Logo via BarScan
Have you ever found yourself in a position in which you wanted to go to a club but had no one to go with? Or perhaps you ended up at a mundane place without having anyone to talk to?
Connor Foreman, coach of the UVic Triathlon Club, found himself in this exact position. Inspired by the movie The Social Network and his own experiences, Foreman wanted to solve this problem. So last November, to make it easier for club goers to find out about various club and bar activities taking place nearby, Foreman came up with BarScan.
BarScan is a social app that provides chat connectivity with other users, club and bar offers, reviews, and more. In explaining the app, Foreman says it’s “an idea that people will get behind,” because it will make people’s lives much easier by simplifying the whole process of narrowing down a place.
The app allows users to RSVP to a venue for an upcoming event, and view a list of other people who are also going to be there. “You can see a list of other people who are also RSVP’d,” Foreman says, “and that’s cool, because you can look at the lists and you can see if that venue is going to be poorly attended or if it’s going to be well attended, and you can see if your friends are going to be there or not.” According to Foreman, this will make it convenient for people to decide which places to go to and which places to avoid.
The app lets you look at someone and message them, so you can start making connections even before you get to the place. Foreman says that the idea behind it is to make it easier for you to continue building on that connection when you actually meet them later at the bar.
Sharing a funny conversation he had with a friend, he describes the app as being “like Tinder but better, because you don’t even have to ask her on a date because you are already going be seeing her there.”
Merchants can upload promotions such as drink specials, concerts, and discounts on the app which can be seen by users looking for a venue. “The venues are going to be able to upload promotions for users to see, so that will help people to save money if they want to and stay connected with the events that are going on in their city,” Foreman says.
The app also compiles lists of all bars or clubs along with their menus and ratings so users won’t have to visit individual websites. Foreman plans to visit all the places personally in the future to barter better deals and to provide an authentic experience to the app users.
Turning his idea into reality was an arduous undertaking for Foreman. From finding a company who can code the app as per his requirements to going through the whole process of trademarking the product, Foreman has come a long way since. Now that the development for the app is almost done, he is devoting his time to marketing the app.
“It has been challenging marketing the app,” he says. “This is my first venture into making a business so it’s kind of one of those things that you think is a good idea so it’s just going to take off really quickly but it doesn’t actually happen like that. I found it hard to get people to pay any interest in the idea…so that’s kind of the biggest hurdle to overcome.”
It’s a slow process, but the app has started to gain some momentum, and Foreman is optimistic that app will be a success when it launches in January.
For more info on BarScan, check out barscanmobileapp.wixsite.com/barscan.
