Why Australian salons deserve software built locally by people who understand the industry—not adapted from overseas platforms that treat us as an afterthought.
Or, why your booking software keeps waking your clients at 3am
Sets down Negroni with deliberate precision
You know what really gets me going? Australian salon owners—sophisticated professionals who wouldn't dream of using inferior products on their clients—happily handing their entire business over to software built in Silicon Valley. Or Manchester. Or Mumbai.
Slight pause, knowing look
Nothing against those fine cities, of course. But they're not exactly overflowing with expertise about Australian salons, are they?
Here's what amuses me most: overseas software treats Australian businesses like some sort of... afterthought. A checkbox on a global expansion spreadsheet. "Oh yes, Australia—just change the currency symbol and adjust for that timezone thing, what's it called again?"
Takes measured sip
How terribly insufficient.
Payment systems designed for countries where tipping is mandatory. Appointment reminders that arrive at 3am because someone in Seattle couldn't be bothered with proper timezone handling. Features for regulations that don't exist here, while ignoring the ones that do.
Rather like being fitted for a bespoke suit by someone who's never actually met you.
Sydney style. Melbourne edge. Brisbane innovation. Our professionals train worldwide, our standards are exceptional, and our clients expect perfection.
So why would we trust our operations to companies that have never set foot in an Australian salon?
Slight smile
When Gordon was built, we started with a rather radical notion: actually understanding Australian salons. Not as a market segment, but as the sophisticated operations they truly are.
Local Payment Integration
Your business bank account should just... work. Revolutionary concept, I know. Australian banks, Australian payment processors, Australian financial systems. Not some Frankenstein's monster of American payment rails with Australian bits awkwardly bolted on. Designed from day one for how we actually operate. Without—and I cannot stress this enough—requiring you to open accounts with payment processors whose names sound like rejected Star Wars characters.
Proper Timezone Handling
Adjusts cufflinks
You'd think this would be simple. Send appointment reminder. At appropriate time. In correct timezone. Yet somehow, overseas platforms treat Australian timezones like some exotic puzzle they'll solve "in a future update." Meanwhile, your clients are getting SMS reminders at 3am wondering if you've lost your mind.
Gordon sends reminders when people are actually awake. Radical, I know.
Real Support When You Need It
Picture this: It's 2pm Tuesday. Your busiest day. Something breaks. You need help. Now.
With overseas software, you're talking to someone in Seattle who's just had their morning coffee and is reading from a script that doesn't quite apply to your situation. "Have you tried turning it off and on again?" Yes, Brad, we have.
With Australian software? You're talking to someone who knows exactly what 2pm Tuesday looks like in a salon. Because they've lived it.
Leans back, swirls glass thoughtfully
Gordon wasn't birthed in some California boardroom by people whose closest encounter with a salon was walking past one on the way to their Tesla. It was built in Australia. Refined in actual Australian salons. By people who've watched a Saturday morning rush, understood the silent panic when the EFTPOS terminal freezes, and know exactly what "the usual" means when Mrs. Chen calls to book.
We didn't "study the Australian market" from afar like some exotic anthropological expedition. We lived it.
Mobile-First for How We Actually Work
Salon professionals aren't desk jockeys. You're moving. Creating. On the floor with clients. Your software should move with you—beautifully on mobile, seamlessly on tablet, elegantly on desktop. Not because we bolted on a mobile app as an afterthought, but because we actually watched how you work.
Rather novel concept, that.
Understanding Our Culture
The pace. The style. The way Mrs. Rodriguez always wants Sarah but will take Emma in a pinch. The seasonal rush before Christmas. The January lull. The way bookings flow differently in Brisbane versus Melbourne.
You can't code for that from Silicon Valley. You have to live it. Breathe it. Understand that "running late" means different things in different suburbs, and that client relationships here have a rhythm overseas developers will never grasp from their market research decks.
Knowing smile, slight eyebrow raise
Here's the thing about overseas software: it works. Sort of. Like a rental car works—gets you from A to B, but you're acutely aware the entire time that this isn't your car.
It works until your payment processing hiccups during the Saturday morning rush. Until you need support and discover the entire team is asleep on the other side of the planet. Until you desperately need a feature that makes perfect sense in Sydney but is approximately 247th on a Silicon Valley product roadmap, right after "integrate with obscure payment system popular in Nebraska."
Australian-built software means working with people who wake up when you wake up. Who see the same trends you're seeing because they're watching the same salons. Who understand that when you say something's urgent, you don't mean "please add it to next quarter's sprint planning session."
We're in this together. Same country. Same timezone. Same understanding of what makes Australian salons exceptional.
Straightens collar
You wouldn't use scissors that don't quite feel right. You wouldn't use color products formulated for different hair types in different climates. You wouldn't compromise on the tools of your craft.
So why—and I'm genuinely curious here—would you compromise on the software that runs your entire business?
Finishes Negroni with satisfaction
Gordon was built in Australia, for Australia, by people who actually understand Australian salons. Not as a market opportunity to exploit, but as an industry to serve with the sophistication it deserves.
Keep it local. Keep it exceptional. Keep it Gordon.