Computer Packages

[clare04]

Hi

I've been looking into a computer system for the salon, one that tracks stock and client info, takings and that sort of thing.

However all the packages are really expensive. Specially when tou add it up over the year.

Does anyone know of a software package that I could do something similar with

Thanks

 

[Lynne Baker]

How quickly do you need it?
Ruth is in the process of designing an application for just such a purpose.
See this thread
http://www.salongeek.com/biz-geek/32908-complete-salon-managment-software-solutions.html

 

[Lucy-Jayne]

I was looking into computer systems at ExCel.

In the end, I chose Salon Iris. It does everything, and I mean everything! It is the most user friendly (IMO) out of all of their competitors and is actually the cheapest!

Definitely worth a look in. Google them and have a look. They'll send you a free trial.

HTHs

 

[Ruth Mills]

How quickly do you need it?
Ruth is in the process of designing an application for just such a purpose.
See this thread
http://www.salongeek.com/biz-geek/32908-complete-salon-managment-software-solutions.html

Thanks for the heads up Lynne

Won't be ready for at least a few months yet alas (still at the drawing board stage at the moment) - but when it is, the first incarnation of it will certainly not be that expensive at all!

 

[lublu]

I use a system called ezee software the company is based in ireland.
Not sure how much it would cast now to but the system but it does everything for you including sms, stock control, retention figs etc
would be lost without it

www.ezeesoftware.com

luce xxx

 

[sian1979]

my boss got this package for the salon that i work in...it is really good.
salon software salon computer Hair Beauty Nail Massage Spa Tanning Intelligent Tills
she paid a set amount for the package which included the computer and the till then pays a set amount monthly for updates and support. It is really good and easy to use...you can send texts to clients saying thanks for coming when they have left....and reminders for appointments....customers always comment on it.
She has mentioned it in this thread if you want to see more info...
http://www.salongeek.com/biz-geek/57601-salon-software.html
HTH's

 

[nonkydyson]

Hi, I also have been searching for a software system to suit all my salon needs. I have found a software company who will provide the software, installation, training and the first years tech support for about £1200 - they are by far the most economical ( was quoted nearly double that) compared to Millenium Software, Salon Iris, Premier Spa & Beautec. The company is called Soft Booking. Also be very careful - one software comp in particular had increased the cost of the hardware by 150% - a good software house should be happy to supply the software and advise on the specifications for the hardware.

 

[f1sher]

i suggest that you have a look at salonsalon 11 from Affordable Salon software at $99.95 - Salon Software
I have it up and running in my son's salon and it suits us very well indeed.
I found this package through a well respected u.s. site called Free Software Downloads and Software Reviews - Download.com there is only one review on the site..i wrote it recently.
this software currently costs only 100dollars (about £53) and represents tremendous value for money. To find it on download.com simply use the search option and type salonsalon. We have been "live" for a couple of weeks now and are still discovering new things that it does. The software co. offer e-mail support which works really well. I got an almost immediate response when i had a small query. the advantage of this one, apart from the price, is that there are no sales people calling and no monthly fees. the back up system is excellent and best of all......you can download the whole set up to your computer and try it out for 30 days as a totally free trial. I played with it for a couple of weeks at home with dummy clients, staff, suppliers, appointments etc to get to understand it, and once happy spent some time entering customers with notes (colour codes,perm info etc) the rest we enter as new when they make an appointment. I suggest that you print off the manual and work through it systematically, it will soon start to make sense! ONE IMPORTANT THING. You must set your computer to U.S. money BEFORE YOU DOWNLOAD. This means that you will have to get used to seeing a dollar sign rather than the pound sign but it has not bothered us one little bit. it is only an emblem! you do not have to actually work in dollars! the date is always shown the american way i.e. 3/31/2008 for todays date. we soon got the hang of that one!
Have a look and try it out, you will be impressed. (I hope)
Bob Ball. (aka f1sher)

 

[Millennium]

If you are looking for a complete solution for your salon or spa, Millennium by Harms might be a great fit for you. The salon software includes...

