Pick wrong and you're stuck with it for a year. Hidden fees creeping up. Support that takes three days to reply. A system that freezes every Saturday afternoon when you need it.

We've watched too many salon owners learn these lessons the expensive way. Here's how to avoid that.

The real price is never the advertised price

"How much?" should be simple. It never is.

That £25/month on the website? It's per user. You've got six stylists. Do the maths: £150/month. Add SMS fees at 8p each, 400 reminders a month, there's another £32. Oh, and online booking is a £20 add-on.

Before signing anything:

  • Per user or per salon? Per-user pricing triples your cost the moment you hire.
  • What's locked behind upgrades? Online booking, marketing tools, proper reporting—often sold separately.
  • What are the SMS rates? 5p vs 12p per message is the difference between £20 and £48 a month. Every month. Forever.
  • Growth penalties? Some systems charge more when your client list hits certain thresholds. Get it in writing before that surprise lands.

Contracts exist to protect them, not you

If the software's any good, you'll stay because you want to. Contracts are for when you want to leave but can't.

  • 12-month lock-ins. A lot can change in a year. You shouldn't need permission to adapt.
  • Auto-renewal traps. Buried in clause 14, your contract renews automatically unless you cancel 60 days before it ends. By post. To a specific address. Miss that window and you're in for another year.
  • "Reasonable" price increases. Reasonable according to whom? Them. And you've got no leverage once you're locked in.

Your clients, your data

Non-negotiable. If you can't take your client list when you leave, you don't really own it.

  • Full export available? Names, numbers, emails, appointment history, notes. Everything.
  • Usable format? CSV or Excel you can open anywhere—not some proprietary file only their system reads.
  • Export fees? Some charge £200+ to hand over your own data. That's hostage pricing.
  • Time limit after cancelling? Seven days to export before they delete it all is more common than you'd think.

Evasive answers here tell you everything. They're already planning how to keep you stuck.

Test the support before you need it

Everyone claims "award-winning support." Here's how to check:

  • Send a question now. How long until you get a real answer? Three hours or three days?
  • Check their hours. You're open Saturdays. Are they? When the till crashes mid-afternoon, "we'll get back to you Monday" doesn't help.
  • What channels? Email-only with 48-hour response times is support in name only.

Forget the feature checklist

Those comparison tables with 47 green ticks are designed to overwhelm you. You'll use about six features regularly. Make sure these work:

  • Speed. Book an appointment in under 10 seconds. Time it during the demo. If it's sluggish when they're trying to impress you, imagine it on a Saturday.
  • Online booking. Pull out your phone right now and try to book. That's what your clients experience.
  • Client records. Notes, patch test dates, preferences. Can you find them fast?
  • Checkout. Split payments, discounts, retail. Does it make sense or does it make queues?
  • Reporting. Daily takings at a glance. Staff performance. Who hasn't been in for three months. This stuff should take seconds, not clicks.

Make them prove it works

Don't just watch the demo. Interrupt it. Ask them to show you:

  1. Book a colour appointment for a new client with consultation time
  2. Move that appointment to tomorrow
  3. Split payment: half card, half cash
  4. Pull up a client's notes from six months ago
  5. Show everyone who hasn't visited in 90 days
  6. Export the client list to a spreadsheet

Watch their face. If any of this requires "just a few extra steps," multiply that by every busy Saturday for the next two years.

Walk away when you see these

  • "Call for pricing." Translation: it's complicated and expensive and they'd rather explain it verbally so there's no paper trail.
  • No free trial. They already know you won't like what you find.
  • "This offer ends today." Real businesses don't do countdown timers. That's a tactic, not a deal.
  • Dodgy data export answers. If they won't look you in the eye about this, they're already planning your exit fee.
  • Hidden pricing. Companies with nothing to hide put their prices on their website.

Bottom line

This decision affects every working day. Your staff will use it. Your clients will interact with it. You'll stare at it for hours.

The right software makes things easier immediately. Not after training. Not once you get used to it. Immediately.

If that's not what you're seeing, keep looking.