SearchKar: Amplifying Local Business Potential in the Digital Marketplace
Panjim, Goa (India): The COVID-19 pandemic revealed a critical vulnerability for local businesses: their lack of digital presence and connectedness. During the pandemic, first-generation entrepreneur Surraj Palekar witnessed the challenges of his start-up, Lucid Trails, and founded SearchKar to empower local businesses that faced even more severe challenges. This platform connects local businesses with consumers through a digital ecosystem exclusively for these groups. “The pandemic was such a rough time for all businesses; it was especially hard for small local businesses. While everyone did their best to help, I realised these problems can be tackled effectively by increasing the online presence of these businesses.”, shared Surraj Palekar, founder of SearchKar. He added, “Social media platforms are already crowded with personal profiles and entertainment pages, making it hard for these businesses to become visible to the right audience. I realised a dedicated local market insider platform can help with these pain points.” A Local Market Insider SearchKar is an online platform that aspires to be the most preferred local market insider, uniting several local vendors and consumers. While local vendors are visible to many online customers, consumers explore local businesses, suppliers, products and services according to their needs and preferences. This way, the platform has created mutual benefits for both groups. Creating Value For All SearchKar differentiates itself from traditional digital platforms by focusing on creating a dedicated ecosystem. It is an online marketing platform for local businesses, where they do not have to compete with personal profiles, or entertainment-related digital content. The platform's Deal Segment allows businesses to showcase top offers to attract potential customers. The platform’s Community Section fosters consumer interaction to discuss queries, reviews, and other valuable insights, creating a collaborative marketplace. Empowering Local Economies SearchKar's vision extends beyond simple transactions to connecting vendors and consumers. The platform has created a trusted environment for these groups, becoming a comprehensive consumer resource while increasing local business traffic. Although SearchKar is only a month old, it already has 100+ registered businesses from Goa and many consumers. The platform aims to reach 5 Lac consumers and 10,000+ business sign-ups in Goa by March 2025. It is working towards an ecosystem exclusively for local businesses and consumers' needs, with plans to expand across India.
Panjim, Goa (India): The COVID-19 pandemic revealed a critical vulnerability for local businesses: their lack of digital presence and connectedness. During the pandemic, first-generation entrepreneur Surraj Palekar witnessed the challenges of his start-up, Lucid Trails, and founded SearchKar to empower local businesses that faced even more severe challenges. This platform connects local businesses with consumers through a digital ecosystem exclusively for these groups.
“The pandemic was such a rough time for all businesses; it was especially hard for small local businesses. While everyone did their best to help, I realised these problems can be tackled effectively by increasing the online presence of these businesses.”, shared Surraj Palekar, founder of SearchKar. He added, “Social media platforms are already crowded with personal profiles and entertainment pages, making it hard for these businesses to become visible to the right audience. I realised a dedicated local market insider platform can help with these pain points.”
A Local Market Insider
SearchKar is an online platform that aspires to be the most preferred local market insider, uniting several local vendors and consumers. While local vendors are visible to many online customers, consumers explore local businesses, suppliers, products and services according to their needs and preferences. This way, the platform has created mutual benefits for both groups.
Creating Value For All
SearchKar differentiates itself from traditional digital platforms by focusing on creating a dedicated ecosystem. It is an online marketing platform for local businesses, where they do not have to compete with personal profiles, or entertainment-related digital content. The platform's Deal Segment allows businesses to showcase top offers to attract potential customers. The platform’s Community Section fosters consumer interaction to discuss queries, reviews, and other valuable insights, creating a collaborative marketplace.
Empowering Local Economies
SearchKar's vision extends beyond simple transactions to connecting vendors and consumers. The platform has created a trusted environment for these groups, becoming a comprehensive consumer resource while increasing local business traffic.
Although SearchKar is only a month old, it already has 100+ registered businesses from Goa and many consumers. The platform aims to reach 5 Lac consumers and 10,000+ business sign-ups in Goa by March 2025. It is working towards an ecosystem exclusively for local businesses and consumers' needs, with plans to expand across India.
