Bizli: a billing app that starts as a calculator
The smallest businesses wouldn't touch a POS app. They thought it was built for supermarkets. But they already trusted one tool: the calculator. So I made the case for a separate billing app that feels like one, keeps a record of every sale, and leads into Zobaze POS.
- My role
- Product + design. Originated the calculator-first concept; co-led with the founder.
- Team
- Founder, me, one Android engineer
- Timeline
- Research to Play Store in one month, June 2024
- Result
- 50,000+downloads · ~3,000 active users
- Funnel
- 6–7%of active users move to Zobaze POS each month
The goal
Could POS get simple enough for the smallest businesses?
Zobaze POS works well for businesses that are ready for it. But the smallest businesses, those earning under ₹5,000 a day, never got started.
My first question was simple: how do we make Zobaze POS simpler for them? To answer it, I had to understand why they said no in the first place.
What I found
POS, they believed, was built for supermarkets
Through store visits and user research across India, the Philippines, Indonesia and Africa, I looked at how owners actually run their counters. The same belief kept coming up: POS software is built for supermarkets, not for businesses like theirs.
A smaller POS wouldn't change that belief. These owners already trusted the calculator on the counter, so the app had to start there.
The idea
Don't replace the calculator. Become it.
On store counters I kept seeing the same two tools: a calculator and an old billing machine. Owners added up sales on them, but the calculator kept no record. So instead of asking them to learn POS, I combined the two tools they already knew into one app.
A simpler Zobaze POS
Still a POS in their eyes, so still "built for supermarkets".
A separate, calculator-first app
Wins these businesses with a tool they trust, then works as an acquisition funnel into Zobaze POS instead of selling the full POS up front.
I took the idea to the founder. The calculator insight convinced the founder, and we started work on Bizli as a separate, entry-level app.
Execution
Tested with users first, then launched in one month
Store visits
Understand how owners run the counter today.
Idea and pitch
Calculator + billing machine in one app. Pitched to the founder; we co-led it from there.
Prototype tests
Validated the concept with users before any code.
Build and launch
One Android engineer. Live on the Play Store in June 2024.
The hard part: making a familiar calculator work as a billing app without losing its simplicity. The owner does what they already do, and Bizli records it in the background, and brings in reports and inventory step by step, once they're comfortable.
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Result
A way in for businesses that had said no to POS
Bizli also works as the funnel we planned: 1,000–2,000 businesses so far have started on the calculator and moved up to Zobaze POS.