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From Durban, for small businesses across South Africa

We build the tools that run your business.

Websites, online bookings and payments, a WhatsApp assistant that answers customers at night, Google that brings in work, and custom software. One team builds it around how you work, for one fixed price.

Pick your business Chat on WhatsApp
  • ✓ Every account in your name
  • ✓ Payments go straight to you
  • ✓ POPIA handled
  • ✓ No lock-in

A burst geyser at 21:47 became a paid booking while the owner slept.

Pick your business

See what we would build for you.

Choose the business closest to yours. You'll see where most owners lose time and money, and what we build to fix it.

Skin & beauty clinic

Where it hurts now: Bookings arrive on WhatsApp, Instagram and the phone. New clients book and do not pitch, and you hear about a bad experience only once it is on Google.

What we build for you

  • ✓ Your own booking page Clients choose a treatment and a real open time from your website, Instagram or Google. No back-and-forth, no double bookings.
  • ✓ Deposits that stop no-shows New clients pay a deposit by card or instant EFT as they book. The money goes straight into your account.
  • ✓ Reminders that refill the gap The day before, clients confirm or move their visit with one tap. If someone cancels, the slot is offered to your waiting list.
  • ✓ Clients invited back on time A message goes out when a client is due again, say six weeks after a peel, with a link to book.
  • ✓ A check-in after every visit Any complaint reaches you straight away, and every client gets a link to leave a Google review.

What changes: A full diary, deposits in hand, and regulars who come back without being chased.

Ask what this looks like for me

Physio, biokineticist or dietitian

Where it hurts now: Phone calls all day, follow-ups booked by hand, and patients who stop coming halfway through their treatment plan.

What we build for you

  • ✓ Online booking with your rules First visits and follow-ups booked at the right length, with the right practitioner and the gaps you need between them.
  • ✓ Forms filled in before the visit New patients complete their details and history on their phone. It arrives securely, ready before they walk in.
  • ✓ Nudges to finish the plan Patients who have not booked their next session get a friendly reminder, so fewer drop off halfway.
  • ✓ Answers after hours A WhatsApp assistant answers prices, medical aid, parking and availability at night, then books the patient in.
  • ✓ A monthly practice report Bookings, cancellations, new patients and where they found you, on one page.

What changes: A fuller diary, less time on the phone, and patients who finish their treatment.

Ask what this looks like for me

Hair salon or barber

Where it hurts now: Bookings buried in WhatsApp chats, Saturday clashes, and empty chairs when someone does not pitch.

What we build for you

  • ✓ Booking for each stylist Clients pick the service and the stylist, and only see times that stylist is actually free.
  • ✓ Deposits on long services Colour, braids and treatments need a deposit to book, paid by card or instant EFT into your account.
  • ✓ Cancelled slots filled for you When someone cancels, the slot goes straight to clients who asked for an earlier time.
  • ✓ Clients reminded when they are due Five weeks after a cut, a message with a link to book. Regulars come back before they drift to someone else.
  • ✓ A website that books Your prices, your work and your reviews in one place, with a Book button on every page and on Google.

What changes: Chairs that stay full, Saturdays especially.

Ask what this looks like for me

Takeaway or restaurant

Where it hurts now: Orders over WhatsApp and the phone written on paper, mix-ups in the rush, and EFTs checked by hand.

What we build for you

  • ✓ Your own ordering page Customers order from your menu on their phone, choose extras and pay before you start cooking. No delivery-app commission on these orders.
  • ✓ Orders straight to the kitchen Every paid order arrives as a clear ticket on a tablet or printer, not a chat to decode.
  • ✓ A WhatsApp assistant for the rush It answers hours, menu and delivery questions and takes orders, so nobody leaves the counter.
  • ✓ Specials to your regulars Customers who opted in hear about a special on a quiet Tuesday, in one message.
  • ✓ Sales in one view What sold, when you are busiest and who your regulars are, without adding up slips.

What changes: Orders taken right and paid for, and no one stuck on the phone in the rush.

Ask what this looks like for me

Home baker or bakery

Where it hurts now: Every custom order is a long WhatsApp chat, deposits are chased by EFT, and the order book lives in a notebook.

What we build for you

  • ✓ An order form that prices the cake Customers choose size, flavour and design, see the price straight away, and only see dates that are still open.
  • ✓ A weekend limit you set You decide how many cakes you can make. Once a date is full, it closes by itself.
  • ✓ Deposits that lock the date Half paid by card or instant EFT into your account before you buy a single ingredient.
  • ✓ Collection reminders The day before, customers get the time, the address and the balance due. Cakes stop going uncollected.
  • ✓ A website that shows off your cakes Your best work, flavours and prices, found on Google and linked from your Instagram.

