This coming weekend, @IntuitDev will join other sponsors at the Developer Week Hackathon. The conference organizers expect as many as 1000 developers to come to this hack, and there are so many challenges vying for their coding brilliance, I imagine it will be somewhat daunting to choose among them!
We’re challenging devs to create an app that “radically improves the lives of small business owners by using the QuickBooks Online API”. If you are already an Intuit Developer, that probably makes perfect sense to you.
But if you are new to our platform, like many of the DevWeek Hack devs are likely to be, what does that mean?
Did you know that the average small business uses 18+ apps to keep things organized and running? It’s obvious, then, how an app developer can benefit from being part of that ecosystem. And if a dev can figure out how to turn 2 or 3 of those 18 apps into 1, and integrate it seamlessly with the accounting core in QuickBooks Online, how much simpler have you made that business owner’s life? That’s a clear win for the developer and for the biz owner.
So what are some ideas for small biz apps that would be great candidates to integrate with QuickBooks Online? Join us at this week’s Friday Google Hangout to learn about the QuickBooks ecosystem and brainstorm ideas. In the meantime, here are some ideas to spark your creativity:
Niche Offering – When I say “niche” offering, I think of apps like powerpetsitter.com. A whole business built around streamlining how pet-sitting companies manage their clients and accounts while on the go. This particular app integrates with QBO and has a huge customer base. Who would have thought? Can you think of another small niche “industry” that does not have its own specific solution yet? How about a small café solution? a tow truck business? a dental practice? a hair salon? a tattoo parlor? a farmer’s market vendor? You get the idea.
Do Customer Research – Do you know an accountant or two? Ask them what kind of tools they wish they had to help them run their practice more easily. Stop by a local small business and ask the owners what apps they wish they had to ease the business of running a business. Then build it.
Non-Profits – There already are some QBO apps focused on non-profit organizations, but there’s room for plenty more. Donor management, tax receipt processing, fundraising campaigns — these are all areas where apps can help non-profits save time and money so that more of the donations go to the cause instead of overhead.
Point Of Sale Integration – There are plenty of POS solutions out there, but not all of them integrate with QuickBooks Online. Can you find a POS with an open API, or reach out and offer to partner with them? If you can, then this might be an interesting opportunity for you.
Customer Social Tool – QuickBooks Online customers like the customer management features inside of QBO. Can you come up with a tool to help small businesses manage their customer base through social media? How about a tool that pulls in tweets or posts and loads the info into QBO for future reference? Or maybe a syncing tool that will join social accounts with existing customer information?
Those are just a few ideas. I hope they got your creative juices flowing! Meantime, while you’re still thinking or if you’ve already settled on your idea for this hackathon challenge, check out how you can get up and running pretty quickly building cool solutions on the QuickBooks platform. We think we’ve got just about everything you need at developer.intuit.com.
Can’t wait to see what you all come up with!
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