• Appointment Book
• Register/POS
• Customer Mgmt
• Staff Mgmt
• Inventory Mgmt
• Business mgmt

Packages are as little as $5/day. We were just recently featured on Tabatha’s Salon Takeover..

Cheers.

 

[Ruth Mills]

If you are looking for a complete solution for your salon or spa, Millennium by Harms might be a great fit for you. The salon software includes...

• Appointment Book
• Register/POS
• Customer Mgmt
• Staff Mgmt
• Inventory Mgmt
• Business mgmt

Packages are as little as $5/day. We were just recently featured on Tabatha’s Salon Takeover..

Cheers.

So at today's exchange rate, that would work out at a shade under £1,150 per year or £96 per month (for the cheapest package).

 

[PANTA1265]

Fantastic software at the fraction of other systems.

 

[SalonSwift]

Hi there,

Just wanted to introduce myself and let you know about our package named Salon Swift. Salon Swift - Software for the Hair, Beauty, Tanning and professional services industries

If you're in Australia you've probably heard of it, if not we're moving into the UK and the US at a good rate.

We have offices in both Cambridge UK and in Australia of course.

I recommend you check us out. We sit in a place in the market where we offer the highest quality product at the most accessible price.

Head over to Salon Swift - Software for the Hair, Beauty, Tanning and professional services industries and have a look. I'm confident you're going to be impressed with our software.

It's got all the bells and whistles, Appt Book, Stock Control, POS, incredible marketing tools with email and sms that is so easy to use. There's just so much in there.

I'm happy of course to answer any questions you might have.

Rob

 

[StudioTracker]

Hi if you are still interested in a Salon Software system, StudioTracker salon software provides a complete salon management solution, features include, client history and tracking, appointment calander bookings, stock control, retail sales and reporting on every aspect of your business. StudioTracker has no monthly fees or hidden costs, support, updates and training are completely free of charge!

 

[PANTA1265]

At only £59 why pay a fortune.
I had to pay only £59 and does the lot.
www.unisalons.com

Unisalons Easy salon software very affordable price

The link above has all the software futures.

Cheers

 

[Salon66]

I'll be looking for some software too in the near future once we have purchased or started a salon. One thing that would be high on the list of importance is the data portability (import / export of the database). I'd want to be sure that I'd be able to export my data into some standard format so it could be imported into another salon package if the need arises. Likewise the package should allow the importation of data into the system.

Without this you end up being locked into a system meaning that if you changed you'd have to manually enter all the data again. I would also be wary of 'hosted' systems or SAAS (software as a service), i.e. where the data or application doesn't reside on your physical PC.

 

[Ruth Mills]

I'll be looking for some software too in the near future once we have purchased or started a salon. One thing that would be high on the list of importance is the data portability (import / export of the database). I'd want to be sure that I'd be able to export my data into some standard format so it could be imported into another salon package if the need arises. Likewise the package should allow the importation of data into the system.

Without this you end up being locked into a system meaning that if you changed you'd have to manually enter all the data again. I would also be wary of 'hosted' systems or SAAS (software as a service), i.e. where the data or application doesn't reside on your physical PC.

I would imagine that Excel, CSV and XML would be suitable formats for the import/export of data - the only issue being that you would need to make sure that the data is in the correct format for the import, or the software provider would need to tailor their application to accept the data in the format that you provide (e.g. By performing an XSLT transformation).

I wouldn't rule out SAAS or hosted systems either - provided that the company offering the service has multiple servers in multiple data centres, is compliant with the Data Protection Act, provides secure access to the application (e.g. Over https) and makes regular backups of your data. With salon software that runs and stores data on your PC, if the salon gets broken into and the burglars steal your PC with all your data on (and there are no offsite backups) then you would be screwed. Likewise if your hard drive conks out or you accidentally delete a critical data file used by a standalone salon software system. But if you used a SAAS system, you could log in ASAP from any other computer, and it would be business as usual.

