back and test it again,” said the General Manager.

The Gapp App rates businesses taking the survey from 0-100%. However, even if a company does manage to get 100%, they will receive support feedback.

“If you get 100%, we’re gonna say you can get 110%, but of course there is no perfect business and that’s the thing about the app, you don’t know what you don’t know,” she said.

The Gapp App was the brainchild of CEO of Honey Bun and Founder of Honey Bun Foundation, Michelle Chong. It took about nine months to develop.

It’s powered by Niritech Digital and was launched in collaboration with the Digicel Foundation, EXIM Bank, the Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters Association (JMEA), the Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC) and Jamaica Promotions Agency (JAMPRO).

Categories: MoneyMovesJA