Running a tiffin service on WhatsApp and spreadsheets vs Tiffinware
Almost every tiffin service starts on WhatsApp and a spreadsheet. They're free and everyone knows them. Here is where they break, what that costs you, and how to move off them without upsetting a single customer.
| WhatsApp + spreadsheet | Tiffinware | |
|---|---|---|
| Taking orders | Messages at any hour, typed into a sheet by you | Customers order on your page; nothing to retype |
| Skips and pauses | Each one a message you must remember | Customers do it before your cut-off; the count updates |
| Tomorrow's count | Added up by hand, often at night | Ready at cut-off, per dish, in your measures |
| Labels | Handwritten | Printed from the orders |
| Delivery order | The driver works it out, or you do | Routes in driving order, sent to the driver app |
| E-transfers | Matched by hand against emails | Matched to the right customer automatically |
| Cost | Free, plus your evenings | $99/month flat |
Why WhatsApp works at first
Your customers already use it, it costs nothing, and at ten customers you can hold the whole business in your head. A spreadsheet adds a list of names and plans. For a new kitchen that is the right choice. Don't buy software before you have customers.
Where it breaks
- The count. A skip at 11pm changes a number you already wrote down. You find out when you are short or have six extra boxes.
- Messages get lost. "No onion from Monday" sits under forty other messages, and the person packing never sees it.
- Money. E-transfers arrive from emails you don't recognise, with no note. Someone hasn't paid since last month, and you aren't sure who.
- You can't step away. Everything is in your phone and your memory. A sick day stops the kitchen.
Most kitchens feel this somewhere between 25 and 40 customers. It isn't a sign you're disorganised. It's the point where memory and chat stop being a system.
Moving over without losing anyone
- Send us your customer list: a spreadsheet, a notebook photo, even screenshots. We set up your customers, plans and areas.
- Check it in the demo-style view and fix anything we got wrong.
- Send customers your ordering page link on WhatsApp, with a short note: "Skip, pause and pay here from now on."
- Run one week on both, then let the spreadsheet go.
The parts of Tiffinware you'd use
Questions
Is there a free Excel sheet for a tiffin service?
Yes. Our free tiffin customer register has sheets for customers, daily orders, the cook count and payments, for Excel or Google Sheets.
Do my customers have to stop using WhatsApp?
No. Keep WhatsApp for chatting. Move orders, skips and payments to your ordering page, where they count themselves.
How long does it take to switch?
Send us your customer list in any form and we set it up for you, free. Most kitchens run their first week on Tiffinware within a few days.