The City of Mobile, AL removes complexity from business assistance using Qwally.
Along the beautiful Gulf Coast of Alabama, the City of Mobile has removed complexity from City processes with its upgraded Work With Mobile platform. In a strategic move to focus efforts on small and disadvantaged businesses, the City’s Office of Supplier Diversity turned to Qwally to scale its business assistance programs, including help:
- Starting a business
- Working with the City on bids and RFPs
- Getting certified
- Starting a development project
- Getting Section 3 Employer Certified
- Applying for a Micro-enterprise loan
- Connecting to business support resources
Here’s how the City transformed its manual 8am to 5pm business support into an automated 24/7 assistance platform optimized for small and disadvantaged businesses.
The Challenge
Let’s be honest – Government is confusing!
Businesses get lost in the strict laws, overlapping rules, and complex internal policies from half a dozen departments. An average business owner will become frustrated and think that the City isn’t business-friendly.
"Small or disadvantaged business owners required extra hand-holding. There are thousands of small and disadvantaged businesses in Mobile, AL."
It’s the “City Hall Shuffle.” Business owners hop from department to department, gathering requirements and guidance to accomplish their goals. A small business owner quickly realizes that whatever they are trying to do, they aren’t doing it in the time they hoped. Layer in required forms, program applications, document submittals, and other tasks and you have a recipe for disaster for your small business community.
The City of Mobile’s Office of Supplier Diversity, led by Archqniue Kidd, understands this challenge well. Emails, phone calls, and in-person visits dominated her office's support efforts. Kidd observed that larger businesses rarely needed much support, while small or disadvantaged business owners required extra hand-holding. There are thousands of small and disadvantaged businesses in Mobile, AL.
There had to be a better, faster, and smarter way to engage businesses of all shapes and sizes.
The Solution
With Qwally, the City launched the Work With Mobile platform, an innovative tool where any business owner can generate a personalized checklist of tasks they need from start to finish. Overnight, the City turned the “City Hall Shuffle” into a 3-minute process. Accessible to every business with an internet connection, simplified guidance and step-by-step tasks for starting a business, contracting with the City, and more are just a few clicks away.
"Qwally took the complexities out of our process. It takes the small business owner from start to finish, and directs them exactly where they need to be."
- Archnique Kidd, Supplier Diversity Director, City of Mobile, AL
Qwally Checklists personalize each step for businesses based on their input. For example, a business requiring a physical location will receive different tasks than an at-home business.
Creating a personalized checklist in Qwally using Work With Mobile
Before and After Qwally:
- Starting a Business
- Before Qwally: Entrepreneurs skip their day jobs to bounce between departments finding answers, getting lost and frustrated.
- After Qwally: Entrepreneurs search Google after work and find guidance, contact information, policies, applications, and more, all in order, and all in one place.
- Contracting with the City
- Before Qwally: A business finds the Office of Supplier Diversity webpage, contacts via call, email, or schedules an appointment, answers a bunch of questions, and receives personalized assistance.
- After Qwally: A business completes an intake survey within 3 minutes and receives personalized steps for how to become a vendor, when to consider subcontracting, how to write a capabilities statement, and more.
Qwally acts as a central access point, guiding businesses through the complexities of city processes and ensuring a smoother journey. “Qwally took the complexities out of our process,” Kidd explains. “It takes the small business owner from start to finish, and directs them exactly where they need to be.”
Other popular features in the Work With Mobile site include:
- Plain Language Guides: Helps businesses research complex processes without committing to submitting any information.
- Resource Library: A filterable reference of programs and services available to your business community.
- CRM: Stores business information, requests, interactions, notes, referrals, and more into a single database for safekeeping.
- Application Management: Equips Mobile program managers to scale applications for their Micro-Enterprise Loan Program, Section 3 Employer Certification, and more.
- Progress Tracking: Allows both businesses and City support staff to monitor tasks and application statuses together.
- Data Analytics: Provides real-time data and visualizations for progress reporting.
The Impact
Since its introduction, Work With Mobile has markedly improved the efficiency of Mobile’s processes. The platform has registered over 350 new vendors in its first year, significantly increasing engagement from minority and women-owned businesses. The rate of city contracts awarded to these firms jumped from 7% to 12% —a testament to the platform's effectiveness.
"The response from the community has been overwhelmingly positive," Kidd remarks. "Not only are we seeing more businesses engage with the city, but they're also experiencing real growth and development thanks to the enhanced support and resources available."
The Future
Looking ahead, Mobile plans to further expand the capabilities of the Work With Mobile platform. Upcoming features include enhanced document management tools and additional support mechanisms designed to foster deeper engagement and participation.
Kidd is optimistic about the future: "We're just getting started. As we continue to refine and enhance Work With Mobile, we'll unlock even more potential for our city's businesses. It's about building a community where everyone has the opportunity to thrive."
About Qwally
Qwally enables more wonderfully vibrant business communities through an approachable Business Engagement Platform. Qwally scales business support, ensuring Cities and Economic Development professionals are equipped to manage requests, referrals, navigation, and feedback from businesses, providing better, faster, and smarter business assistance.
