Ask HN: Advice if mobile platform I built can be used for other verticals? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Advice if mobile platform I built can be used for other verticals?

5 pointspalidanx4 comments

I recently built a mobile app for my church (API and admin back end is Rails, front end is Ionic 3, push notifications are powered by Amazon SNS).

https://www.sdabulletin.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_f8CQqEdnU

Basically a member can select a church, view events, and get push notifications. The custom admin content platform is based off weeks, so you author the content of the week, and the app automatically views the correct content based on the date.

I was just wondering, would there be other type of business verticals this type of platform might be useful for? I was thinking maybe California farmer's markets, but am not sure if there was enough new content weekly.

I think to expand, you'll want to consider the use case where someone would want to be subscribes to multiple groups at once (most folks don't belong to multiple churches).

With that enhancement, I would envision it for Farmer's Markets, Trivia Nights, Bowling Leagues, D&D Groups, etc - just about anything that meets on a weekly basis.

For the scenario about things that meet on a weekly basis, in your opinion would you download an app per business or prefer to have one app power it all? For example, a farmer's market app, a trivia nights app, a board game app, etc.

Yeah I would have one app per segment. If I'm a trivia fan (spoiler: I am), then I am interested in going to trivia nights 2-3+ times per week, and this would be a good central location without being locked into a single trivia group (ex. Geeks Who Drink). This would also allow the app to be a source of trivia nights while on vacation or visiting family.

For the farmers market example, I might be interested in learning what's in season across multiple markets, and what farms/vendors will be where.

I would look to expand into one additional vertical at a time, and maybe consider related ones. Instead of jumping from churches to D&D, just from churches to bible study groups, where you can leverage your existing network of customers into the new vertical.

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