PriceGuard

PriceGuard exists because pricing is where small shops quietly lose money.

Most makers and micro-manufacturers track materials.
Some track time.
Almost none consistently account for:

• overhead

• platform fees

• packaging

• shipping structure

• target margin vs target profit

• rounding behaviour that changes real margin

Spreadsheets work — until they don’t.
SaaS tools exist — but they’re often bloated, subscription-based, or designed for companies bigger than a two-to-five-person shop.

PriceGuard exists to answer one boring but critical question:

What do I actually need to charge to stay profitable?

It’s deliberately:

• No accounts

• No telemetry

• No data collection

• No hidden pricing logic

• No subscription

Just clean math.

The Deeper Reason

The broader Method behind BUS Core is documented in the TGC Method SoT # BUS Core – Method Process So… — and one recurring pattern is this:

Most small operators don’t need complexity.
They need clarity and control.

PriceGuard is the smallest possible useful slice of that philosophy.

It’s:

• Local-first thinking

• Deterministic math

• Transparent inputs → predictable outputs

• Built to be extended later, but usable immediately

No hype.
No AI gimmicks.
Just margin protection.

Why I’m Personally Working on It

Because pricing is operational reality.

If pricing is wrong:

• inventory doesn’t matter

• manufacturing efficiency doesn’t matter

• “growth” is just scaling loss

PriceGuard is a small tool, but it solves a foundational constraint.

And small, sharp tools tend to travel farther than big systems.