Unfortunately, the situation is such that the market, like many others, that we are entering is now quite locked. Many activities are simply no longer allowed or cannot be safely maintained in practice. From an entrepreneurial perspective, offering various activities is simply not profitable enough. That is precisely why it is good to see that during this period various fellow entrepreneurs see opportunities and dare to take them. They re-evaluate the range of activities, take a critical look at the operational management or start now with creating a stable basis for later.

Also one of our new customers; Peter de Ruijter and his team from the Hoge Heide in Vlijmen. In the middle of the corona period, Peter made the decision to start with our reservation system. And why now? We can of course let Peter tell that himself;

During the 1st lock-down we took a step back to evaluate our business operations. At that moment we mainly started looking at what we can still offer our guests in a safe way. It was of course true that what we want to offer must fit our company. Of course you can (temporarily) have a nice idea, but if it detracts from your company image, then of course you prefer not to. And in this initial period, your company will be turned upside down with initially fixed costs and little or no turnover.

My team of 7 permanent employees put their heads together. In a group session we were all allowed to nominate two activities per person. Each activity was looked at;

1. Does it fit within our company?
2. Can we observe current & upcoming COVID-19 measures?
3. Is it possible and feasible within the current possibilities that our company can offer?
4. Can we simply offer it and combine it with existing activities that can still continue?

After these ideas were assessed, we immediately started developing and arranging the feasible options. Besides the fact that we have started our bread service (which from this week will also be brought in our new delivery TukTuk), there are of course also activities that we want to offer online through a reservation system.

And here was already a problem for us during the 1st lock-down. We found it difficult to set up our new activities quickly and easily and therefore offer them to the guest. During this period you unfortunately see the limitations and flexibility of your suppliers and fellow entrepreneurs. This has led me to continue with the Nostium reservation system. Nostium does give me the freedom to quickly create new activities and reset existing activities. Together with the easy integration into our (new) website, activities and even complete packages could easily be offered. Current activities could easily be adapted to comply with the new rules that can change on a weekly basis.

This gives me an efficient system where I can easily solve problems and also see opportunities. Of course we also received a lot of valid questions from our guests in the 1st lock-down, such as: “Will my reservation still go through?”, “What will happen with my payment?” and “Can I get a voucher?”. For this last question I could now offer a nice solution. Guests who have already booked now receive a voucher that they can not only return for the same booked activity, but they are given the freedom to return it for each activity for a subsequent reservation. This way I can still welcome the guest to our company at another time.

In this second lock-down I am therefore prepared for any new measures and adjustments. Now I have a clear vision with my business of custom capabilities. And can we offer something new? Then I can also realize that possibility with the Nostium reservation system! Right now I want to “pop”!

And besides Peter, there are more entrepreneurs who dare to do it. They request an online demonstration via our website and can then start quickly. But also as a company we now see various opportunities to take significant steps with our own development team. We have now scaled up with our available development hours and can thus introduce even more new wishes and improvements to our system. This leads to (almost) every week a new release containing new functionalities and various customer requirements.

For example, we want to respond quickly to new changes together with our customers and be ready when we are allowed again! Do you also want to look at the possibilities for now and for the future with Nostium? Then make a no-obligation appointment for an online demo or give us a call. We are happy to help you!

 

 

4 November 2020 by Nostium Nostium

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