WhatsHR

WhatsApp HR bot for outage-proof employee & payroll management in Togo.

Score: 7.9/10TGHard BuildReady to Spawn
Brand Colors

The Opportunity

Problem

Togolese SMEs suffer frequent internet disruptions that block real-time access to cloud-based HRTech platforms, halting employee management and payroll processing.

Solution

WhatsHR uses WhatsApp Business API for conversational HR: chat to add staff, log hours, run payroll during blackouts via queued processing. Web dashboard syncs chats to structured data when online. Leverages Togo's 80% WhatsApp penetration for instant access.

Target Audience

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Togo relying on cloud-based HRTech for employee management and payroll

Differentiator

Conversational WhatsApp interface – easier than SMS/apps, with rich media for payslips; no native competitor in Africa HR.

Brand Voice

supportive

Features

WhatsApp Employee Add/Edit

must-have18h

Chat 'add employee John salary 50000' to update.

Chat Attendance

must-have15h

Buttons/menus for in/out, group chats for teams.

Payroll Chat Command

must-have20h

Generate/send payslips as PDF via WhatsApp.

Queued Offline Processing

must-have12h

Store chats locally if offline, process on connect.

Dashboard Sync

must-have10h

View all WhatsApp actions in web UI.

Group Chat Teams

nice-to-have8h

Multi-employee attendance in groups.

Voice Note Logs

nice-to-have10h

Transcribe simple voice for illiterate users.

Bank Integrations

future12h

Direct payout links.

Total Build Time: 105 hours

Database Schema

users

ColumnTypeNullable
iduuidNo
whatsapp_idtextNo
emailtextYes

Relationships:

  • one-to-many companies

companies

ColumnTypeNullable
iduuidNo
user_iduuidNo
bot_phonetextNo

Relationships:

  • foreign key user_id -> users.id

employees

ColumnTypeNullable
iduuidNo
company_iduuidNo
nametextNo
whatsapptextYes

Relationships:

  • foreign key company_id -> companies.id

chat_sessions

ColumnTypeNullable
iduuidNo
whatsapp_idtextNo
messagetextNo
action_typetextNo

Relationships:

  • belongs to companies

API Endpoints

POST
/api/whatsapp/webhook

Inbound messages

GET
/api/employees

List from chats

🔒 Auth Required
POST
/api/chat/send

Reply via WhatsApp

🔒 Auth Required
POST
/api/payroll/generate

From chat data

🔒 Auth Required

Tech Stack

Frontend
Next.js 14 + Tailwind + shadcn
Backend
Next.js API + Supabase
Database
Supabase Postgres
Auth
Supabase Auth
Payments
Stripe
Hosting
Vercel
Additional Tools
WhatsApp Business API CloudOpenAI for chat parsing

Build Timeline

Week 1: WhatsApp Setup

25h
  • API webhook
  • Basic bot

Week 2: Chat Parser

25h
  • NLP commands
  • Employee mgmt

Week 3: Attendance/Payroll

20h
  • Features in chat

Week 4: Dashboard & Queue

20h
  • Web sync
  • Offline queue

Week 5: Media & Test

15h
  • PDFs
  • Beta test

Week 6: Payments & Deploy

10h
  • Tiers
  • Launch

Week 7: Polish

10h
  • Voice
  • Fixes

Week 8: Scale Prep

5h
  • Monitoring
Total Timeline: 8 weeks • 150 hours

Pricing Tiers

Free

$0/mo

No payroll

  • 100 msgs/mo
  • 10 emp

Pro

$30/mo

5000 msgs

  • 5000 msgs
  • 50 emp
  • PDF payslips

Enterprise

$99/mo

None

  • Unlimited
  • Groups
  • Voice

Revenue Projections

MonthUsersConversionMRRARR
Month 1356%$63$756
Month 620014%$840$10,080

Unit Economics

$20
CAC
$400
LTV
4%
Churn
85%
Margin
LTV:CAC Ratio: 20.0xExcellent!

Landing Page Copy

Chat HR on WhatsApp – Outage-Proof

Manage your team via familiar WhatsApp, even offline.

Feature Highlights

Conversational commands
Team group chats
Payslip PDFs
Web insights
WhatsApp everywhere

Social Proof (Placeholders)

"'Like texting my staff!' – Fatima, Cafe Owner"
"'Payroll saved!' – Blaise, Factory Mgr"

First Three Customers

Scan Togo WhatsApp business directories, message 20 SMEs with bot demo link; convert via free setup assistance, targeting hospitality with high staff turnover.

Launch Channels

Product Huntr/indiehackersWhatsApp Dev Community#AfricaTechTogo Entrepreneurs FB

SEO Keywords

WhatsApp HR bot Togochat payroll Africa outageemployee management WhatsAppoffline HR messaging

Competitive Analysis

Rippling

rippling.com
$8/emp
Strength

All-in-one HR

Weakness

Internet-only

Our Advantage

WhatsApp conversational offline

Landbot

landbot.io
$30/mo
Strength

WhatsApp bots

Weakness

Generic, no HR

Our Advantage

HR-specific with payroll

🏰 Moat Strategy

Chat history data moat + viral WhatsApp sharing.

⏰ Why Now?

WhatsApp Business API free tier launched 2022, Togo WhatsApp at 80% penetration amid rising remote teams.

Risks & Mitigation

technicalmedium severity

API rate limits

Mitigation

Queue & batching

marketlow severity

Bot fatigue

Mitigation

Simple flows

financialmedium severity

WhatsApp fees

Mitigation

Pass-through pricing

Validation Roadmap

pre-build7 days

Manual WhatsApp prototype

Success: 3 SMEs daily use

mvp14 days

10 beta chats

Success: 70% commands success

launch7 days

Viral referrals

Success: 5 from shares

Pivot Options

  • WhatsApp CRM
  • Customer service bot
  • Inventory chat

Quick Stats

Build Time
150h
Target MRR (6 mo)
$1,200
Market Size
$0.9M
Features
8
Database Tables
4
API Endpoints
4
WhatsHR - Complete Startup Blueprint | Startup Tribunal | StartupTribunal