Stop Managing Your Salon From Your WhatsApp Inbox

There is a moment every salon owner knows well.

It is 11pm. You are winding down after a long day on your feet. Your phone buzzes. "Hey, are you available on Sunday afternoon?". You make a mental note to reply in the morning. By the time you do, they have already booked somewhere else.

That is not a people problem. That is a systems problem.

The Way Most Salons Run Their Bookings (And Why It Is Costing Them)

If your booking process looks anything like this: clients DM you -> you check your schedule in your head -> you reply with available times -> they confirm -> you mentally block the slot. You are running a memory game with money on the line.

The cost is not just the occasional missed booking. It compounds:

• Clients who message at odd hours and don't get a reply in time book somewhere else
• Double bookings happen when two people confirm the same slot through different channels
• You have no record of who your clients are, what they booked, or how much they spent
• Your staff do not know their schedule until you tell them. Worse if they clock-in from 9 to 6 just to spend all-day on TikTok.
• You cannot see your revenue clearly because payments are scattered across M-Pesa, cash, and bank transfers
• Calculating staff commissions turns into a brawl every end of the month

Every salon starts this way. The ones that grow past a certain point do so because they stopped relying on WhatsApp and started running their business like a business.

What Aptly Is

Aptly is a booking and business management platform built specifically for service businesses in Kenya (salons, spas, barbershops, photography studios etc..).

It does two things well:

1. It gives your clients a way to book and pay online at any hour — without messaging you.

Your clients get a branded storefront where they can browse your services, pick a staff member, choose a time, and pay via M-Pesa or card. No DMs. No back and forth. The booking lands in your dashboard and everyone gets a confirmation notification automatically.

2. It gives you a proper system to run your business from the front desk.

Walk-in clients, staff schedules, staff commissions, eTIMS KRA compliance, expense tracking, sales reports, client records, and role-based access for your team — all in one place. Whether a client books online or walks in off the street, everything goes through the same system.

Key Features

For Your Clients

• Online booking storefront accessible 24/7 from any phone
• Visual service menus — showcase your work with images and videos for every service
• M-Pesa, Airtel Money, and card payments at checkout
• Automated booking confirmation & reminders via email & SMS
• Flexible payments — choose whether clients pay full price, a set deposit, or pay on arrival
• Self-service portal to view and manage their bookings

For Your Business

• Receptionist dashboard for managing walk-in bookings and collecting outstanding balances
• Staff schedule management (including automated lunch breaks and days off) and individual staff portals
• Customer CRM with full booking and payment history
• Expense tracking and net profit view
• Z-Reports for end-of-day tax compliance
• Audit logs and role-based access control (assign specific rights to Receptionists, Staff, and Admins)
• Voucher and refund processing
• Staff commissions calculation

See It in Action

Before reading any further, watch the full platform walkthrough below. It covers everything — the client-facing storefront, the receptionist dashboard, staff management, and payments.

Pricing

Aptly has two plans. No long-term contracts. Cancel with 30 days notice.

Starter — KES 3,500/month

Everything you need to manage your business from the front desk.

Best for salons that want to get properly organized before going fully online. You get the full back-office suite — receptionist dashboard, staff schedules, walk-in booking management, client records, expense tracking, and reporting.

One-time setup fee: KES 10,000
Covers onboarding, system configuration, and training for your team.

Expansion — KES 5,500/month

Everything in Starter, plus a storefront so clients can book and pay online 24/7.

Best for salons ready to take online bookings and payments. Adds the client-facing booking storefront, M-Pesa and card payment processing, automated email confirmations, deposit management, and the customer self-service portal.

One-time setup fee: KES 15,000
Covers onboarding, system configuration, payment gateway setup, and training.

Optional Add-On: SMS & Email Notifications

Keep your clients and staff in the loop automatically and reduce no-shows.

• Monthly: KES 2,000/month

Includes automated alerts for:

• Booking confirmations
• Upcoming appointment notifications (reminders for clients and alerts to staff)
• Payment reminders and payment confirmations
• Staff onboarding notifications

Compatible with both Starter and Expansion plans.

Optional Add-On: KRA eTIMS Integration

For businesses that need KRA-compliant fiscal receipts with QR codes for every transaction and a Z-Report to show total fiscal sales over a given period.

• One-time registration fee: KES 20,000
• Monthly: KES 2,500/month

Compatible with both Starter and Expansion plans.

Can I upgrade later?

Yes — at any time. All your data, bookings, and client records carry over. You only pay the difference in monthly fees going forward.

Who Is Aptly For

Aptly is built for service businesses in Kenya that are still running their operations through WhatsApp and phone calls and are ready to move to something more professional. Specifically:

• Hair salons and barbershops
• Nail studios and lash bars
• Spas and wellness centres
• Massage parlours and physiotherapy clinics
• Photography/music studios and makeup artists with recurring client bookings

If your business runs on appointments, Aptly is for you.

What Happens When You Sign Up

1. You reach out via the contacts below or book a free demo
2. We schedule the onboarding session where we configure your account — services, staff, schedule, and branding
3. Your team gets trained on the dashboard
4. You share your booking link with clients and you are live

Setup Timelines:

• For the Starter Plan, setup takes less than 24 hours from the moment you are ready to go.
• For the Expansion Plan, setup may take up to 72 hours. This is to allow enough time for the required compliance paperwork and account configuration for your payment gateway (Pesapal/Paystack).

Get Started

Ready to see Aptly set up for your business? Book a free demo and we will walk you through everything.

📧 [email protected]
🌐 squarely.online
📱 DM us on Instagram @squarely.online
📥 Whatsapp us on +2547-50-962-655

Aptly is built and supported in Nairobi, Kenya by Squarely — a software company building tools for African businesses.