What changes: Orders arrive complete, priced and paid, and Saturdays never get double-booked.

Ask what this looks like for me

Online or craft seller

Where it hurts now: Selling in Instagram DMs, proof-of-payment screenshots, and couriers booked one at a time.

What we build for you

  • ✓ Your own online store Priced in Rands and built for phones, with card, instant EFT and scan-to-pay going into your account.
  • ✓ Courier booking built in Shipping cost shown at checkout, labels from one screen, and tracking sent to the customer automatically.
  • ✓ Stock that stays right everywhere Sell on your store, Instagram and WhatsApp, and the stock count updates in one place.
  • ✓ Abandoned baskets followed up Customers who leave items behind get a reminder, and their question answered.
  • ✓ Sizing and delivery questions answered A WhatsApp assistant replies at 9pm with the answer and a link straight to the product.

What changes: Customers buy and pay in one go, without fourteen messages first.

Ask what this looks like for me

Gym or personal trainer

Where it hurts now: Members in a spreadsheet, fees chased one by one, and class bookings in a WhatsApp group.

What we build for you

  • ✓ Class and session booking Members book a spot, see what is full and join a waiting list. Class limits are kept for you.
  • ✓ Memberships that collect themselves Monthly fees by debit order or card. Failed payments are retried and followed up politely.
  • ✓ A members page Each member sees their bookings, sessions left and payments in one place.
  • ✓ Win-back messages Members who have not been in for two weeks get a nudge before they cancel.
  • ✓ Your numbers each month Active members, attendance, income and who is likely to leave, on one page.

What changes: Fees in on time, classes that fill, and fewer members quietly drifting off.

Ask what this looks like for me

Driving school

Where it hurts now: Lessons booked by phone, instructor schedules on paper, and packages paid in bits.

What we build for you

  • ✓ Booking for each instructor and car Learners only see real open slots, so no instructor is ever double-booked.
  • ✓ Packages paid upfront Learners buy a lesson package online, and each lesson is ticked off as it happens.
  • ✓ Progress learners can see Instructors tick off skills after each lesson. Learners and parents see how close they are to test-ready.
  • ✓ Reminders with pick-up details Time, place and instructor the day before, with one tap to confirm.
  • ✓ The daily questions answered Prices, codes, test bookings and areas you cover, answered day and night on WhatsApp.

What changes: No double bookings, no lessons paid for later, and learners who stay with you to the test.

Ask what this looks like for me

Tutor, aftercare or creche

Where it hurts now: Fees tracked in a spreadsheet, parents reminded one by one, and enrolment forms on paper.

What we build for you

  • ✓ Online enrolment Parents enrol and sign on their phone. Their details land in one list, with nothing retyped.
  • ✓ Fees that collect themselves Monthly invoices with a payment link or debit order, and polite reminders when a payment is late.
  • ✓ A parent page Invoices, notices, term dates and attendance in one place for each family.
  • ✓ Notices that reach every parent One message to all parents, without a group chat that buries the important ones.
  • ✓ Sign-in and sign-out on a phone Children signed in and out in a tap, with parents told at pick-up.

What changes: Fees paid on time without awkward reminders, and parents who feel in the loop.

Ask what this looks like for me

Mechanic or panel beater

Where it hurts now: Quotes on paper, customers phoning to ask if the car is ready, and invoices typed up at night.

What we build for you

  • ✓ A quote builder Parts and labour priced in seconds and sent on WhatsApp with an Approve button.
  • ✓ Job updates customers can see Booked in, waiting for parts, ready. Customers are told at each step, so the phone stops ringing.
  • ✓ Invoices with a payment link The invoice goes out when the job is done, payable by card or instant EFT before collection.
  • ✓ Service reminders Customers are reminded when their next service is due, by date or by mileage.
  • ✓ Quiet quotes followed up A quote with no answer after three days gets a friendly follow-up.

What changes: More quotes accepted, fewer calls, and customers back for their next service.

Ask what this looks like for me

Don't see your business? Tell us how it runs and we'll tell you honestly what would help. Everything is built in your name, and we can look after it monthly or hand it over to you.

What we build

Everything your business runs on, built for you.

Take one piece or all of them. Each one works with the others, and everything stays in your name.

Websites that bring in work

Designed for your business and quick on a phone. Found on Google, with every button leading to a booking, an order or a WhatsApp chat.

A WhatsApp assistant that answers for you

Trained on your prices, services and rules. It answers questions, quotes, books and sends payment links at any hour, and hands the chat to you when it should.

See how it works

Bookings and payments that run themselves

Customers pick a real open slot, pay a deposit by card or instant EFT straight into your account, and get reminded before they come. No-shows drop.

