The Mission of LEKEF.com
Our Mission: Building Relationships and Connections.
Our Values: Trust. Transparency. Collaboration. Respect.
Our Practices: LEKEF.com is an Open Platform committed to connecting sellers, creators, distributors, and consumers from around the world to foster community-centered practices and strengthen local economies.
LEKEF.com stands out because of its strong commitment to promoting local economies and independent producers. The products, services, and entities listed on LEKEF.com Platform is reviewed and approved by a human. It is not a database for business from around the world. It is a place for listing local businesses that support their local communities in at least two ways:
1. Provide goods and services directly and exclusively to their local communities, and/or
2. Sell goods and services worldwide but provide for their local communities through sustainable investment and stewardship over local human and natural resources.
If a business or a product does not meet one of these conditions, it will not be listed on LEKEF.com. Producers, business owners, and consumers who believes in these values and practices them, are welcome to submit a listing for review.
LEKEF.com’s focus is on connections and collaboration among sellers, creators, and buyers. LEKEF.com empowers these communities to remain autonomous, never to take a slice of their income through listing fees, software and application purchase, and monetization of their content. Instead, LEKEF.com encourages sellers, creators, and distributors to build their own spaces, their own applications, and keep track of their clients and supporters and members of the communities they serve and live in. LEKEF.com’s function is to provide a Marketspace where sellers and creators see each other in complementary and collaborative terms, not competitive context.
LEKEF.com screen sellers and creators to make sure that the products and service enhance the marketplace for the community and that their practices are based on sustainable, ethical norms.
On LEKEF.com Platform, sellers, creators, and buyers trust LEKEF.com to deliver on the following:
. No listing fees
. No monthly store fees
. No membership fees
. No manipulation of algorithms for search results
. No control over your data: you have full control over your listing; you update it anytime to drive interested buyers to your own store where you handle all transactions and manage all the data related to your transactions. No data is kept on the Platform and no wall is built between you and your customers, clients, members, and supporters.
How does LEKEF.com make money then, you may ask,?
For transparency, LEKEF.com does not make money in the same scheme used by the typical online business model, which, generally, consists of offering a tool or space for sellers/creators and then make profit from the work of the sellers/creators who use the tool or space–profiting from every transaction. In contrast, money made by LEKEF.com is not tied to money made on the Platform. LEKEF.com benefits and sustains itself from the incidental use of the Platform not for the work of the users of the Platform. That is, it generates income to sustain the Platform independent of the work and profit of the communities that use it.
Think of it as the old-fashioned community space that brings people together for the fair exchange of goods and services for their mutual benefit. The Platform is supported through income generated from consulting work, featured listings, referrals, and third-party advertising placements. Aware that advertising can be intrusive and a threat to privacy, our plan is that, with more support from the community of users through featured listings and display ads from members of LEKEF.com, LEKEF.com will be able to discontinue running third-party ads.
These diverse options for sustaining the Platform allow LEKEF.com to be financially independent of the revenues made by listed businesses and independent providers. This structure allows LEKEF.com to be transparent and to allow all information to be equally weighed when a consumer searches for them. In other words, we do not use algorithms to manipulate listings and we don’t sell our own products that can be prioritized over community listings on the same Platform. A search for an item on this Platform is as good as the keywords entered by the creator, seller or consumer when they listed the item and as entered by the buyer when they search for it.
LEKEF.com aims to help local businesses and organizations connect and collaborate with each other and with the communities they serve. LEKEF.com enables community members to find local resources AND to collaborate with like-minded individuals and businesses to network for their mutual benefit.
The first step members of local communities and providers of goods and services can do is to build some online presence–a simple website with simple eCommerce tools–that would allow them to transact online and share resources. Once a seller/producer creates an online shop, they come back here and list the shop or individual items on LEKEF.com Platform.
Reviewers Wanted: Local individuals are encouraged to take part in this rewarding and unique project, apply to be a Reviewer or submit your review of a product or business that is already listed.
Advisory Board Membership: Every two years, we welcome new individuals to sit (virtually that is) on the Advosiry Board of the Patfrom. These individuals help develop and promote our vision related to equitable practices, sustainability, collaboration, and networking. If interested, please reach out.
There are several providers that offer economical or free online space and tools to start a personal or business website.
Resources for building your own online presence:
> With Ecwid, you can start selling for free and upgrade when you start selling more products. Ecwid provides online space, online store template, and shopping cart.
> Free and paid websites and websites hosting: WordPress (free and paid); and Blogger (free)
> Specialized managed and unmanaged hosting A2 Website Hosting (Paid)
> eCommerce Platforms: WooCommerce (free if you have WordPress site)
> Global and regional Payment Processing Services (List includes Blockchain Payment Solutions)
Learn the basics about Equity and the Digital Economy.
Want to partner with us?
> If you are interested in partnering with us, please reach out.
Have questions, please find answers in our FAQ, or reach out to us.