SMSteadyPay

SMS-based backup for HR payroll and attendance – reliable even without internet.

Score: 7.8/10GhanaMedium BuildReady to Spawn
Brand Colors

The Opportunity

Problem

Ghanaian businesses face frequent downtimes in cloud-based HRTech platforms for payroll and attendance tracking due to unreliable internet infrastructure.

Solution

SMSteadyPay lets employees send attendance via SMS (e.g., 'IN 0801234567') and managers approve payroll adjustments similarly. All data aggregates in a dashboard that syncs to your main HR platform via API when online. Perfect for Ghana's robust mobile networks during cloud downtimes.

Target Audience

Ghanaian businesses using cloud-based HRTech platforms for payroll and attendance tracking

Differentiator

SMS/USSD primary input channel, leveraging 95% mobile penetration in Ghana over spotty internet.

Brand Voice

friendly

Features

SMS Attendance Logging

must-have25h

Parse employee SMS for check-in/out.

Payroll SMS Commands

must-have20h

Approve/overtime via SMS replies.

Dashboard Aggregation

must-have15h

View all SMS data in web dashboard.

Auto-Sync to HR Platforms

must-have25h

Push data to Taro/Staffwise APIs.

Employee Phone Registry

must-have10h

Manage phone numbers & mappings.

USSD Menu Support

must-have18h

Interactive USSD for low-data areas.

Bulk SMS Reports

nice-to-have12h

Send daily summaries to managers.

Voice Call Logging

nice-to-have20h

IVR for attendance via phone call.

Compliance Audit Logs

nice-to-have10h

Track all SMS interactions.

Predictive Analytics

future30h

Absence pattern alerts.

Total Build Time: 185 hours

Database Schema

users

ColumnTypeNullable
iduuidNo
emailtextNo
business_iduuidNo
created_attimestampNo

Relationships:

  • business_id -> businesses.id

businesses

ColumnTypeNullable
iduuidNo
nametextNo
sms_shortcodetextNo
hr_platform_urltextYes

employees

ColumnTypeNullable
iduuidNo
business_iduuidNo
nametextNo
phonetextNo

Relationships:

  • business_id -> businesses.id

sms_logs

ColumnTypeNullable
iduuidNo
employee_iduuidNo
typetextNo
timestamptimestampNo
syncedboolNo

Relationships:

  • employee_id -> employees.id

payrolls

ColumnTypeNullable
iduuidNo
business_iduuidNo
approval_codetextNo
amount_adjustintYes

Relationships:

  • business_id -> businesses.id

API Endpoints

POST
/api/sms/inbound

Twilio webhook for incoming SMS

POST
/api/employees

Add employee phone

🔒 Auth Required
GET
/api/dashboard

Fetch aggregated logs

🔒 Auth Required
POST
/api/sync-hr

Push to external HR API

🔒 Auth Required
GET
/api/reports

Daily SMS summary

🔒 Auth Required

Tech Stack

Frontend
Next.js 14 + Tailwind + shadcn/ui
Backend
Next.js API + Supabase Edge Functions
Database
Supabase Postgres
Auth
Supabase Auth
Payments
Stripe
Hosting
Vercel
Additional Tools
Twilio for SMS/USSD

Build Timeline

Week 1: SMS core & auth

40h
  • Twilio webhook
  • User/business setup
  • Phone registry

Week 2: Inbound parsing

40h
  • SMS parser for attendance/pay
  • Dashboard UI

Week 3: Sync & USSD

40h
  • HR API sync
  • USSD menu prototype

Week 4: Reports & polish

30h
  • Bulk SMS out
  • Mobile dashboard

Week 5: Payments & test

25h
  • Stripe
  • End-to-end SMS tests
Total Timeline: 5 weeks • 175 hours

Pricing Tiers

Free

$0/mo

100 SMS/mo, no sync

  • Up to 10 employees
  • Basic SMS attendance

Pro

$35/mo

1 shortcode

  • 50 employees
  • Payroll SMS
  • HR sync
  • Unlimited SMS

Enterprise

$99/mo

None

  • Unlimited
  • USSD
  • Voice IVR
  • Custom integrations

Revenue Projections

MonthUsersConversionMRRARR
Month 1804%$140$1,680
Month 65007%$1,225$14,700

Unit Economics

$30
CAC
$550
LTV
6%
Churn
82%
Margin
LTV:CAC Ratio: 18.3xExcellent!

Landing Page Copy

HR That Works via SMS – No Internet Needed in Ghana

Employees text attendance, managers approve payroll. Syncs to your cloud HR when back online.

Feature Highlights

SMS check-in/out
Instant confirmations
Dashboard overview
Auto-sync
Affordable SMS rates

Social Proof (Placeholders)

"'Our field workers love SMS!' - Tamale Farm"
"'Backup gold during outages.' - Tema Shop"

First Three Customers

Partner with Ghana telcos like MTN for shortcode promo in business bundles. Post free trials in 'Ghana Small Business Network' WhatsApp groups. Cold email 30 HR managers from Ghana directory sites.

Launch Channels

Product Huntr/ghanaTwitter #GhanaTechLinkedIn Ghana HRHacker News

SEO Keywords

SMS payroll Ghanaattendance via SMS Ghanaoffline HR SMS backupUSSD employee tracking Ghana

Competitive Analysis

Asafo HR

asafohr.com
$40/mo
Strength

Local compliance

Weakness

App-based, data loss offline

Our Advantage

SMS fallback always works

🏰 Moat Strategy

Network effects from shared shortcodes + Twilio cost optimizations for scale.

⏰ Why Now?

MTN/Vodafone SMS usage up 25% in Ghana amid internet volatility from power issues.

Risks & Mitigation

technicalmedium severity

SMS parsing errors

Mitigation

NLP validation + user feedback loops

financiallow severity

Twilio SMS costs overrun

Mitigation

Tiered SMS limits + bulk discounts

Validation Roadmap

pre-build5 days

Prototype SMS bot, test with 20 users

Success: 95% parse accuracy

mvp14 days

Live shortcode beta for 5 businesses

Success: Daily usage >80%

Pivot Options

  • Pure SMS inventory tracker
  • General SMS CRM for Africa
  • USSD banking proxy

Quick Stats

Build Time
175h
Target MRR (6 mo)
$1,500
Market Size
$18.0M
Features
10
Database Tables
5
API Endpoints
5