Authors - Ankita Manohar Walawalkar, Chun-Wei Remen Lin, Suman Kumar, Ming-Yen Wang Abstract - The growing dependence on digital platforms for service discovery has revealed a substantial visibility gap for local businesses and independent service providers. Skilled professionals, in-cluding electricians, beauticians, bakers, tutors, mechanics, tailors, and photographers, frequently encounter challenges in reaching potential customers due to limited marketing expertise, financial barriers, and the lack of an integrated digital marketplace. This study introduces SkillBizz, a mo-bile platform intended to connect local service providers and businesses with nearby users through a community-driven, location-aware interface. The application features a scrollable home feed that prioritizes services and businesses based on geographical proximity, allowing users to refine their results using filters such as service category, budget range, distance, and popularity. Service providers can promote their offerings through multimedia posts that highlight services, offers, and announcements, while users engage through familiar social media features, including likes, comments, saves, and shares. By facilitating free and organic visibility without reliance on paid advertising, SkillBizz aims to support local entrepreneurship and foster trust-based service discovery. The proposed platform aims to create a digital marketplace that seeks to enhance com-munity engagement, improve service accessibility, and promote sustainable economic growth. In a short survey, students rated the app’s ease of navigation and overall usefulness highly, with an average satisfaction score of 4.5/5, indicating strong acceptance and positive user experience. Shop owners noted that the app provides an easy way to share product updates, promotions, and service news directly with local customers, with 80% expressing interest in continued usage due to time-saving benefits and improved customer reach.
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