TAMPA, Fla (WFLA) – At a time when many small businesses are struggling to survive the challenges of a pandemic, one Tampa Bay man is turning what he has learned during the past year and a half and started his own business.
Quinton Moultrie enjoys what he does. What started as a temporary job with Shipt, a delivery service, became his passion.
“So after five years, I reached 13,000 shops and deliveries with Shipt,” Moultrie said.
Things picked up for him during the pandemic, as it did for similar services.
“A lightbulb went off in my head,” he said. “I said if I can do this going through someone else, it’s a means for me to do it for myself and have more of a neighborhood feeling, a neighborhood touch. I call them QDS families.”
Q Delivery Solutions started nearly five months ago, and Moultrie said he is already seeing success with 100 clients and 45 repeat clients. He’s able to branch out because of a new platform called Dumpling. It’s an app that allows his customers to shop, connect, and place orders.
He’s able to run his small business and provide something the big delivery services can’t.
“I wanted an avenue that I could take where I was able to give families the same benefit, but one thing I was able to do, I don’t have any in-store mark-ups. So my families pay whatever the in-store prices are,” Moultrie said.
Platforms like Dumpling could be what creates more competition in the delivery service scene, giving people the chance to create small businesses and better prices and service for customers in their neighborhood.
“The sky’s the limit. What I would like to do is that I’m starting off small, and I would like to continue to grow my business,” he said.
Being small also allows him to know his families and their order, Moultrie said. He said things will only get better as technology improves.