The booking system setup that works perfectly for a mobile barbershop
Archie Davies
🏪 VIP Seller
🥇 Gold Seller
Tattoo Studio · Colchester · 6mo ago
I want to share my honest experience of introducing online-only booking to my beauty salon in Cardiff, because I was terrified about how my clients would react and the reality was nothing like what I feared.
Background: I'd been running my beauty salon for 4 years, all bookings via phone and text. Lovely clients, very loyal, but the admin was killing me. Evenings spent confirming appointments, chasing people, answering 'are you free on Friday?' messages at 9pm.
I switched to Phorest and gave myself three months to phase out old-style bookings. Here's what actually happened:
Week one: About half my regulars booked online immediately with zero fuss. These were the ones who'd always been organised about appointments anyway.
Weeks two and three: I gently redirected phone enquiries to the booking link. 'I don't take bookings by phone anymore but here's the link — it takes about two minutes and you can pick your exact slot.' Almost everyone was fine with this.
Month two: I turned off WhatsApp booking entirely. Had about ten complaints, all from clients who'd been occasional no-shows previously. Decided I was okay with that.
Month three onwards: Fully digital, deposits on every booking, no Sunday evening admin sessions. My actual take-home time increased by roughly five hours a week. I wish I'd done it years earlier.
Background: I'd been running my beauty salon for 4 years, all bookings via phone and text. Lovely clients, very loyal, but the admin was killing me. Evenings spent confirming appointments, chasing people, answering 'are you free on Friday?' messages at 9pm.
I switched to Phorest and gave myself three months to phase out old-style bookings. Here's what actually happened:
Week one: About half my regulars booked online immediately with zero fuss. These were the ones who'd always been organised about appointments anyway.
Weeks two and three: I gently redirected phone enquiries to the booking link. 'I don't take bookings by phone anymore but here's the link — it takes about two minutes and you can pick your exact slot.' Almost everyone was fine with this.
Month two: I turned off WhatsApp booking entirely. Had about ten complaints, all from clients who'd been occasional no-shows previously. Decided I was okay with that.
Month three onwards: Fully digital, deposits on every booking, no Sunday evening admin sessions. My actual take-home time increased by roughly five hours a week. I wish I'd done it years earlier.
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I use Setmore alongside Xero and the integration is really smooth. Invoices sync automatically, payments are recorded, and my accountant has stopped asking me for spreadsheets every quarter. If you're trying to run a proper business rather than a hobby this kind of integration matters.
#1
The no-show stats in this post match my experience almost exactly. I was losing roughly £5 a month to no-shows and cancellations before I introduced deposits. That money was just gone. Now it's protected. The maths on deposits is completely obvious once you see it.
#2