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Case Study · 4 min read

A weekend migration that saved 12 hours every week

Warung Digital is a 9-person food-tech startup in Surabaya. They were drowning in WhatsApp threads and Google Sheets. Then they found a simpler way.

9 peopleTeam size
Food-techIndustry
SurabayaLocation
12h / weekWasted on admin
80% lessAdmin time after
1 weekendTotal setup time
9 peopleTeam size
Food-techIndustry
SurabayaLocation
12h / weekWasted on admin
80% lessAdmin time after
1 weekendTotal setup time
The Problem

WhatsApp was their
HR system

Budi, the CTO, was also the unofficial HR manager. Leave requests came as WhatsApp messages — sometimes at midnight. Attendance was a shared Google Sheet that nobody updated on time. Expense receipts? Photos buried in chat threads that vanished after a week.

Not again... HR Stuff 9 members Bos, izin cuti besok ya 🙏 11:47 PM Saya juga mau WFH Jumat 08:02 AM Klaim taxi kemarin 150rb 08:15 AM Wait, udah diapprove belum yg kemarin? 08:20 AM Eh tunggu, ini approve yg mana ya? 😅 47 📊 Attendance Tracker OUTDATED W HR Stuff 🏢 Rina: receipt utk grab kemarin... 12 W Andi (direct) Bos, cuti saya approved ga? 3 W Sari (direct) Lembur kemarin catat dimana?
The Search

They didn't need enterprise software

Budi looked at BambooHR, Zoho People, even building something custom. All were overkill for 9 people. Pricing started at $6/user/month — $648/year for features they'd never touch.

BambooHR
$6
/user/month

200+ features they'd never use

Zoho People
$8
/user/month

Enterprise tier overkill

Workived
$0
free up to 15 people

Just right. Set up Saturday, done by lunch.

He needed something a food-tech startup could set up on a Saturday afternoon — not something that needed a 3-week implementation project and a dedicated HR person they didn't have.
ANNUAL COST COMPARISON $648/yr Others $0/yr Workived
"I once approved the same leave twice because I couldn't find the original message. That's when I knew we needed a real system."
B
Budi Hartono
CTO & Co-founder, Warung Digital
The Setup

Saturday morning.
Done before lunch.

1
Create workspace
Company name, timezone, currency — three fields
2 min
2
Add 2 departments
Engineering and Operations — done
1 min
Invite 8 teammates — everyone clocked in by noon
3 min for invites. Monday: leave requests via app, not WhatsApp.
Done ✓
B S A D R Y M N All 9 members connected

The following Monday, leave requests went through the app instead of WhatsApp. Budi got push notifications, tapped "Approve" in 3 seconds, and moved on with his day.

No training needed. The team picked it up in minutes.

The Payoff

Budi stopped being the HR department

Three months later, the team runs itself. Leave balances are self-service. Expense claims get submitted with a photo and approved in under a minute. Attendance is automatic — no more chasing people.

WEEKLY ADMIN HOURS Before 12 hrs After 2 hrs 10 hours saved / week
80%
less admin time

From 12 to 2 hours per week. The rest goes back to building the product.

100%
team adoption

All 9 members active in week one. No training.

$0
monthly cost

Free tier. No credit card. No catch.

6 min
total setup time

Workspace + departments + invites

520
hours/year back to building product
"I used to dread Mondays because of all the admin catch-up. Now I just open Workived, glance at the dashboard, and start coding."
B
Budi Hartono
CTO & Co-founder, Warung Digital

Your startup deserves
better than WhatsApp HR

Workived is free for teams up to 15 people. Set up in minutes, not weeks. No credit card required.

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