Helsinki-based startup Book Salon is extending its services to the UK. The salon management system is designed in 2016 to provide a full suite of tools that automates admin hassles from appointment management to payment for hair, beauty and wellness companies. Book Salon has recently raised a total of €5M in funding and has over 2,000 European customers in the beauty and health industry.
Book Salon launches in the UK to help beauty and wellness industry entrepreneurs save time and grow their business
Over 2,000 salons in Europe already use Book Salon’s payment and booking services, saving more than 100 hours a year of entrepreneurs’ time, lowering stress and freeing up funds for salons to grow.
Book Salon, a payment and booking service provider specializing in hair, beauty, and wellness companies, is launching operations in the UK. The Finnish startup provides entrepreneurs with a full suite of modern tools to run a successful business. Book Salon offers payment terminals and a payment processing service, in addition to its website builder, online booking systems, and cash and accounting reports.
With the support of international investors, Book Salon is expanding its operations in Europe. Having successfully launched in Sweden, Denmark and Norway this May, Book Salon is ready to launch in the British market. Book Salon already has a number of clients in the UK and it sees potential for rapid growth, as a 2020 study showed that 75% of British salons did not use any digital booking systems, resulting in an estimated industry loss of over £1.2 billion from missed appointments alone.
“We are excited about expanding our services to the UK. There are more than 300,000 hair and beauty professionals in the UK, and a majority of them are still working by phone and on paper. This means thousands of British businesses are losing time and money by not using any digital tools to improve their workflow and decrease workload,” says Harri Myllylä, CEO of Book Salon.
Not having digital tools means a loss in income, potential difficulties in splitting income correctly between salon workers, and more time spent in the office rather than with clients. For example, estimates from 2020 show British hairdressers may face losses of over £81 million yearly because their cashless payment systems fail to accommodate and encourage tipping.
In addition, Book Salon has data from over 1,000 salons showing that 52% of appointment bookings happen between 5 PM and 9 AM. Businesses not using online booking or booking apps are therefore likely to lose potentially tens of thousands of pounds a year from unbooked appointments.
“The British hair and beauty industry was one of the hardest hit by the pandemic, according to the National Hair and Beauty Federation, but it is recovering fast. Many salons now have great potential for growth, but they spend time on repetitive admin tasks that lead to lost time and income. We want to help salons to grow from one-person shows to multi-person teams and new locations,” Myllylä continues.
Book Salon has proved its popularity with over 2,000 clients generating more than €100,000 in MRR in September 2022, a figure which has grown over 20 percent month to month. Their NPS score is an outstanding 72, and less than 1% of their clients churn.
The platform’s popularity can be explained by their customer feedback. According to survey data, Book Salon’s solutions save entrepreneurs over 100 work hours yearly. The time spent on the phone has dropped by over 70 percent to less than 10 minutes per day.
“When we opened our salon in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was clear we wanted to use digital tools for marketing, booking, and accounting from the get-go. With Book Salon’s platform, I have the tools I need to run my business easily available in one place. This means we have more time and energy to do what we love, taking care of the clients and making sure they are satisfied,” says Tajzan Sharif, founder of Femina Beauty salon.
“Our business model is based on helping our customer salons to grow their businesses”, notes Book Salon’s CMO Seppo Noso. “That our team is a blend of former beauty salon professionals and successful entrepreneurs allows us to do just that.”
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