Check a Biz: Local Business Rating and Review Community
Check a Biz is a consumer-centric, Web-based ratings and review community that collects detailed rating and review information from consumers about the businesses they use and makes this information available to other consumers in that area. Check a Biz enables people to find out which businesses in their area treat their customers well and which ones dont.
Check a Biz is 100% dedicated to the consumer. It is free to use. There is no advertising. The business reviews on Check a Biz dig down into specific aspects of the reviewers experience with the business. Check a Biz gives consumers a better place to find good businesses, and a forum to voice their opinions on the businesses they use.
The Check a Biz idea was hatched in late 2004 after J. Glerum, founder of Check a Biz, had a particularly bad experience with a car dealership. Soon after formulating the initial business concept, Glerum approached Neoreef to help make his idea a reality. With the help of Neoreef, Check a Biz has created an emerging and thriving community of discerning consumers in the Boise, Idaho area. There are currently over 1,500 Check a Biz members in the area and over 1,600 local businesses have been rated on the system.
Challenges:
Check a Biz needed to:
- have advanced login features, a variety of member roles and advanced security settings on the site
- be able to manage a large and ever-changing database of member and business information
- quickly and easily create, update and modify content (i.e. text, images and functionality) to reflect member preferences
- identify and implement potential new features as soon as possible (i.e. blogs and forums)
- have all of the abovementioned features administrable in-house, with limited technical training and ability.
Success Details:
Check a Biz is a highly social and interactive web community that empowers its members to dictate what happens on the site. The Neoreef OneNet platform allows Check a Biz members to effectively call the shots when it comes to what shows up on the Check a Biz site, while the site administrator quietly and easily manages its growth from behind the scenes. Check a Bizs web site content changes every time a new business rating comes in, but this is a seamless and unnoticeable process because the underlying technical architecture provided by Neoreef accounts for and anticipates these changes. The flexibility and scalability of Neoreef OneNet has enabled Check a Biz to painlessly adapt and grow into an increasingly valuable and trusted resource for consumers.
Thanks to Neoreef, Check a Biz is pretty much the embodiment of what I had in my head for the business when I came up with the initial idea about two years ago. Better yet, the new features and functionality I have in mind for the site are well within reach, thanks to Neoreefs dedication to continuous improvement and focus on customer satisfaction. In starting an online business like Check a Biz with not much more than an idea, OneNet has helped make Check a Biz a web site that more and more people use and enjoy every day.
J. Glerum, President and Founder, Check a Biz (www.checkabiz.com)