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A new salon software booking platform is rolling out its offering to salons, clinics and barbers in Ireland.
ResNeo, which is based in Northern Ireland, has been founded by Andrew Courtney, John Withers and Ryan Wray.
“We are three friends from Holywood in Co Down, who met when our children attended the same school,” explained Wray, who is the company’s head of sales and marketing. “Andrew is a GP partner in Belfast and has a 10-year history of building online and software businesses. John runs a corporate intelligence business based in Holywood, and I have spent 20 years in sales and client management for global organisations.”
According to Wray, it was after identifying a gap in the market that the trio decided to start the business. “Talking to salon and barber owners, we kept hearing the same frustrations: commission on new clients, long contracts, set-up fees and software that doesn't fit how salons run today. Many salons now have a mix of employed staff, self-employed stylists and chair renters, and that is often handled awkwardly. We wanted to build something local, fairly priced and designed around how the industry really works.”
ResNeo is aimed specifically at independent businesses, promising to give them the exact tools that they need to stay in control of their time and money. According to Wray, it differentiates itself in the market in a number of ways.
“First is our pricing. Plans start at £20 a month, including VAT, with 0% commission on bookings, no set-up fee, no long contracts and a 14-day free trial. Second, our Link & Break feature means that self-employed stylists and chair renters keep their own account, clients, diary and takings, but can link with the salon so everyone appears on one booking page. If someone moves on, breaking the link takes a click and nothing moves, because their clients were always their own. And finally, we're local and independent. Owners deal directly with the people who build the product, and we build the features they ask for.”
Alongside that, ResNeo covers the essentials, such as 24/7 online booking, deposits and card holds to cut no-shows, automatic text, and email reminders. “We also have in-salon payments, including Tap to Pay on iPhone and Android, with the money going straight to the business's own Stripe account, and iOS and Android apps so owners and their teams can run the diary from their phones,” said Wray. “And we’ve just introduced Ask ResNeo, an AI assistant built into the app that gives step-by-step help.”
Having launched in Northern Ireland and the UK, ResNeo is now setting its sights on the Republic of Ireland. It is also working on stock-tracking and tools to make onboarding and day-to-day admin even easier.
“Good software pays for itself by filling the diary and protecting it, but it shouldn't take a cut of every booking or tie the business into a long contract, and it should save the owner time rather than add admin,” added Wray.
