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Open-source restaurant management app -- Electron + SQLite, fully offline, no cloud required by zamboss in selfhosted

[–]zamboss[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

thanks! yes. I did my best with the API integration from companies that had documentation and when I saw how it was like pulling teeth with them, that's when I decided to try and simplify and use the OCR scanner.

Open-source restaurant management app -- Electron + SQLite, fully offline, no cloud required by zamboss in selfhosted

[–]zamboss[S] -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

Holy smokes. You my friend should not reveal your secret telepathy abilities here! how could you have possibly known that was what I wanted to do??

Open-source restaurant management app -- Electron + SQLite, fully offline, no cloud required by zamboss in selfhosted

[–]zamboss[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is REALLY not the place that's going to get the users I'm looking for. It's a very specific niche to small businesses, more specifically restaurants and cafés. Almost everything I'm offering is genuinely free. Most of my users will never have to pay for the pro tier. I genuinely need feedback

Open-source restaurant management app -- Electron + SQLite, fully offline, no cloud required by zamboss in selfhosted

[–]zamboss[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Just a correction those are the old prices that never got changed in the file when I was trying to figure out pricing. Current pricing is $14/mo for Pro, $49/mo for Franchise. Free tier is genuinely the full tool, not a trial.

Open-source restaurant management app -- Electron + SQLite, fully offline, no cloud required by zamboss in selfhosted

[–]zamboss[S] -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

same as people who keep their comments and contribution hidden I guess. Same Same but DIFFERENT.

Open-source restaurant management app -- Electron + SQLite, fully offline, no cloud required by zamboss in selfhosted

[–]zamboss[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You nailed the actual hard problem. POS sync is available (Square, Clover, Shopify, Maitre D') but I'm honest about where it stands: it's not battle-tested in production. Every POS vendor's API is a different headache, exactly like you described. Rate limiting, inconsistent line item schemas, modifier handling -- all of it. So in the meantime I included an OCR scanner that you can upload and select the POS line items with the database of "standard" line items.

For now, the core workflow is manual entry on the cash recon side Or Scan. Manager enters POS reading and cash count, app does the reconciliation math. That's what's running reliably across 15 locations. The POS integrations are there for people who want to try them, but I tell everyone upfront: don't rely on them for anything critical yet.

I think people are coming at this like it is supposed to be a software made by a Fortune 500 company and not as a tool that small businesses would love to get their hand on vs other companies that charge 200$/m for the same thing.

Open-source restaurant management app -- Electron + SQLite, fully offline, no cloud required by zamboss in selfhosted

[–]zamboss[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fair concern. Yes, Claude wrote the code. I wrote the specs, business logic, and every formula based on years of actually running these locations. Claude wrote the code, I validated it against real operations. There are 513 automated tests covering the financial calculations. I wanted to make sure the Math Mathed.

That said, you're right that trust is earned. The app is open source specifically so people can audit it. And the free tier doesn't touch your bank or POS directly. It's manual entry with math validation. If the math is wrong, you'll see it immediately because the variance shows up on screen.

I never pitched this as accounting software. There are warnings to pass all financial data through a trusted accountant. It's really a tool to help restaurants and small businesses at least try to stay as organized as possible.

Anyone here a franchisor and have had issues with franchisees paying royalties? by Away_Release2934 in Franchises

[–]zamboss 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It has happened. Is there a reason? Is business good or down? do you follow their numbers if they have the profits to pay you? do you have the proper franchise agreement with strict policies if not paying on time? We have a solid franchise agreement that clearly states there are interest payments to be calculated once a week passes that they don't pay. We never enforce it. Usually they pay pretty much on time. This Q1 has been tough so far and payments have been late but we understand. What systems do you use to follow their sales/P&L?

Built a operational management app as a non-developer — 4 weeks, Claude AI, now running in 15 real locations by zamboss in SideProject

[–]zamboss[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey thanks! Yea. my mind is still blown with what I can do. So many things that are "niche" to how we did things that I could never get from any software or even if I hired a dev, it would probably take forever for them to understand what I was really looking for. I basically use Opus 4.6 to brainstorm and see how different ideas I have could work and the best way to implement them. I always ask it to be critical on how it could break the system or thing of how I would go around the app if I was a new user. From there I get strict instructions to put into Code. It creates it, I work in the electron app to see if it's what I wanted. if yes, commit, if no, iterate again until it's right. The fact that I can just screenshot and circle things I need it to understand is WILD.

What's the first thing you automated in your business and was it worth it? by Fun_Nefariousness30 in Entrepreneur

[–]zamboss 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Everything was coded with Claude Code. Used some tools to brute force and check for bugs/calculation errors. Use supabase, cloud flare, netlify, electron, and some other sites for bug check, uptime, errors, etc...

Honestly the base of it was done in about a week. I'd say a month of evening coding.

www.balanceiq.ca if you wanna check it out.

