Founding 5 pilot · Melbourne small businesses

Get repetitive admin out of your day — without replacing the tools that work.

Canvo connects the inboxes, spreadsheets, POS, CRM and internal documents your business already uses. We start with one measurable workflow, keep critical actions behind human approval, and only expand after the results prove it works.

Built by a Melbourne business owner Monash CS + Commerce Bilingual EN / 中文 Transparent costs. No lock-in.
ops-dashboard / daily DEMO DATA
Revenue yesterday
$0
▲ 12.4% WoW
Auto-handled items
0
▲ 8 need approval
Hours saved this week
0h
≈ 1.4 workdays
Avg response time
0min
from 3.5 hrs
09:00 auto-generated · owner brief

Working systems

Working systems, not an AI slide deck.

These four consoles mirror systems I built for my own business: a daily owner brief, enquiry triage, data synchronisation and venue monitoring. Names, messages and figures have been replaced with demo data.

canvo.co / demo / daily-brief DEMO DATA
Revenue
$0
▲ 12.4%
Orders
0
▲ 6.1%
Avg ticket
$0
▲ 3.2%
Refunds
0
review

Revenue, last 7 daysStripe + Square + POS

AI-generated · pending review
Pushed to WeChat / email at 09:00 daily

Inbound todayEmail · form · WeChat

Draft reply · not sent

High-stakes actions — sending customer emails, quoting, editing records — stay behind human approval. The AI only classifies, organises and drafts.

Data flowruns every 15 min

Google SheetProduct / price list
POS / SquareSales records
Email attachmentsSupplier quotes
Canvo sync engineClean · validate · dedupe
ShopifyPublish / reprice
Operations dashboardLive roll-up
Human review queueOnly exceptions interrupt
Rows synced today
0
Needs approval
0
notified

Rules are enforced in code: missing vendor falls back to a default, price swings over 20% never auto-publish, duplicates get merged.

Device status32 online

⚠ Auto alert · ticket created Unit D-17 dropped 3 times in 4 minutes. Logs captured, on-shift staff notified, task raised on the internal board — you do not need to be on site to know.
Event stream · live

The same structure works for any business with physical assets: fridge temperature, printers, terminals, stock-outs, booking anomalies.

Where the hours actually go
Which work actually eats the week — answered with data, not gut feel.
Last 26 weeksdemo data
Cost & usage curve
Utilities, consumables, AI calls, subscriptions — all visible, all capped.
Budget alerts ondemo data
Asset & inventory ledger
One tap: what it is, where it is, who owns it, when it was last serviced.
UNIT A-042 · status In stock
Location Shelf B3 · Owner Amy
Last serviced 14 days ago
NFC / QRdemo data

Note: these consoles demonstrate structure and interaction only. All figures, customer details and device IDs are fabricated demo data and represent no real client or real trading performance. In real engagements, your data stays yours.

Where the week disappears

You probably have enough software. The gaps between it are costing you time.

Information is scattered, key processes still depend on the owner, and staff repeat the same admin because the systems do not talk to each other.

Enquiries & follow-ups

Enquiries live in email, WeChat and individual staff phones. Replies get missed, follow-ups never happen, quotes disappear into silence.

Numbers & reporting

Two hours a day copying numbers between systems into a spreadsheet — and at the end of it, still no clear picture of what is really happening.

Internal knowledge & execution

The process lives in the owner's head. New staff ask the same questions over and over, handover is verbal, and things break the moment you are not on site.

Systems that do not talk

POS, bookings, spreadsheets, CRM and accounting never speak to each other — so a human becomes the integration layer.

Founding 5 pilot

Prove one workflow before you pay for a bigger build.

I am selecting five Melbourne small businesses for a free, tightly scoped pilot. We agree on the workflow, boundary and success measure in writing before anything is built.

  • A free workflow diagnostic, online or on site
  • A short written analysis: what is worth automating, and what is not
  • One clearly scoped workflow pilot, built free of charge
  • Measurable success criteria agreed before we start
  • One round of testing and adjustment after real use
  • Founding-partner pricing if you expand later
5 pilot places remaining Real count. No fake scarcity.

What the free pilot covers — in writing

  • One specific business process
  • One or two existing tools or data sources connected
  • One primary output or automated outcome
  • One round of testing and adjustment
  • One measurable success criterion

Any third-party software, API, AI model or hosting cost is itemised before we begin. There are no surprise subscriptions, but this offer is not a free rebuild of your whole business.

