Never run out again: low-stock alerts from a Google Sheet to Telegram

What you'll have in half an hour: a simple stock sheet that quietly watches itself, and once a day sends you a Telegram message listing exactly what's running low and needs reordering — or a cheerful "all good" when nothing does. No inventory software, no stock-out surprises in front of a customer.

This is a chore owners have wrestled with forever. One maker put it exactly: "I tried to do this with Excel spreadsheets for years and I [was] constantly struggling to account for extra/missing" stock (Capterra review, May 2026). Around 43% of small businesses still track inventory by hand or not at all (industry data). You don't need a warehouse system — you need a sheet that shouts when something's low.

Is this for you?

Build it if you hold physical stock — retail, F&B ingredients, a workshop's materials, a salon's products — and "we're out of that" costs you sales or a scramble. Skip it if your stock is tiny enough to eyeball, or you already run proper inventory software with reorder alerts.

What it costs

S$0 per month (verified 13 July 2026). Google Sheets is free; Make's free plan (1,000 credits/month, no card — Make) runs a daily check for a fraction of that; Telegram is free.

Before you start

A Google account, the Telegram app, and a free Make account with a bot. This is the same toolkit as the receipt-to-sheet flagship — if you've done that one, you're 15 minutes from finished; if not, its Steps 1 and 3 show you how to make a Telegram bot and a Make scenario click-by-click.

Build it, step by step

Step 1 — The stock sheet (10 minutes)

A new Google Sheet named "Stock", with three columns in row 1: Item, OnHand, ReorderLevel. Fill in your products, how many you have now, and the number at which you want a nudge to reorder. Keep OnHand and ReorderLevel as plain numbers (type 12, not 12 pcs) so the sheet can compare them.

Step 2 — The daily check in Make (15 minutes)

A two-module scenario:

Module 1 — Google Sheets → "Search Rows". Connect your Google account (expect and accept the access pop-up). Choose your Stock sheet. In its filter, set the condition OnHand — less than or equal to — ReorderLevel so it only pulls the items that are actually low. (Before mapping the next step, click Run once so Make fetches real rows and can show you the columns.)

Module 2 — Telegram Bot → "Send a Message". Connect your bot, pick your Chat ID (message the bot once first so it appears), and write the alert using the item fields, e.g.:

⚠️ Low stock — reorder: {{Item}} (only {{OnHand}} left)

To get a single tidy daily message instead of one per item, wrap Module 2 so it runs after the search — or simply let it send one line per low item; for most small shops that's fine.

Step 3 — Run it once a day

Set the scheduling toggle ON and choose a daily time (say 8am, before you open). Now every morning you get the reorder list, or silence when nothing's low.

The honest catch — and the fix

This alert is only as good as the numbers in the sheet, and updating stock counts is itself the chore people avoid. So don't let the sheet rot: pick a rhythm (update after each delivery, or a 5-minute Friday count). Even better, add a tiny Telegram "stock in / stock out" logging step using the same skills as the flagship — text the bot "sold 3 candles" and a scenario subtracts from OnHand — so the sheet stays current without a separate data-entry ritual. Start simple; add that once the daily alert has proven its worth.

Test it works (2 minutes)

Set one item's OnHand below its ReorderLevel, then click Run once in Make. Within a moment, Telegram should message you naming that item. Set it back above the level, Run once again — it should go quiet.

When it doesn't

• No message even though something's low. Usually the numbers are stored as text, so the "less than or equal to" comparison fails. Re-type them as plain numbers, or check the column isn't formatted as text.
• It messages you about items that aren't low. The filter is comparing the wrong columns. Open Module 1's filter and confirm it's OnHand ≤ ReorderLevel.
• It was working, now it's silent/wrong. The sheet is out of date — the failure mode above. Update your counts, or add the logging step.

Your data

Stock levels aren't personal data, so the PDPA isn't in play here. The only sensitivity is commercial — your sheet may reveal suppliers, costs, or what sells — so keep it shared only with people who need it, the same as any business record.

Switch it off

Pause or delete the Make scenario and the alerts stop. The sheet is yours. No spend, nothing to cancel.

What's next

Get the stock sheet template and Make recipe, set your reorder levels this week, and let the mornings tell you what to buy. Since you now know this Telegram-and-Sheet pattern, the daily money snapshot is a quick companion — the same trick, pointed at your sales instead of your stock.

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