Google that sends you customers

Your whole Google presence built and kept active: profile, reviews, posts, and a website that shows up when people nearby search for what you do.

What we do on Google

Online stores

Priced in Rands, with card and instant EFT payments, courier booking and tracking built in, on the platforms your customers already trust.

Custom software

Quote builders, order systems, client portals and dashboards. When nothing off the shelf fits how you work, we build it for you.

Tell us what you need

Want us to look after it?

We keep it updated, fix anything that breaks, change your prices when you ask, and send a one-page report every month. Monthly, cancel any time.

Starting a new business? See the start-up pack

Why now

Your customers already expect to book, pay and get answers on their phone.

52%

of South African small businesses already use smart tools every week. The ones using them well are pulling ahead.

56%

say they want help working out where these tools fit in their business. That is exactly what we do.

After 6pm

is when many customers finally have time to message. If nobody replies, they ask the next business on the list. We make sure yours replies.

Source: Xero, State of South African Small Business 2026.

See it working

Don't take our word for it. Open one.

Each one opens a working demo, not screenshots. Pick the one closest to your business and use it the way your customer would.

Clinics & practices

The booking that took itself

A patient books into a real gap at half past nine at night and pays a deposit. The diary fills while the rooms are dark.

See it working
Home services

The R9,000 job you slept through

A burst geyser at 21:47. She is working down a list of numbers, and whoever answers first gets the job. Yours can be the one that answers.

See it working
Salons & barbers

The chair that stopped sitting empty

A Saturday booking taken at 19:12, with a R150 deposit paid before she put her phone down.

See it working
Takeaways & restaurants

The lunch rush, handled

An order taken, upsold and paid at 12:41 without anyone leaving the counter. It asks about drinks on every order. Tired staff forget.

See it working
Online sellers

The basket that came back

Seven in ten baskets get abandoned. Your shop isn't broken. She had one question at eight at night, and nobody answered it.

See it working
Something else

Built around how you work

Not every business fits a template. Tell us how yours runs and we'll show you what we would build before you pay anything.

See it working

Built on the tools South African businesses already use

We build on Shopify, WhatsApp Business, PayFast, Yoco, Ozow, SnapScan, Bob Go, The Courier Guy, Google Business, Meta, Cloudflare.

Shopify Partner. We build premium, customisable stores on the platforms your customers already trust.

Do the maths

How much is silence costing you?

Three answers. No name, no email, no phone number — the sums happen right here on your phone and nothing you enter leaves this page.

What kind of business?

5 a week

After-hours messages, calls you couldn't take, quotes that went quiet.

You're losing about

R38,700 a month

Based on missed enquiries × your average job value × 4.3 weeks. Not every missed enquiry is a lost sale — even winning back half of this pays for the system many times over.

Stop losing this — chat to us

Opens WhatsApp with your number already in the message — read it and change anything before you send.

Free, two minutes

How easy are you to find, reach and pay?

Type your business name. We check your Google listing and how fast your website opens on a phone, ask four quick questions, and show you what slow replies are likely costing you — with the three fixes that matter most.

  • ✓ Results on screen straight away
  • ✓ No email, no phone number, no sales call
  • ✓ Send the results to us on WhatsApp only if you want to
Run my free Missed Money Scan

Your options

Four ways to get it done, side by side.

Say you want customers answered, booked and paid without being on your phone all day. These are your choices, and how each one compares.

Compare Hire an assistant Use an agency Do it yourself Auto Digital
What it costs you A salary, every month A monthly retainer Your evenings and weekends One fixed price to build. Monthly only if we look after it
Customer messages at 9pm Unanswered, they have gone home Unanswered, the office is closed Answered, if you are still awake Answered straight away, every night
Contract Employment, with notice periods Usually 3 to 12 months None None. Month to month
Who does the work You train and manage them An account manager passes it on You We build it, you approve it
Time until it works Weeks of hiring and training 2 to 6 weeks Whenever you find the time Fast, on a date agreed upfront

Google, done properly

Be the business people find first when they search nearby.

A Google listing is only the start. We build your whole presence on Google and keep it working, so searches turn into calls, bookings and orders instead of a visit to the shop down the road.

Before
No photos

Your Business

Plumber · Durban North

2 reviews

Permanently closed? · Hours not confirmed

No website · Not claimed by the owner

Own this business?

