Leaving Fresha or Booksy: how to go independent without losing your clients

Plenty of owners want to leave a marketplace but stay put anyway, held back by one fear. What if I lose my clients, my reviews and my calendar all at once? It is a fair worry, and it is exactly the fear the marketplace counts on. The good news is that switching is calmer than it looks, and you can keep every client. Here is the plan.

Why owners stay longer than they should

The thing keeping most people stuck is not the software. It is the sense that the platform holds the keys to their business, the client contacts, the booking history, the reviews. So leaving feels like starting from zero. It is not, but the feeling is real, and it is worth naming before we work through it.

The truth: your clients came for you

Your clients did not fall in love with an app. They came for your work, your chair, your manner. Move somewhere new and tell them where you are, and they follow. We make the wider case for this in Your clients are yours, but the short version is simple. The relationship is yours, and a marketplace cannot actually keep it from you.

Step 1: Export your client list

Start by getting your clients out of your old tool. Most booking apps let you export your clients as a CSV file, the kind any spreadsheet can open, with names, phone numbers and emails. That file is your business in your pocket, so save it somewhere safe.

Step 2: Import them into Bookatu

Next, bring that list into Bookatu all at once rather than typing anyone in. You upload the file, match up the columns, and your clients appear in your list, ready to message and recognise from day one. If the file is messy, send it to us and we will help bring your clients across (see Importing your clients).

Step 3: Set up your booking page and services

Now build your new home. Add your services with their prices and durations, set your opening hours, and add your team. Within an hour you have a branded booking page at your own link, showing your name, colours and real availability (see Your booking page, Setting up your services and Setting your opening hours).

Step 4: Connect Stripe so you get paid directly

Connect your own Stripe account so deposits and online sales go straight to you, with no platform wallet in between (see Connecting Stripe for payments). There is more on why this matters in Getting paid your way. This is also where your no-show defences switch on, since deposits need Stripe to charge a card.

Step 5: Tell your clients, the part that actually keeps them

This is the step that keeps your regulars, so do it warmly. Send a short, friendly message letting clients know you have moved and sharing your new booking link. Run both systems side by side for a few weeks if it helps, then put your new link everywhere clients look.

• Put your booking link in your Instagram bio and stories (see Beam).
• Add it to your Google profile and your email signature.
• Send a one-off newsletter to your imported client list with the news (see Newsletters).
• Print a QR code for reception and your window so walk-ins can book on the spot.

Step 6: Rebuild reviews and momentum

Reviews on a marketplace stay on the marketplace, but you can rebuild on your own Google profile quickly, and that is where new local clients find you anyway. Bookatu can ask for a review after every visit and point happy clients to Google (see Reviews and the Google flywheel). Our post Getting found online explains how reviews and a complete profile compound over time.

You will not pay to grow

Once you have moved, the maths changes for good. Bookatu takes 0% commission on your bookings, so a busy month is simply a good month, as we explain in Why we built a booking platform that takes 0% commission. And your data stays yours, so you are never locked in again (see Exporting your data).

Going independent is far less scary than staying put feels once you have done it. You can start free, import your clients, and have your own booking page live the same day. Have a look at the pricing page to see what you would pay, with no cut taken from a single booking.