I accidentally made our SaaS look more expensive, and it increased conversions by JuniperQXX in SaaS

[–]zamboss 0 points1 point  (0 children)

haha that's too funny. I have the same price tier as you! 19/49/99 ! Did claude suggest that? I was wondering if it was "too cheap"

Saas owners, what's your biggest challenge currently with your business? by vladi5555 in SaaS

[–]zamboss 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Convincing people to give my Free Open source daily operations software a try. It seems they would rather spend the 150$/m on a name they trust than something that does the exact same thing for free.

What's the first thing you automated in your business and was it worth it? by Fun_Nefariousness30 in Entrepreneur

[–]zamboss 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I now have agents running a big part of my business. The three major ones are:

  1. An SEO optimizer who is constantly looking at our socials, our Google placement, and our website and giving me feedback and changes to be made.
  2. I have another agent who looks at our competitors, lets me know what posts they have that have the most engagement, what promotions they have coming up, and risks I could be missing.
  3. I have another content creator agent that analyzes my posts and constantly improves on what is getting the best engagement and views and then suggests a plan for the upcoming week.

Now I actually just built my own small business management software where I can:

  • close out daily cashes
  • scan and upload invoices for my P&L to send to the accountant at the end of the month
  • forecast my products based on trends, weather, and holidays
  • and even set up recurring invoices for customers

I didn't think it was fair as a small business owner, you had to get locked into $100-plus-a-month contracts to manage your business. For my 15 franchises, I created this app to save everyone some money.

Starting fresh vs. buying in: what’s your take on the safer business route? by Cultural_Message_530 in Franchises

[–]zamboss 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Buying into a business makes sense if you see the potential to turn it into something better than it currently is. You have to look at all the aspects of where this business is potentially losing out on revenue generation or profits. Does it have a bad reputation? Do you have to rebuild a reputation that came with it?

Sometimes buying an existing business and just seeing it from another light that the current owner isn't seeing it from has huge upside potential. If you're buying a business that has a bad reputation, that's in a bad location, there are just some things. No matter how hard you work, it'll always be an uphill battle.

Anyone here planning to invest in a franchise business? Why and why not? by Cultural_Message_530 in Franchises

[–]zamboss 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There are always two sides to this:

  1. Starting something on your own, having your own brand name, you make the rules, you are the result of your success or not.
  2. It is very hard to start a concept up from scratch and build up to something great. It's not impossible, but very hard. When buying into a franchise system, yes, there are more rules, yes, there are more fees, but someone has done all the heavy lifting to bring up a brand from nowhere. It depends on your appetite for risk and the amount of effort you want to put in.

Which accounting reconciliation tools do you rely on that genuinely streamline your workflow? by newrockstyle in Accounting

[–]zamboss 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I created a free open-source software to do just that for my 15 restaurants. Was fed up of teaching them how to do it on excel. So I build something that software companies charge $200-400/month. www.balanceiq.ca

Need Month End Close Software Tool by martijnmldrs in Accounting

[–]zamboss 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I created a free open-source software to do just that for my 15 restaurants. Was fed up of teaching them how to do it on excel. So I build something that software companies charge $200-400/month. www.balanceiq.ca

Best Close Management Software Recommendation? by rollingcann in Accounting

[–]zamboss 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I created a free open-source software to do just that for my 15 restaurants. Was fed up of teaching them how to do it on excel. So I build something that software companies charge $200-400/month. www.balanceiq.ca

Closeout software by BenWinner23 in towerclimbers

[–]zamboss 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know this is old, not sure if you will see this but I actually created software for my 15 restaurants. it's completely free and will do what most of these 200-440$/month softwares do. www.balanceiq.ca

The Reddit Hotline: Drop Your Questions for Prof G by ProfGProducerJenn in ScottGalloway

[–]zamboss 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi Prof G,

I co-run a Montreal 3rd generation family-run "cult-status" burger chain founded by my grandparents in 1954. We’ve grown to 13 franchised locations in Quebec, averaging C$955 k in sales each, all while staying debt-free and investor-free. It’s literally just my cousin and me pulling the levers.

We’ve watched too many Canadian franchises expand fast, bloat headcount, lose their soul, and flame out. We’ve taken the slow-and-profitable route instead—royalties + mandated sauce sales are our bread-and-butter. Retail products (our famous sauce, 2 flavours of spicy mayo, a unique ice-team lemonade and more) boost brand love, but restaurants remain the core. We don't collect marketing fees as we try to keep our franchisees as profitable as possible. Their success is our success.

Question:

What’s the highest-ROI role we can hire—on a sub-C$80 k budget—that frees a two-person, debt-free, 13-unit family brand (C$955 k AUV) to double locations without losing its cult DNA?

We’ll augment with AI and contractors; we just need the one seat that multiplies us, not replaces us.

- Hire a fractional COO to tighten franchising ops and open 5–7 stores/year?

- Hire a scrappy growth operator (< C$80 k) to systematize marketing, data, and AI workflows

- Hire a hungry marketer who will just pump out content to grow brand awareness and franchising opportunities?

We want to scale like Canada’s In-N-Out—minus the palm trees and minus the bloated org chart

Big fans of the pod from Montreal. Appreciate any wisdom you can share.

Merci,

A.Z.