Silicon solutions in the City of Trees, at prices rooted in reality.

Canterlotus is a small consultancy in Sacramento. We build the unglamorous machinery behind a good small business: the site that takes orders, the inventory that knows what sold, the ledger that shows your real margin, and a private assistant that answers from your own numbers.

High-tech solutions of the Bay. Common-sense prices of Sacramento.

See the workspace →

Local. Sacramento & the wonderful surrounding counties.

Fixed scope. Quoted before we build

You own it. Code, data and accounts in your name

Reachable. A person, not a ticket queue

Drag to move a window · double-click to fill the screen · reopen from the taskbar · tabs switch inventory and orders · ask Piper anything. Live simulation

Canterlotus Operations · Sacramento

Storefront

Piper Ops

Assistant

Recycle Bin

Tower Bridge Trading Co. · Old Sacramento general store

Tower Bridge Trading Co.

1210 Front St · Old Sacramento

Small-batch goods from the valley, two blocks from the river.

Local honey, walnut boards and pantry staples. Order online, pick up in the shop the same afternoon.

Shop the shelves

Tower Bridge Trading Co. Open Tue–Sun, 10a–6p Powered by Canterlotus

Inventory · Piper Ops

Inventory

Orders & margin

Inventory

SKU	Item	Retail	Cost	On hand	Reorder at	Status

Orders & gross margin today · updated 4:02p

Order	Customer	Items	Subtotal	Tax	Total	COGS	Gross	Margin

Piper · Shop Assistant

Piper Always active Live

Answers come from today's orders, stock and tax figures.

Start

Storefront

Piper Ops · inventory & orders

Piper · assistant

Files

Settings

Try: “What's low in stock?”

What we build

Six ways we take work off a small business owner's desk.

One system, quoted up front. Take the pieces you need.

Web presence & storefronts

A site that loads in under a second, reads on a phone, and actually takes an order. Found in Sacramento searches, not just attractive to look at.

Build & launch →

01 · Build & launch

Web presence & storefronts

Pages built around what you already sell
Pickup or shipping, invoiced the way you work
Google Business and structured data set up
Your domain, your hosting, your name on it

See a Demo

Web logistics & order flow

Inventory, pickup, shipping, invoicing and the forms in between, joined up so one sale updates every number you rely on, once.

Operations →

02 · Operations

Web logistics & order flow

Inventory, invoices and shipping joined up
One sale updates every number, once
Reorder points that warn you in time
Exports your bookkeeper accepts without a call

See a Demo

AI architecture

Private assistants that answer from your own catalogue, policies and price list. Designed on paper first, and built for your custom needs.

Design & integrate →

03 · Design & integrate

AI architecture

Answers drawn from your own catalogue and policies
Designed on paper first, so you can see the shape
You know where your data goes, and where it doesn't
Runs on accounts you control

See a Demo

Custom internal tools

The inventory sheet, the order ledger, the booking calendar, shaped around how you already work instead of a subscription you bend yourself around.

Internal software →

04 · Internal software

Custom internal tools

The ledger, the job list, the booking calendar
Shaped around how you already work
No subscription you have to bend yourself around
Training on your own screens at handover

Automation & workflows

Quotes, reminders, reorder points, the regular report. Agents ensure boring things happen on time, so you can focus on the things that humans enjoy.

Process →

05 · Process

Automation & workflows

Quotes, reminders and the regular report
Reorder points that raise their own hand
The boring things happen on time, unattended
A written note of what runs, and when

Local discovery & SEO

Google Business, honest local pages, structured data and a real service area. So the neighbours find you before they find the national chain.

Get found →

06 · Get found

Local discovery & SEO

Google Business, kept honest and current
Local pages for the towns you actually serve
Structured data so search engines read you straight
A monthly note: calls, directions, enquiries

The problem, stated plainly

Most small businesses don't have a technology problem. They have eleven small tools that don't talk to each other, one person holding all of it in their head, and a quote sheet that was never quite right.

We come in, look at how the work actually flows (the counter, the phone, the inbox, the supplier) and then build the smallest system that makes the numbers agree with each other. Often that's less software than you feared, wired better than what you had.

No rip-and-replace. We keep what already works.
Plain language, and a written scope before we start.
You own the code, the data and every account.

How a build actually runs

Short cycles, visible progress. You see working software on your own numbers, not a status deck.

Walk-through. An hour in your shop or on a call. We watch the work happen.
Written scope. What's in, what's out, what it costs. Fixed price.
Regular check-ins. You see it running on your own numbers, and change your mind cheaply.
Handover. Training on your screens, then support on your terms.

Terms that stay boring

Fixed price Agreed before the first line of code, and it stays exactly where we agreed.

Your accounts Domains, hosting, repositories and data live in your name from day one.

Local, on purpose Sacramento and the thirty miles around it. We can stand in your shop.

No lock-in Nothing we hand over needs us to keep running. Staying is a choice.

Questions small business owners ask

Who do you work with?

Small businesses in Sacramento and the surrounding counties: shops, bakeries, trades and local services. We work within about thirty miles of Sacramento so we can stand in your shop when it helps.

How is the work priced?

Fixed price. We agree the scope and cost in writing before the first line of code, and the price stays where we agreed.

Do I have to replace the tools I already use?

No. We look at how the work actually flows and keep what already works. Often the answer is less new software than you feared, wired together better than what you had.

What is a private AI assistant for a small business?

An assistant that answers from your own catalogue, policies and price list instead of the open internet. We design it on paper first so you can see its shape, and it runs on accounts you control.

Who owns the website, the code and the data?

You do. Domains, hosting, repositories and data live in your name from day one, and training on your own screens comes at handover.

How do I get started?

Send a request through the form on this page. A person reads every request and replies within one business day, usually the same afternoon. The first step is a walk-through of how your work runs today.

Start here

Bring us the messy part.

One form, one reply from a person, no discovery-call gauntlet. Tell us what's tangled and we'll say honestly whether we're the right people for it.

Locked. Hover to open the request formTap the button to open the request form

Send a request and a real person, one of the people who do the work, reads it.