Offline-first payroll that never misses a blackout in Malawi.
Malawian businesses face constant electricity blackouts that disrupt cloud-based HRTech tools essential for payroll processing and employee management.
BlackoutPay is a progressive web app (PWA) that lets businesses manage payroll and employee data entirely offline, automatically syncing changes when power and internet return. It stores all data locally in IndexedDB and processes calculations without connectivity. Core HR functions like timesheets, deductions, and payslips generate instantly, ensuring compliance even during prolonged outages.
Malawian businesses relying on cloud-based HRTech for payroll and employee management
True zero-downtime offline mode tailored for Malawi's frequent blackouts, unlike cloud-only HR tools that freeze during power cuts.
supportive
Calculate salaries, taxes, and deductions fully offline with local storage.
CRUD operations for employee profiles, contracts, and personal info offline.
Log hours and attendance without internet, auto-sync later.
Create and export PDF payslips offline.
Background sync of all changes when online, with conflict resolution.
Export all data to CSV/JSON for manual backups via USB.
Switch between business accounts offline.
Offline charts for payroll trends.
Send payslips via email when online.
API hooks for Malawian banks.
| Column | Type | Nullable |
|---|---|---|
| id | uuid | No |
| text | No | |
| company_id | uuid | No |
| role | text | No |
| created_at | timestamp | No |
Relationships:
| Column | Type | Nullable |
|---|---|---|
| id | uuid | No |
| name | text | No |
| tax_id | text | Yes |
| plan_tier | text | No |
Relationships:
| Column | Type | Nullable |
|---|---|---|
| id | uuid | No |
| company_id | uuid | No |
| name | text | No |
| salary | int | No |
| last_sync | timestamp | Yes |
Relationships:
| Column | Type | Nullable |
|---|---|---|
| id | uuid | Yes |
| company_id | uuid | No |
| period_start | timestamp | No |
| total_amount | int | No |
| synced | bool | No |
Relationships:
/api/companiesCreate new company
/api/employeesAdd employee offline sync
/api/payroll/syncSync queued payroll data
/api/payroll/:id/pdfGenerate payslip PDF
/api/users/meGet user profile
1 company, no exports
None
None
| Month | Users | Conversion | MRR | ARR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month 1 | 50 | 5% | $75 | $900 |
| Month 6 | 300 | 12% | $1,056 | $12,672 |
BlackoutPay works offline so your HR never stops, syncing seamlessly when power returns.
Join Malawi Chamber of Commerce Facebook groups and post a demo video targeting SMEs. DM 20 business owners from LinkedIn Malawi HR groups offering free Pro access for feedback. Attend local business meetups in Lilongwe with QR code flyers for instant signups.
Full HR suite
Requires constant internet
Offline-first for unreliable power
Local compliance
Cloud-dependent
Offline resilience
Data locality and offline-first architecture creates stickiness; user data moat from synced Malawi-specific payroll rules.
Malawi blackouts worsened 50% in 2023; rising SME digital HR adoption amid 70% mobile penetration.
Offline sync conflicts
Implement last-write-wins + manual resolution UI
Low internet adoption
PWA works on feature phones via SMS fallback
Solo dev delays
Strict weekly milestones
Success: 80% confirm pain, willing to pay $30
Success: 90% retention after 1 month
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