Custom tools for small businesses
I build small, focused web apps that replace the spreadsheets, paper forms and WhatsApp threads holding your business together. They work on any phone, they are yours, and they do one job well.
01
We look at the spreadsheet, form or WhatsApp group that is slowing you down.
02
You get a working version early and we shape it around how your team actually works.
03
I host, back up and maintain it, or hand it over to your own IT.
The Alchem family
One workshop, many tools. Each Alchem app started as a real problem and runs on my own infrastructure today. Pick an element to see what it does. Your tool would be built the same way, around your process.
Fo · 01 · Work
Print job tracker
The problem: Print requests arrived by message and got lost; nobody knew what was queued, printing or done.
What I built: A request-to-delivery job tracker across multiple printers, with live printer status and an instant alert when a new request comes in.
Web app · live device integration · notifications
Ke · 02 · Work
Staff schedules
The problem: Scheduling household staff and confirming who worked when lived in WhatsApp threads.
What I built: Routines that plan themselves two weeks ahead, clock-in and clock-out on the worker’s own phone, and photo proof for tasks. Available in six languages, including isiZulu and Setswana.
Phone-first web app · roles · six languages
Va · 03 · Money
Income and spending
The problem: Monthly spending was tracked in a spreadsheet that took too long to keep up to date.
What I built: A fast transaction logger with a payday-to-payday view of where the money went, savings goals and an AI summary of each month.
Phone-first web app · reporting · AI analysis
Na · 04 · Money
Fuel and car costs
The problem: Fuel spend and vehicle running costs sat in a third-party app with no control over the data.
What I built: A one-screen fuel log that works out cost per km and consumption, matches the station by GPS, and imported years of history.
Phone-first web app · GPS · data import
Fx · 05 · Health
Calories and macros
The problem: Food-tracking apps made logging a meal take longer than eating it.
What I built: Log a meal by typing or saying it, or by photographing the label. New foods are looked up on the web, and daily targets follow the current bulk or cut phase.
Phone-first web app · voice and photo capture · AI
Te · 06 · Health
Training log
The problem: Workouts were written down and forgotten, so progress over months was invisible.
What I built: A workout log that records every session and shows how training is progressing over time.
Phone-first web app · history and progress
Ga · 07 · Chess
Chess coaching prep
The problem: Lesson plans, puzzles and what was taught at each school lived in scattered notes.
What I built: A lesson library assigned per school, a puzzle bank for session prep, and a log of what was taught at every school visit.
Web app · lesson library · session log
Ma · 08 · Chess
Private chess club
The problem: A group of friends wanted to play timed games together and study them afterwards, without ads or public accounts.
What I built: A private chess platform with live timed games, spectating with an engine evaluation bar, and automatic engine analysis of every finished game.
Real-time web app · chess engine · installable