Call
After

Your Business

Plumber · Durban North

4.8 (127 reviews)

Open now · Closes 17:00

Website Directions WhatsApp
Drag the slider to compare. Illustrative example — a mocked-up listing, not a real business or a promised result.
  • ✓ A complete, verified profile Every category, service, product, photo, hour and area filled in, and kept right through public holidays and price changes.
  • ✓ Book, order and chat buttons Customers book, order or message you straight from Google, linked to your own booking page, shop or WhatsApp.
  • ✓ Reviews on autopilot Every customer is asked for a review at the right moment. We reply to every review in your voice, the glowing ones and the grumpy ones.
  • ✓ Fresh posts every week Specials, new work and photos that keep your profile active, which helps it show up more often.
  • ✓ A website that ranks in your area Pages for each service and suburb you cover, quick on a phone, so you appear when people search "near me".
  • ✓ Map position checked street by street We see where you appear on the map across your area, and fix what is holding you back.
  • ✓ A plain-English report each month How many people found you, called, asked for directions and booked, and what we are doing next.

Start with a free check.

We build the profile and website once, for one fixed price. Reviews, posts, map checks and the monthly report are part of monthly care, which you can stop at any time.

Get my free Google check

Send one message with your business name. We'll quickly show you what is holding you back on Google, free, whether or not you hire us.

How we charge

You pay for work done, not for a subscription.

Every business needs something different, so we quote for yours. A quote is free, and it comes back fast on WhatsApp.

Building: one fixed price

Agreed before we start. Half upfront, half when it is live. No hourly surprises.

Looking after it: only if you want

Updates, fixes, review replies and a monthly report. Month to month, cancel with 30 days' notice.

Changes: quoted first

Need something new added later? Ask, and you get a price before we start.

Payment providers and other services you use bill you directly at their own prices. We never add a markup, and the accounts are yours.

Get a free quote on WhatsApp

Why us

Experience you can lean on.

Auto Digital brings over ten years of industry experience building and maintaining the software South African businesses run on every day. We build it properly, and we're there when you need us.

  • ✓ Official tools only. No grey-market shortcuts that get WhatsApp numbers banned
  • ✓ Payments go straight into your own account, never through ours
  • ✓ POPIA handled on every job: privacy policy, consent and an operator agreement
  • ✓ Every account stays in your name. If you leave, you keep everything

How it works

  1. 1

    Tell us how you work

    A short chat, or the free two-minute scan. We learn how customers find you, book and pay, and where your time goes.

  2. 2

    See the plan before you pay

    What we would build, how it works for your customers, and one fixed price. Nothing starts until you are happy.

  3. 3

    We build it and test it

    Built around your prices, services and rules, and tested on real phones. You get a go-live date with your quote.

  4. 4

    We look after it, or hand it over

    Monthly care with updates, fixes and a one-page report. Or we hand it over to you, fully working.

FAQ

Straight answers.

How do you charge? +

Building is one fixed price, agreed before we start: half upfront, half when it is live. If you want us to look after it afterwards, that is a monthly fee for work we actually do, like updates, review replies and a monthly report. Cancel with 30 days' notice.

How do my customers pay a deposit? +

They get a secure payment link on WhatsApp or by email, or tap Pay on your website. They pay by card, instant EFT or scan-to-pay, and the money goes straight into your own account, never ours. The booking confirms itself the moment it is paid.

Is there a contract or lock-in? +

No. Monthly care runs month to month and you can cancel with 30 days' notice. Your website, domain, WhatsApp number, Google profile and every account we create stay in your name.

I already use some tools. Do I have to switch? +

No. We build around what you already have wherever it makes sense, and connect the pieces so nothing has to be typed twice.

Are there costs you do not control? +

Yes, and we tell you upfront. Payment providers take a small fee per payment, billed to you directly. Ad spend goes from your card to Meta or Google. Meta charges a small amount for some WhatsApp messages, which we pass on at cost.

What if the WhatsApp assistant answers a customer wrong? +

It can happen, so we plan for it. It only answers from what we teach it, it hands over to you whenever it is unsure, and we read through its chats every month and fix anything weak. You can take over any chat at any time.

How much of my time does it take? +

About an hour for the first chat, then a few minutes to approve the plan and try it with us before it goes live. Most work goes live fast, and you get the go-live date with your quote.

Do I need a website already? +

No. Many of our clients start with only a WhatsApp number. We build what is missing and nothing you do not need.

Can I not just do this myself? +

Some of it, yes. What we build goes further: booking with your own rules, payments that confirm themselves, an assistant trained on your business, and everything connected so nothing is typed twice. That is software work, and it is what we do every day.

Where are you based? +

Durban. We work with businesses across South Africa, and everything is built and supported remotely.

Is this POPIA compliant? +

Yes. Customers are told when they are chatting to an assistant, consent is captured before anyone is messaged, and we sign a POPIA operator agreement with you before we handle your customers' details.

Not sure where to start? Start with a message.

Tell us what kind of business you run. We'll tell you honestly what would help, and what wouldn't.

Chat on WhatsApp Run the free Missed Money Scan