Small business owners are constantly dogged by the question of how to compete with big businesses.
It's no different in various personal care industries.
Salon proprietors, personal trainers and massage therapists who own single-outlet businesses all find themselves vying for customers with big franchises using consolidated purchasing power and backed with investors' money.
It's a real challenge when your competitor seems to have unlimited resources at their disposal.
Fortunately, free online appointment booking software can help level the playing field.
Customers choose sole proprietors over nationwide chains for their personal care needs because they can more easily build relationships with service providers at small businesses.
Customers receive a level of care and attention that feels much more personal at their local salon or from their independent personal trainer.
Online appointment booking software won't necessarily help build these relationships or provide a more intimate level of care, but it will help small business owners compete with the big chains in the area where the corporate players currently hold a comparative advantage: convenience.
While small business owners may not be able to cover the same kind of ground that big chains do with all of their locations, they can offer customers the ability to book appointments online just like the chain service providers do.
Part of the convenience that clients of the big chains enjoy is their ability to hop on the web any time of day or night and just book themselves an appointment with their local outlet of XYZ Salons, Inc.
This requires that XYZ Salons, Inc.
integrate an online booking system into their website, which is an expensive solution.
Small business owners often don't have the money for such a hefty expense, but the good news is that truly free online appointment booking software does exist.
This kind of solution will allow small business owners to provide a level of convenience previously only available to customers of the big chains.
Free online appointment booking software offers a number of other benefits for small business owners and their clients:

• Free online appointment booking software allows self-employed professionals to manage their client appointments from anywhere they can access the internet.
  
• Customers can book their own appointments any time of day or night without worrying about whether or not the service provider can take the call.
  
• On the flip side of the above point, service providers can accept appointments even when they are busy with a client or otherwise unable to take a call.
  
• Customers also won't be kept on hold, thus making the booking experience even easier and increasing customer satisfaction.
  
• Automatic e-mail reminders are an added service that clients appreciate.
  These reminders also automate a task that previously had to be done manually, so small business owners can use that time for other important work.
  

It's hard enough for small business owners to go toe-to-toe against the marketing power of the big chains, but there's no reason they can't compete on convenience.
Implement free online appointment booking software and see your bookings increase along with the satisfaction level of your clients, who will be impressed that your business offers not only an unrivaled level of personal care, but convenience that they never imagined they could get from a small business.