BookNovi runs a business on one set of records: the calendar and the front desk, the register, clients, products and stock, the online store, wholesale, the team and the books. You only ever see the parts your business uses. This page shows where things are, so the walkthrough for your kind of business makes sense.
Your first business
A new account starts its business with a short guided setup, one question a screen. Nothing is saved until the end, so Back changes an answer.
- Start Your Business: type its name under The business’s name and pick What kind of business is it?: a hair salon, a barber shop, nails, lashes and brows, a spa, a clinic, a studio, a trainer, a product brand, a maker and distributor, or something else. Choose Next.
- Where is it: check the Time zone (the app guesses it from your device) and type the address and phone, or leave them for later. Choose Next.
- What do you sell and book? Say yes or no to each question for your kind of business. Choose Next.
- How many people work there? Counting you. Choose Next.
- How did you hear about us? If a rep or a partner gave you a code, type it in; a link that carried one fills it in for you. Choose Start my business.
The business opens on its first screen with What to do next: the steps of the walkthrough for your kind of business, each ticked as it gets done. Open it goes where a step is done, Skip it sets aside one that does not apply, and Put this list away hides it; it stays in the business menu, under What to do next. Your free trial starts the same day (see Plans and billing).
Not sure yet? Under the first step, choose Or look around first and Open the demo business: a make-believe salon with every module in use, kept beside your own business. It takes a couple of minutes to build. Nothing in it is real, and nothing is ever sent from it (see The demo business).
Every answer can be changed afterwards in Settings, under Menu, in What you use. A second business is started from the business menu, with New business.
The top bar
The dark bar across the top holds the sections you use all day. Tap one to open it. On a phone or a small tablet the bar at the bottom holds four of them, and the rest are under More.
On the right of the top bar:
- The sparkle button opens the assistant beside the page. Ask it about your calendar, clients, services and stock, or how to do something in the app.
- The Apps button (the grid of squares) lists every section you have, with Help at the end. For an owner, Admin sits just above Settings: locations, brands, people and modules across your businesses (see Admin).
- Your business's name opens the business menu: switch to another of your businesses, see All businesses side by side once you have more than one, start a New business or a New demo business, install the app on a computer, pick your own Language for the app's screens (see Languages), and Sign out.
- With more than one location, a location picker shows which one you are working in. The calendar, the register and the time clock show that location.
When something is loading
Whenever you tap, click or press a key and the app has to fetch something, a thin bar sweeps along the top of the window and the pointer turns into the busy cursor, so you know it is working. If it takes longer than a moment, Loading… appears at the top right with a spinner. The sign shows only for what you started: nothing comes on by itself while the app checks for messages in the background. On the booking page and in the store, your clients see the same sign. If you have asked your device for less motion, the bar and the spinner hold still.
Choosing what sits on the bar
- Open Settings and choose the Menu tab.
- Switch a section to On the bar to keep it on the top bar, or to In Apps to keep it in the Apps menu.
- Drag the sections by their handles into the order you work in.
It saves as you go. On a phone or small tablet the bar holds the first four; the rest are under More.
Turning parts on and off
Every optional part of the app is a switch: the calendar, inventory, wholesale, the sales CRM, time and pay, workflows, memory, forms, photos, loyalty and the rest. A part that is off disappears from every screen, and nothing in it is lost. Switch it on again and it comes back with everything it held.
- Open Settings, then Menu.
- Under What you use, switch a part off, or choose See what else you can add and switch one on.
- To answer the setup questions again, choose Change beside your kind of business.
Only what belongs in your kind of business is listed. A salon is never offered fulfillment for other businesses, and a brand is never offered the calendar.
Getting help
- Help is at the end of the Apps menu, and of More on a phone. Search it, or open the walkthrough for your kind of business.
- Setup screens have a Help with this link to the article about that part.
- The assistant reads Help too. Ask it "how do I add a territory?" and it answers from the article.
Best practices
- Answer the setup questions honestly. Saying no keeps the app simple; you can switch anything on later.
- Put only what you use every day on the top bar. Everything else is one tap away in Apps.
- Try something new in a demo business first. It has weeks of made-up data and sits apart from your own.
- Give each person their own login (see Your team and their schedules) so the activity log says who did what.