As I Am Black Business comes up its 3 year anniversary, we would like to look back over 2016’s accomplishments as well as look forward at 2017’s goals and objectives.
2016 was a big year for IABB. Our first big accomplishment was exiting beta with the web based directory. It took us over a year to get to this point but it was well worth the time. With our strong technology background, we took our time to design and develop a highly scalable and fast directory using ElasticSearch. ElasticSearch is a key differentiator for our business. The technology allows us to perform fast searches across our entire directory with or without geography, and return the most relevant businesses first.
The next big milestone was reaching 1000 businesses in the directory. We know there are more businesses to be added, but reaching 1000 is a big accomplishment. Thanks to everyone for submitting their business(es) and other businesses that they support.
The final accomplishment of 2016 was the release of our mobile apps for iOS and android. We live in a very mobile world so it was very important for us to provide access to the directory via a mobile app. Our app is still in its early stages but has an almost perfect rating after only being available for a few months. Thanks to all of our beta testers for helping us deliver a great initial release.
It’s important for us (and you) to take time to celebrate accomplishments and milestones. Our team knows we still have a lot of work left on building technology to support black owned businesses. The consmer’s mentailty is a focus area in our our appraoch for the new year.
Products coming in 2017 will make it easier to access and explore black owned busineses and encourage a shift in thinking:
- Black Cents – https://blackcents.com
- Black Biz Swap – stay tuned for more information on our blog
- and more to come…
We thank you all for a great 2016. We look forward to an even greater 2017. Continue to buy black and support yourself by supporting your community.