Outifi, a rising tech startup based in Orem, Utah, has launched an affordable communication platform that can be used by city managers, large and small (but especially small) to communicate with their residents simply and via text. Founded by Justin Johnson, a senior at UVU, and Ryan Ward, a BYU business school student, Outifi is a communications platform with tools and features that are typically found in software packages used by larger, more well-funded urban centers. Outifi gives smaller cities, with smaller budgets, the ability to use powerful and useful communications tools that they otherwise may not be able to afford.

Justin Johnson, Co-CEO, Outify

Co-Founders Johnson and Ward are acting as Co-CEOs. Johnson, a UVU student from Orem, Utah, has gained four years of sales experience as an account executive at TaxHive and PayLogics. Johnson shared,"I've always loved business and have met a lot of people in tech. Those experiences prepared me to want to take the leap. I wanted to start something and do something in business myself."

Ryan Ward, Co-CEO, Outifi

Ryan Ward, from Pleasant Grove, formerly interned at Kneaders Corporate and serves as a web developer at PayLogics, where he met Johnson. Ward brings a technical background to the table.

Together the co-founders identified an unmet need in the software powering communications that municipal governments use with their residents, and especially those of small, under-budgeted cities that struggle to afford the latest SaaS offerings available in the market. Recently, the two entrepreneurs joined forces to create and bootstrap Outifi.

Outifi provides a low-cost, user-friendly solution for small cities seeking to enhance resident communication. "We've given cities powerful tools to be able to map their city," stated Ward.

Outifi has found invaluable support through iHub, a non-profit organization based in Pleasant Grove, Utah, that connects entrepreneurs with a range of resources and mentoring. Through iHub, Ward and Johnson have gained crucial assistance with accounting, legal matters, and other essential aspects of running a startup.

Ward and Johnson set out to build a product targeting small municipalities that often lack the resources to invest in complex enterprise communication solutions. They developed a user-friendly, yet powerful platform that city managers can use to simplify their communication with local residents. They have shared it with many local city managers.

Outifi emphasizes simplicity. It removes unnecessary features and complex workflows and instead focuses on core functions and features most relevant to smaller cities. "It's a dual-face product; residents only will see a text, but the city sees a whole different suite of tools that are still very easy to use," explained Johnson.

Using a basic prototype cobbled together from Figma and code, they created an MVP that they could use to validate their concept. The reception from potential clients–small cities–was overwhelmingly positive, with several cities signing on before the full-strength product had been completed. This early validation allowed them to secure several beta customers, receive product feedback, and use it to refine their core offering. 

“Every city we talked to loved the idea,” stated Johnson.

As a SaaS product, Outifi operates on a subscription-based model, with cities licensing it on a monthly basis. In addition, they are exploring offering in 2025 an annual upfront payment model that would involve a discounted rate for cities preferring to pay on an annual basis.

Johnson shared some use cases of how their software can be used: "It can be used in the context of a utility emergency, such as a gas leak. Or it can be used to make an announcements about snow plowing. Or for residents to alert the city that a street light has gone out, a dangerous pothole has emerged, a road has been closed due to construction, garbage pick up has been delayed, etc. Importantly, it can be used to alert residents of any major emergency like a train derailment or a natural disaster."

Outifi's simple text messaging platform gives residents the opportunity to use a simple familiar text-based interface to communicate with city managers on a wide variety of topics. Similarly, city managers can access a simple, yet powerful backend that includes incident management and mapping tools, allowing city managers to track resident locations on maps and efficiently address issues that arise. This allows for targeted communication based on location and incident type.

Sample message a small city might send to a resident about a power outage via Outifi.

Like most young entrepreneurs starting out, Johnson and Ward have encountered challenges.

"When we first started, two other developers were helping us. They did a lot of really great work," said Ward. "But one of the biggest challenges we’ve faced is when sales cycles have proved longer than we anticipated.” Justin and Ryan said maintaining team motivation, especially when bootstrapping and facing a longer sales cycle, is one of their main challenges.

Nevertheless, Johnson and Ward are super motivated and dedicated to meeting their customer needs through their easy-to-use, affordable municipal incident management platform. The young co-founders have set ambitious goals for 2025. They aim to secure contracts with five new cities by the end of 2024 and double that number in 2025, reaching a total of ten clients.

For more information or to schedule a call with Johnson and Ward, visit Outifi's basic website here.

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