Development of a User-Centric Business Needs Assessment and Research Platform for Underrepresented Entrepreneurs

Underfunded small businesses, especially women-owned enterprises with annual revenues under $1 million, face systemic discrimination, outdated banking systems, and limited access to growth capital. These barriers hinder their ability to start, grow, and sustain their businesses, compounded by low engagement with existing financial and research tools.

A startup focused on empowering underfunded small and medium-sized enterprises, particularly women-owned businesses, by providing tools for market research and access to finance.

• Validate the needs and perceptions of underfunded and women-owned small businesses regarding financial services and business growth challenges.
• Identify specific pain points related to discrimination, banking system navigation, and access to capital.
• Develop detailed user personas and early adopter profiles to guide product development.
• Establish a scalable, in-house user research process to continuously gather insights from target users.
• Define the scope and guidelines for the minimum viable product (MVP) based on user needs and feedback.
• Enhance understanding of entrepreneurs’ mental models, financial attitudes, and expectations around online banking.

• Participant Recruitment Module leveraging external outreach channels to ensure diverse and responsive user participation.
• Interview Management System for scheduling, conducting, and recording in-depth interviews with target users.
• Analysis Dashboard for synthesizing qualitative insights, identifying patterns, and developing user personas.
• Collaboration Tools for team discussions, idea mapping, and feedback integration during research activities.
• Reporting Engine generating detailed reports on user needs, profiles, mental models, and sentiment analysis.
• Training Modules embedded within the platform to support ongoing capability development of internal research teams.

• Recruitment channels for participant sourcing
• Video conferencing tools for conducting interviews
• Data storage solutions for research data management
• Reporting and visualization tools

• Scalable architecture supporting increasing user base and research volume
• Data security and privacy compliance (e.g., GDPR, CCPA)
• High system availability with 99.9% uptime
• Responsive design for accessibility on various devices
• User-friendly interface for researchers and internal teams

By establishing a robust user research platform, the client aims to better understand the unique needs of underserved and women-owned small businesses, enabling targeted product development. This will facilitate the creation of tailored financial products and tools, increase engagement among underrepresented entrepreneurs, and ultimately improve access to growth capital. The project is expected to enhance the accuracy of user personas, support continuous insight gathering, and accelerate the development of impactful financial solutions, leading to increased market relevance and potential growth in underserved segments.