Redesigning the City of Austin’s Small Business Program
The Opportunity: The City of Austin’s Small Business Program serves thousands of people each year, helping aspiring business owners achieve their dreams. But the number of people who receive training and coaching far exceeds those who actually launch a business. The goal of this project was to find ways to increase the number of successful small businesses launched by the City of Austin’s Small Business Program.
The Outcome: Created a recommended sequence of progression through program courses in an effort to reduce participant uncertainty. Recommended implementation of group cohorts to strengthen collaboration and introduction of classes focused on improving public speaking and networking skills.
Research
We spoke with eight aspiring business owners, one successful entrepreneur, and nine counselors working with the City of Austin to promote small business creation.
We also attended four of the city’s many classes to understand how information is delivered and business owners are helped.
Speaking with these groups helped us to identify common problems that first-time business owners face and the way that counselors work to support them. By researching both perspectives, we identified gaps between what counselors expected business owners to know and do and what the program participants actually thought and felt.
Speaking with a successful business owner helped us to understand areas where program support was missing and ways that participants could overcome their challenges.
My Teammates: Vickie Valadez and Zina Semenova
My Role: research, design strategy, synthesis, ideation, content strategy
- Conducted 90- to 120-minute interviews
9 business owners
9 counselors - Attended 4 Small Business Program courses
- Conducted 3 meetings with Small Business Program coordinators
- Created concept models and improved categorization for program courses
- Recommended additional courses to support participants' unaddressed skill gaps
Small Business Program classes, programs and resources
Nearly 50 programs, classes and resources were presented at BizAid Orientation, the Small Business Program’s initial course.
Despite more than 10,000 hours of training and coaching, only 14 businesses were created by mid 2019.
2019 Small Business Program mid-year statistics
Discovery &
Synthesis
We learned that participants often feel overwhelmed by the Small Business Program. The program presents nearly 50 classes, programs, and resources, but there is no recommended sequence to using them. One participant, Kate, completed nine courses before taking BizAid Orientation, which should be taken first. Although she had been taking courses for a year, she still did not feel ready to start her business.
“I don’t know the middle process exactly. And that’s what really makes me nervous.”
—Kate, aspiring school catalog business owner
The Small Business Program puts participants in touch with counselors who provide one-on-one support. But many people we spoke to felt it was difficult to connect with their counselors, and counselors reported feeling stressed by the need to respond immediately to any and all requests.
This system of top-down instruction and one-on-one mentorship often left aspiring business owners feeling uncertain and defeated. Those who found success did so by connecting with peers and building support networks to learn together, encourage each other, and hold each other accountable.
But many program participants shied away from networking. Most expressed anxiety and told us they avoided networking events. The vulnerability of starting a new business made it difficult for them to feel confident enough to talk about it with others.
“Joining some kind of group to ensure accountability and to help you start to grow your network…that was really the catalyst for me going off.”
—Esteban, education and tech company founder
“There's still a little bit of anxiety any time you reach out to someone. It's like, they're too busy, or they're gonna think this is dumb.”
—Claudia, aspiring mindfulness coach
Design
Recommendations
1. The Small Business Program should be structured to progressively build skills and knowledge in a recommended sequence.
We identified categories in which we could group classes together. Then, we prioritized the steps in which these subject areas should be learned. The framework we suggested can be found below.
Categorical grouping of Small Business Program classes in our recommended sequence
2. The Small Business Program should be organized to strengthen peer accountability and group support.
Our recommendations included the creation of group cohorts to build peer support, foster collaboration and ensure greater accountability. By encouraging classmates to stay together as a group when they meet in BizAid Orientation, participants can begin to develop the community they need to learn from each other and hold each other accountable for their progress.
Recommended framework with group cohort and additional public speaking and networking opportunities
3. The Small Business Program should help participants become confident in their public speaking and networking abilities.
We recommended that new classes be created specifically to help participants become more comfortable and confident when speaking in groups. Many expressed anxiety when thinking of networking events or telling new people about their business ideas. Helping them to feel more comfortable talking to people will strengthen their networking abilities and help them to grow their business.