After the five pilot places are filled, a workflow diagnostic is $88 and fully credited against any implementation you commission afterwards.

How it works

One problem. One pilot. A result you can measure.

Places are not first-come-first-served. I select workflows that are specific, worth automating and realistic to prove within a small pilot.

01

Submit the problem

Two or three minutes: the one process wasting the most time, and how you handle it today.

02

Screening & diagnostic

A 15-minute call to confirm whether it is worth automating and whether it fits the pilot. If it does not, I will say so.

03

Build the pilot

Start with the smallest slice that proves value — usually something real and running within one to two weeks.

04

Measure the result

Compare time, error rate, response speed or manual steps before and after. Only expand if it worked.

Why this is not another SaaS

Not another login for your team — make the tools you already pay for work together.

SaaS

Sells you a standard product, then asks your staff to adapt to it.

Canvo

Starts from how you actually work, then connects the Email, Excel, Sheets, POS, CRM, booking system and internal docs you already use.

No rip-and-replaceConnecting what you have comes first. Replacing a tool is only discussed when it genuinely cannot do the job.
Simple automation beats fancy AIIf a rule solves it, a model is not needed. AI is used only where language and content genuinely need understanding.
Humans stay in the loopSending customer emails, changing key records, quoting, or anything high-risk — all default to requiring your approval.
Founder and operator

Built by an operator, not a pitch-deck consultant.

G

George Ding

Founder, Canvo Business Systems · Melbourne small business owner
Monash CS + Commerce Runs a physical venue 中文 / English AU entity + ABN
Built: ops dashboard Built: internal SOP system Built: rostering Built: asset ledger Built: product sync Built: AI ops assistant

I run a physical small business in Melbourne and have lived these problems myself: staff communication, invisible numbers, processes that exist only in the owner's head, customer information scattered everywhere, and systems that refuse to talk to each other.

I built each category shown above inside my own business first, use it daily and fix it when it breaks. This is not ChatGPT training or a flashy AI demo that gets abandoned after launch.

A Monash Computer Science + Commerce double degree means I think about how the system is built and about cost, return, whether staff will actually adopt it, and who maintains it after launch.

No black box. No vendor lock-in.

  • Client-specific workflows and configuration
  • Deployment and usage documentation
  • Project code or deliverables, per agreed scope
  • Handover and basic maintenance training
  • Your data and business records always stay yours
  • Maintained by me, or handed to you or another developer — your call
FAQ

Costs, control and risk — answered upfront.

No. The free pilot covers one specific workflow inside a written scope: one process, one or two data sources, one primary output and one round of adjustment. Anything beyond that is quoted separately — never built first and billed later.

No. Connecting what you already use comes first. A replacement is only discussed when the current system genuinely cannot deliver the outcome — and the migration cost is put on the table with it.

High-risk actions are never automatic by default. Approvals, permission limits, audit logs and anomaly alerts are all available. In most setups the AI classifies, organises and drafts — a human still presses send.

Three lines are itemised before we start: build cost, third-party subscriptions (software / API / model), and expected running cost. Small automations usually run cheap — but you will not get a fake zero-cost promise from me.

Client-specific code, configuration, documentation and handover materials are delivered per scope. Generic frameworks and reusable components stay with me — but you are never locked in: you can maintain it yourself or hand it to someone else at any time.

At application stage you never need to send passwords, full customer lists or financial statements. In an engagement, data access follows the minimum-necessary principle, sensitive fields can be masked or processed locally, and permissions and logs are auditable. Your data stays yours.

It reverts to the standard $88 automation diagnostic, including a process walkthrough and a written opportunity analysis. If you commission implementation afterwards, the $88 is credited back.

Apply for a pilot

Show me the workflow that keeps stealing your time.

Two or three minutes is enough. Be specific, but do not send passwords, customer lists or financial statements.

Source: direct · You will receive an automatic confirmation as soon as the form is submitted.

Your answers are used only to assess the pilot. They are never sold or shared with third parties.

Received. Thank you.

I personally review every application within 48 hours. If it fits the pilot, I will send a 15-minute call link. If it does not, I will explain why and whether a simpler fix would do the job.

Or email me directly