William Ward
Flexie – SEED Spring 2024
Published December 11, 2024
As part of our ‘Meet Our Founders’ series today, we introduce William Ward, CEO of Flexie based in Charlotte, NC. Flexie connects fast-food restaurants to a pool of vetted and reliable workers in seconds.
Q: What problem are you trying to solve and what influenced you to start your company?
A: We are helping fast-food restaurants overcome staffing challenges. The service industry struggles to find and keep reliable workers, primarily impacting fast-food restaurants with over 100% staff turnover.
Current staffing solutions are expensive, inconsistent, and time-consuming. As a result, restaurants lose 5-20% of daily sales and incur huge labor costs due to staff shortages and high turnover. Flexie provides a solution that connects restaurants to a pool of screened and reliable workers in seconds. Think of Flexie as the “Uber for fast food. We help restaurants efficiently staff peak-hour shifts, increase sales, and reduce labor costs. Our proven solution has helped owners at national brands like Chick-fil-A and McDonald’s fill over 5,000 shifts while generating over $200K in the last 12 months.
I started Flexie to use technology to bring meaning to people’s lives while helping solve real business problems. As a team of war survivors, refugees, and immigrants, we deeply understand our users’ needs, so we incorporate life-enhancing features like health insurance and financial literacy on the platform. We also include a Pathways product, which provides meaningful opportunities that empower people to succeed, thrive, and live the American dream.
Q: What are you most excited about right now? What keeps you up at night?
A: I am mostly excited about the changes Flexie is making in people’s lives! Flexie does more than connect people to fast-food jobs. Our real success is the impact on hundreds of students, immigrants, and everyday people, helping them get their first jobs and meet daily financial needs.
What keeps me up at night is how we can get the resources to expedite scaling Flexie so that more people can be impacted. Building a startup is difficult and takes a while but with the right resources, things could move a bit faster.
Q: How will your NC IDEA grant funds advance your company?
A: NC IDEA’s partnership has been pivotal in Flexie’s growth and achievements, starting with the MICRO grant. NC IDEA’s funding and mentorship have helped refine our focus and strategy, improving how we approach customer engagement and acquisition. The recent SEED grant is already helping to expedite Flexie’s customer acquisition process, and will be critical to helping us scale.
Q: What have you enjoyed most about starting your own company?
A: I have mostly enjoyed bringing a concept from just an idea to a product that serves real customers. Starting a company comes with lots of challenges and requires unwavering commitment. However, it has been very rewarding and enjoyable to see how things shaped over time: all the hard lessons learned, all the mistakes that turned into opportunities, but most amazingly, all the relationships and connections made along the way!
While visiting Charlotte, William recommends:
- Hard choice! The things to do around Charlotte are becoming limitless! I’d suggest a few attractions in and around Charlotte, depending on the visitor’s preference. If you are traveling with family, you’d find the Nascar Hall of Fame, the U.S. National Whitewater Center, or the Discovery Place quite amusing. For nightlife experience, I’d recommend the AvidXchange Music Factory, which has a rich variety of entertainment places.Places to eat is also a tough choice! Angeline’s is one of my favorites. I’d also recommend Calle Sol and Que Onda as great choices for Mexican or AmiMya for Latin dishes. For quick bites and a street food experience, the Optimist Hall has variety.
Support Flexie and William by:
- Help get the word out. We’re targeting multi-franchise fast-food restaurant owners with staffing challenges and seeking new staffing options. If you know of franchise owners who can use the service, please make an intro. We are also seeking early-stage advisors and investors.
