Student startup connects small businesses to Gen Z for events, food and shopping
KALAMAZOO, Mich.—Frustrated by the lack of convenience and access to finding things to do in Kalamazoo, Western Michigan University students Gabriella Ford and Hailey Gordon founded Shindigz. Described as a one-stop shop, Shindigz is a website made for Generation Z consumers to easily scroll through events, food and shopping in their area. The website will also be a platform for businesses to directly advertise to Gen Z users with promotions and specials.
"When you search 'what to do in Kalamazoo,' it just comes up with a lot of different events that are usually for families or older generations. And there's a lot of things you need to filter through to find something you'd actually be interested in doing. There didn't exist a simple website that was targeted for Gen Z," says Ford.
Shindigz was conceptualized and developed as part of a group project in Ford and Gordon's entrepreneurship in family and consumer sciences course. In the course, students create and manage a small business in family and consumer science professions with a focus on service-based businesses.
"Our class project was to think of a potential business and build it from scratch," says Ford. "During the semester we would work on different things to make it into a real business. And we just really loved our idea for Shindigz and decided to actually take it outside of the classroom and put it into motion at Starting Gate."
Starting Gate is a student business accelerator that gives Western students rich and valuable resources to develop their startup companies. It is located in downtown Kalamazoo and operated by the Haworth College of Business Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. The accelerator is open to all students through a competitive application process in which students must demonstrate a promising idea for a product or service which can be launched within a short period of time.
"Each person that's in the program has a business of their own, either sole proprietor or partnership, and we're meeting every week to keep accountability," says Gordon. "And during our meetings guest speakers will come speak about different parts of a starting business. We've learned how to keep your books, apply for a loan and how to start an LLC since joining."
After creating the website, hiring a web developer and joining Starting Gate, Ford and Gordon are now focused on pitching to small businesses to advertise with them. Understanding their budgets might be smaller for marketing, they believe businesses will see the value in being able to directly market to a Gen Z and college student audiences.
"Shindigz will be a great way to help local small businesses with marketing their events and services," says Dr. Chitra Singh, assistant professor in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences. "I am so proud of Gabriella and Hailey's accomplishments."
FAMILY AND CONSUMER SCIENCES AT WMU
The Department of Family and Consumer Sciences provides integrative educational programs and conducts research focused on reciprocal relationships; relationships among individuals, families and their near environments with the goal of improving the quality of life within a dynamic global community. To learn more about family and consumer sciences majors and programs, visit the department webpage.
STARTING GATE AT WMU
Starting Gate is a student business accelerator program that gives students rich and valuable resources to develop their startup companies. Under the guidance of Tamara Davis and the Department of Management within the Haworth College of Business, the accelerator is open to all WMU students through a competitive application process in which students must demonstrate a promising idea for a product or service, which can be launched within a short period of time. Starting Gate provides a fast track to business launch. To learn more, visit the Starting Gate webpage.
For more WMU news, sports and events, visit WMU News online.