1-5 Years in Operation Finalist: QR Pro

The business card – very little has changed about the format since its introduction into society, but today it has become a $10 billion industry. In an industry where 80 percent of its product is thrown away without fulfilling its intended purpose, QR Pro co-founder Jeremy Bartley intends to make a change.

The two-year old Nixa-based startup is bringing the business card – the original social networking tool – into the digital age. Its subscription-based OneCard can be shared just like a common card, but via text, email, quick-response code or custom URLs. From its virtual home in the cloud, the card is then accessible via smartphone, tablet or computer. However, instead of basic contact information, users share a portal to their total online presence – what Bartley calls your personal hub – which includes detailed personal and/or business information, integrating real-time updates from users’ LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Yelp or other social media profiles.

“We fully expect for this to replace paper business cards within the next few years,” he says.

In the 18 months since their 2011 launch, Bartley and co-founders Aaron Owens and Josh Willis have built an area client base that includes 300 individual and business subscribers.  Bringing together their shared experience in programming, new media, digital branding and marketing, the trio has created a product to compete with a handful of nationwide companies breaking the same ground.

“There is no market leader right now,” Bartley says of the dozen or so competitors. “Just a bunch of scattered ideas. Instead of just trying to push our idea that fulfills one small need, we’re focused on developing a standard, the definitive format of ‘This is what a digital business card will be and do in the future.’”

Owners say QR Pro’s product is the most versatile on the market, offering a buffet-style ability to pick and choose from up to 30 supported social media sites. Job-seeking users can include a basic resume as part of their profile, which is attached to their contact. Still, as logical as the idea seems, the owners say early reports indicate sluggish adoption of digital business cards, even amongst the tech-minded millennial generation. Bartley says that shifting such a deep-rooted paradigm will definitely take time and predicts a major corporate endorsement may be necessary to draw attention to the product potential.

“We are currently pursuing a partnership with a business supply chain and mail-order printer of traditional business cards,” he says. “It would be just a 100-store trial to start, but that would be a huge first step toward wider acceptance.”  

While that development is far from a done deal, QR Pro continues to move forward,  introducing a scaled-down free trial version of OneCard on June 10.

In addition to its own crowdfunding effort to underwrite development of the virtual OneCard wallet, QR Pro is also partnering with Springfield-based CrowdIt.com to provide a complementary OneCard to online fundraising company’s clients. The free three-month trial includes a profile built around the individual’s CrowdIt page, Bartley says, allowing consistent messaging across multiple channels.

The partners also have been integral proponents of the current movement to bring widespread broadband Internet access to Nixa. Besides the economic boost Bartley says such connectivity would bring, the measure is necessary to make sure other digital entrepreneurs have the resources to develop products and services here at home.

“We have great talent in our area, and educational programs to grow that talent,” Bartley says. “But talent and training are wasted if people leave the area.”[[In-content Ad]]