Go Getta E-Magazine launches smartphone app

After successfully launching ‘Go Getta’ in June, its creator has now taken the business/lifestyle e-magazine further into the digital realm by introducing a smartphone application to complement the publication.

Speaking with SEARCHLIGHT last Tuesday, December 13 – the day of the app’s launch – Vincentian entrepreneur Storm Gonsalves said that there had already{{more}} been 250 downloads via the Play Store (Android devices) and the App Store (Apple devices).

“I basically did everything on the app,” explained Gonsalves. “I did use a platform because I’m a basic coder, so I haven’t coded the app itself – I outsourced that to a company. But I did the layout, all the content on the app is me just going around with my camera doing the interviews.”

The 24-year-old said that in analyzing the traffic that the Go Getta website was generating, he realized that 70 per cent of his visitors were accessing the magazine from their smartphones.

“The magazine format isn’t as well-suited for smartphones. So I said why not make it easier?”

Not only does the app allow smartphone users to easier access the e-magazine’s content, it also serves as a utility to “offer other features other than entertainment”.

The Go Getta app also features an event calendar, a list of local taxi services, and a ‘Where To Eat’ section – within which he has partnered with fast food chain KFC, so that app users can view the menu then call the place and order.

A past student of the St Vincent Grammar School, Gonsalves said that he was inspired to start the e-magazine by his older brother, Camillo Gonsalves who, in his younger years, had also launched his own magazine.

“He once launched a magazine… a dancehall magazine, when he was in Jamaica. He inspired me to do it because I loved that magazine. I said I want to do something like that… for St Vincent.”

So far, Go Getta has featured local entrepreneurs, artists and entertainers, among others; and the website has already surpassed 5,000 visits per month – a feat Gonsalves considers to be one of the highlights of his journey so far.

And, like any start-up business, Go Getta has experienced a few challenges, too.

“There have been lots of rejections, but I still don’t consider that a low point… It has gotten to a point where when someone rejects me, it doesn’t affect me anymore – I’m immune to it in a sense.”

However, he did note that it is often frustrating when he has a vision of how he wants to develop his operations, but finds himself limited by his technical ability.

“That’s the hardest, most frustrating problem I have; it’s my technological ability, and as well as the technology available as well. Especially in this Caribbean context and a St Vincent context as well, where we don’t really have payment platforms and all these other tools that people in these other countries take for granted.”

Gonsalves, who holds a Bachelor’s degree in Law (London School of Economics), also acknowledged that being the son of Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves has also both positively and negatively affected how he has progressed through life.

“It’s definitely helped me and hurt me in certain regards. The way I look at it is that, if my father wasn’t my father… if he just wasn’t the man with his personality and his knowledge and his experience, I don’t think I would be where I am today,” he explained.

“So, in that aspect, I really think I owe a lot to him and my mother and everyone who has raised me.”

However, he added: “I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t some negatives that came with that position. Again, it comes back to the rejection. I am a very open person, and if you reject me based on something that is not true… it really doesn’t bother me anymore.”

The young entrepreneur also disclosed that he plans to further develop the Go Getta app by introducing a live newsfeed function, similar to that on Facebook, and to expand the information users will be able to input on their profiles.

“Then I am going to build on more features, including payments,” he declared.

“I am using this experience in St Vincent to test and tweak things… and then my ultimate goal is six months, 20,000 users and then I expand to another island and repeat.

“So, I’m definitely not just thinking of St Vincent. If this picks up, then I am going to do something that will not only appeal to the Caribbean, but also to the entire globe. I have big aspirations!”

Go Getta is available on www.gogetta.co, and has a social media presence on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. (JSV)