Few people would dare launch a new business in the middle of a pandemic, yet that's exactly what Jiten Thakkar did. His Local Forever platform is helping business owners get online, gain exposure, and build their brand.
"A lot of small businesses were struggling in the lockdown as many of them didn't have any medium to take their products or services visible in front of their target audience," said Thakkar.
Thakkar is the founder of Jiten Thakkar coaching and consulting and Local Forever, a platform that provides small businesses with an online presence. For a single monthly fee, the company provides individuals with services encompassing multi-page basic and e-commerce websites, domain names, hosting, SSL security, SEO, email, and website maintenance.
The subscription model is unique in that clients receive an entire suite of services at a single cost. There's no need for business owners to stress over which services to purchase or what they need most while accommodating budgetary concerns. Local Forever delivers a fully-fledged website in 15-20 days and clients can transfer an existing domain name.
Local Forever is particularly timely as business owners around the world struggle to survive under normal conditions. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated existing problems and created new challenges in an age of lockdown when even long-established business owners are tasked with identifying new ways to keep their enterprise alive.
Several studies have been conducted that identified the five top barriers for business owners getting online and the data is still relevant today.
1. Didn't know how to begin building a website
2. Tasks required to make a successful website were overwhelming
3. Insufficient thought into a domain name
4. Didn't have business-class email
5. They didn't know how to promote themselves online
Local Forever eliminates all those barriers and provides business owners with the digital equivalent of word-of-mouth advertising.
Approximately 88 percent of all potential customers perform an online search for the products and services they need before contacting an individual business – and they typically do it from a mobile device. Local Forever provides responsive design websites that display correctly on smaller screens enabling clients to reach a larger audience.
After due diligence and extensive research, Thakkar discovered that one of the biggest barriers that businesses encountered was the expense of creating an online presence. Buying a domain, hosting and designing for an entire year is a considerable expense. Local Forever was launched to address that problem, while assisting clients increase visibility and traction.
"This was and is needed, especially now, as most enterprises look for alternative ways to reach out to their customers and get their business success back on track," said Thakkar.
Launching such an ambitious endeavor wasn't without its own challenges. Those included partnering with local sources, developing a fully-featured platform ready to launch in such a short time, along with a cost-effective strategy. Local Forever's innovative model enables people in business to subscribe to monthly plans without any upfront deposit.
It's not just brick and mortar businesses that can benefit from Local Forever. Many of today's entrepreneurs don't have a need for a physical location to conduct commerce.
"Local businesses have tremendous potential to grow with a little help to get their businesses online and promote it," said Thakkar.
Businesses have a difficult enough time surviving during the best of times and a business website is essential for companies in the digital age. Those that don't have an online presence are leaving money on the table and missing out on leads that provide increased opportunities. The need for products and services by consumers remains consistent. It's the responsibility of business owners to ensure that potential customers can find them.
Local Forever is a local business directory, e-commerce and promotional platform for businesses in multiple fields ranging from hotels and automotive services to restaurants and realtors.
