QuoteJetty is supposedly to be my first RoR application, but somehow as I was developing it, questions were surfacing about the viability of this idea. So after some deep thinking and inputs from friends, I’ve decided to put a stop to QuoteJetty development indefinitely.

The main consideration for doing this is because, it is a new concept, it is about changing a company’s procurement process to be always open. We are talking about changing the mindset and habit as well, and it needs participation from purchasers and suppliers as a whole to make it work. To cut it short, it needs lots of publicity and marketing. And sadly, I don’t own Straits Times, so I will not be able to market it like STOMP.

And not to put QuoteJetty to waste, I’ve decided to move on with my initial plan, which is to develop a simple and user friendly jobsite for Singapore. I am always afraid to sign up for a jobsite due to the abundance of information they need me to fill up. Come on, it’s hard enough not to have a job, so make it more difficult for us. So it will be named JobJetty, and let it be a more pleasant way to find a job.

Just completed a re-design of QuoteJetty pre-release page.

I was aiming for a consistent look and feel and similar colour schemes with the final QuoteJetty design. It is also neater and fresher compared to the previous one with black background.

QuoteJetty is the other project that I am working on. It is an e-procurement site for local businesses and companies. A place where your can submit your procurement needs to to a pool of local suppliers.

You may have heard of Gebiz, Singapore’s government e-procurement portal, which has saved the government millions of dollars. It gets the suppliers to participate in a fee market place by submitting their quotes and getting the best offer for their procurement needs, which is very good. But what’s missing is the procurement site for the private businesses and companies in Singapore.

Once, I wanted to print a set of bookmarks for my Toastmaster club. I had never done any commercial printing before, so I digged out my dusty outdated yellowpages; lost in the long list of suppliers, I called up some of my friends, but most of them were not sure either. I ended up calling some randomly picked printing shops; and to my suprise, there was quite a big gap in their quotes.

During that time, I wished if there is an e-procurement site in Singapore where I can just post an invitation to quote to print the bookmark. It would be nice if there is also some kind of indicators to show if the suppliers were commended by their previous customers. This will help me to decide which company I should engage, well, even if they can be slightly more expensive, but at least I know that they are good.

So, I wasted a couple of hours, I tried my luck with a printing company; and I was still not sure if I was getting the best deal, or at least a better deal.

QuoteJetty tries to solve this problem, it will be a place for Singapore’s private businesses and companies to submit their quotation requests, respond to quotations, and commend good suppliers.

QuoteJetty can help you to save some money in your procurement needs, and it can also be a place to look for new business opportunities. Well, Gebiz serves the government procurement needs, and QuoteJetty will serve the private sector, except it is going to be simpler and more user friendly.

So keep a lookout for its BETA release, the registration is FREE with a limited number of quotations per month. Register your email now to be notified for its BETA release.