An inventory app for small businesses — feedback welcome
Hi everyone,
I’m currently building a SaaS application with Lovable and Supabase.
The idea didn’t come from a random startup concept. It came from a real business problem.
In my own work, I’ve had to deal with inventory management in the field. And very often, when you look for a solution, you either end up with messy Excel spreadsheets, or with full ERP systems that are powerful but heavy to configure, slow to set up, expensive, and sometimes completely oversized for a small business.
The problem is that between “I write everything down manually” and “I deploy a full ERP”, there is often a missing middle ground.
I wanted an app that does one thing well: help a small business know what it has in stock, where it is, what came in, what went out, and keep a clear history of movements. Without three weeks of setup. Without confusing menus. Without an interface designed only for large companies.
The basic idea of the app is simple: connect physical inventory to a digital app using internal QR codes.
A company creates its items, prints QR code labels, and sticks them on bins, shelves, boxes, products, or storage areas. Then, when someone scans the QR code with a phone, tablet, webcam, or handheld scanner, they land directly on the item page. From there, they can record a stock entry, stock exit, inventory count, check the history, or prepare material.
The important point is that the QR code stays internal and clean. It does not contain the price, supplier, current stock, EAN, or any sensitive data. It is only a stable link between the physical item and its page in the app. If the label is damaged, it can be reprinted. If the price changes, the QR code does not change. If the supplier changes, the QR code does not change.
The other strong idea is the participative EAN / GTIN feature.
I want the app to help recognize a product when scanning a standard barcode, but without forcing companies into a rigid shared catalog. Each business must keep its own names, internal references, habits, and storage locations. The shared database should only help save time, for example by suggesting a generic product name, brand, or public manufacturer reference. It should be optional, disabled by default, and limited to public product data only. No internal business data should ever be shared.
The main target is not large companies.
I’m mainly thinking about freelancers, micro-businesses, small companies, tradespeople, small field teams, workshops, maintenance companies, construction businesses, small warehouses, and local stores. People who have a real inventory need, but not always the budget or the time to set up a big ERP.
The goal is to release a first usable version around September 2026, with a first beta release around mid-August if everything goes well.
The version I’m aiming for should allow users to manage items, QR codes, label printing, field scanning, stock entries and exits, inventory counts, movement history, material preparations, simple receptions, low-stock alerts, exports, and backups. I also want the app to work with standard handheld scanners that behave like a keyboard, because in the field, that is often the most reliable setup.
I deliberately want to keep the logic simple: no full purchasing module at the beginning, no supplier price comparison, no hidden ERP. Suppliers, purchasing, external APIs, and more advanced features can come later. The core product must first be solid: items, QR codes, scanning, stock, and history.
On the security side, I also want to start with clean foundations. Since this is a SaaS app, each company must have its own isolated data, user permissions must be respected, QR codes must not expose sensitive information, and stock movements must be historized. The idea is not just to hide buttons in the UI, but to have real data separation on the backend.
On pricing, I want to stay consistent with the target users.
Many small businesses do not want, or simply cannot afford, to pay hundreds of euros or dollars per month just to manage a simple inventory. So my current idea is to offer a limited free plan, for example up to 50 items and one location. That should be enough to test the tool, start properly, or manage a small stock.
Then paid plans would allow users to go further: more items, more users, multiple locations, more history, more exports, more advanced backups, and eventually more advanced features.
I’m also thinking about keeping some advanced features outside the free plan, especially AI features such as OCR, automatic document analysis, smart import from photos or PDFs, etc. These features can be useful, but they are more expensive to run and are not essential for the basic need.
The idea is not to charge a lot for nothing. The idea is to have a genuinely useful free version, then reasonably priced paid plans for small businesses that want to use the app more seriously.
I’m using Lovable to speed up frontend development, with Supabase behind it for authentication, database, and security.
I’d be curious to get your feedback.
Does this “simple, field-first, affordable” approach make sense for freelancers, micro-businesses, and small companies? Does a free plan limited to 50 items and one location sound relevant? When would you start charging: number of items, number of users, number of locations, advanced features, or AI usage?
I’m also interested in feedback about the field UX: QR scanning, EAN scanning, phone, tablet, webcam, handheld scanner, label printing, etc.
And if anyone here matches the target audience or would like to test this kind of tool, I’d be happy to get in touch with future beta testers. First tests should arrive around mid-August if development keeps moving as planned.
My goal is to build an inventory tool that is simple, clear, and affordable. Not a bloated system. Something small businesses can understand quickly, actually use, and keep using over time.
Thanks in advance for your feedback.
PS: English is not my native language, so this post was translated with AI. Sorry if some phrasing sounds a bit unusual.