Hmm, how about combining the best of both worlds? A standalone application that synchronises in real time with a SAAS system. If the internet goes down, then you won't need to worry, as the data is also on your PC. And if your hard drive gives up the ghost, then you can just take a copy of your entire database from the SAAS system. That would be rather cool, I think!

 

[Salon66]

Ruth you make some good points, but I've seen some colleagues get into trouble with SAAS where the company went bust and they had a nightmare getting their data back. I guess I'm a little old fashioned and just like to have my data close.

My ideal would be to have local system with encrypted HDD syncing to a secured and encrypted NAS server (located offsite) as well as to my web server to give me full remote access to the system via my browser.

So far all the systems I've seen run on MS Windows only and I've been a Linux user for years so getting back into administering a Windows system with all it's security and virus issues is going to be a bit of a learning curve.

 

[Ruth Mills]

Ruth you make some good points, but I've seen some colleagues get into trouble with SAAS where the company went bust and they had a nightmare getting their data back. I guess I'm a little old fashioned and just like to have my data close.

My ideal would be to have local system with encrypted HDD syncing to a secured and encrypted NAS server (located offsite) as well as to my web server to give me full remote access to the system via my browser.

So far all the systems I've seen run on MS Windows only and I've been a Linux user for years so getting back into administering a Windows system with all it's security and virus issues is going to be a bit of a learning curve.

That's so cool to hear that you are a Linux user! I'm a big Linux fan myself (I run a couple of servers with CentOS on them - one in Wolverhampton and one in Cheltenham) as well as being a total Java geek (which is cool, as if designed properly, a Java application should run on pretty much any operating system that has an up to date Java Virtual Machine).

So... the way I'd probably do it is to have a local application written in Java (with either a Swing or an SWT front-end) which stores data in a local database, and synchronises with a Java web application running on a cluster comprising two Linux servers in separate data centres (the local application probably using XML-based messaging over HTTPS to synchronise with the web application).

That's such a pain about the company offering SAAS services going bust though! How silly that they didn't have a contingency plan to cover ensuring that the client's data would be safe in the case of such an eventuality! It would make a lot of sense for there to be a clause to say that in case of the SAAS company going bust, their code becomes Open Source, so that their clients can continue using their system (assuming of course that the clients are able to take a copy of all data stored in the SAAS system).

 

[persianista]

Erm, this is a salon forum, would you mind terribly talking in a language I can follow please!!!!

Am really interested in what you are both saying and debating but I am struggling to follow this thread. xx

 

[Ruth Mills]

Erm, this is a salon forum, would you mind terribly talking in a language I can follow please!!!!

Am really interested in what you are both saying and debating but I am struggling to follow this thread. xx

OK, I'll try...

"SAAS - Software as a Service" - this means that the software runs on a server somewhere (usually via the Web) rather than directly on someone's PC - so things like Google Apps and Salesforce would examples of "software as a service". In the salon world, web based applications like Salonium, Appointment Diary, etc, are examples of salon software that follow the "Software as a Service" model. With these applications, your data (client details, appointment details, etc) is stored on a server in a data centre rather than on your computer.

Whereas the majority of salon software comes as a standard Windows application which is installed on your computer directly - and your client details, appointment details, etc, will be stored on your computer's hard drive.

Both approaches have their advantages and disadvantages. e.g. with "Software as a Service", you are relying on a third party to store your business critical data for you; if your Internet connection goes down then you can't access your client/appointment details, and if anything happens to the software provider's servers, or the company goes bust, then you'll probably lose all your data.

Likewise, with a traditional "standalone" salon software application that runs on your local PC, it's up to you to make sure that your data is backed up; if you don't make back-ups and your computer gets stolen or your hard drive fails, then you'll lose all your data.

As for importing/exporting data... the ability to do this is protection against "vendor lock-in". I can pretty much guarantee that most salon software will store data in a proprietary format which won't be easy to transfer to a different software package. Whereas it would be better if you were able to export data from a salon software system into a commonly used format (such as an Excel spreadsheet) - and likewise be able to import data into a salon software system from an Excel spreadsheet or whatever too.