Small Service Industries Have Received a Tool for Daily Work Organization

Administrative tasks halved, 15 percent more clients, 25 percent more visits, and a 90 percent reduction in client no-shows at the agreed time: these are business results that anyone would desire. At first glance, it seems difficult to achieve them, requiring time, much effort, attempts, failures, and lost nerves. However, it is actually not impossible to turn them into reality; on the contrary: everything can be very simple and quick.

The domestic platform Zoyya, which covers many Croatian cities, enables hair salons, beauty salons, barbershops, nail salons, healthcare institutions, and fitness centers to offer their services to citizens 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This means that users can access the offered services at any time of day or night, choose the one that suits them, and schedule an appointment at their desired time, all with just a few clicks. In addition to allowing citizens to quickly and easily arrange necessary services, Zoyya saves time for business partners and organizes work so they can focus more on their services.

Everything on one platform

Service providers using Zoyya, emphasizes Nikola Smirčić, co-owner and CEO of Funestra, the company that designed the platform, manage schedules, appointments, and clients, receive online bookings and deposits, send reminders, and sell gift vouchers and service packages. The goal is simple, summarizes Smirčić: less administration, more automation, more time for clients, and stronger business growth.

– Zoyya’s uniqueness lies in the fact that it provides the partner with a tool for managing daily operations within one system while simultaneously automatically opening a channel to new clients. When managing appointments, clients, and resources with it, the partner automatically gains the ability to receive online bookings, be visible in online searches, attract new users, and increase revenue. For end users, the experience is equally simple: they can browse the offerings, find an available appointment, and book a service at a time that suits them best. They have reminders and an overview of past and future bookings all in one place. Today, more than 700 service providers from various industries in Croatia and the region use Zoyya, and it has over 300,000 registered users – describes Smirčić.

Intuitive use

For end users, i.e., citizens, the use is free. Service providers can choose between annual and monthly packages and various subscription plans, depending on the features and benefits they need. The basic business package for 22 euros per month includes, for example, a calendar and order book, email reminders, a catalog and client reviews, online appointment bookings, work schedules, and employee specializations, SMS reminders, and waiting lists. The advanced annual package costs 40 euros per month and offers everything from the basic package, but also includes a fiscal cash register, fiscalization 2.0, e-invoices and archives, business reporting, group appointments, membership tracking and payments, card payments, deposit acceptance, and much more. If monthly payment is chosen, the basic package costs 24 euros, and the advanced package costs 44 euros. VAT is additionally charged on all amounts.

– We do not see our innovation in one isolated functionality, but in the way we have connected work organization, business management, and attracting new clients into one platform. We develop solutions based on the problems faced by partners and end users, monitor how they use the application, then test, refine, and gradually introduce what proves to be most useful. In doing so, we want to keep technology in the background so that usage is intuitive, allowing users to focus on their work and clients – states Smirčić.

He announces that in October, they will introduce Zoyya gift vouchers, which, unlike the classic voucher tied to one service provider, can be used with more than 700 partners across Croatia. The recipient will choose whether to use it, for example, in a hairdressing or beauty salon, clinic, wellness center, gym, car wash, or for another service.

A model transferable to the neighborhood

Smirčić was prompted to develop this project by the increasing inquiries from larger companies seeking flexible benefit packages for employees without being limited to one partner or one type of service. Such a model can bring new clients and additional revenue to service providers, and Smirčić says that Zoyya does not introduce additional administration for partners but manages sales, marketing, and records for them.

– Croatia is our main market where we achieve the largest part of our business, but Zoyya knows no borders. Service providers face the same challenges in organizing their business, so those from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Montenegro have independently found us even though we have not yet actively entered those markets. In all markets, our business is still growing exponentially, and we strive to maintain that, which is why we are looking for space to expand into new industries. However, the emphasis remains on the Croatian market because we see significant room for further growth by expanding into new service industries beyond the recognizable offerings – states Smirčić.

The next logical step, he says, is in Bosnia and Herzegovina due to geographical proximity, similar business needs and market habits, and easier product and customer support adaptation. There, he has laid technological and partnership foundations to offer users a more comprehensive solution, including a cash register and deposit acceptance, tailored to local payment and regulatory requirements.

– We plan to gradually enter other neighboring markets. A similar language, business habits, and level of digitalization allow us to adapt and transfer part of the experience and models developed in Croatia to those markets – Smirčić counts on that.

Early German investor

Alongside Nikola Smirčić, Zoyya’s leadership includes his brother Jurica, co-owner and chief technology officer, and Ana Vrkić, chief operating officer. The two brothers founded Funestra in 2018 with their sister Ivana Zuber after already having experience in entrepreneurship. They had already worked in the same IT company and wanted to create something of their own, a product from Croatia that they could stand behind long-term. The first version of the application was developed by the Smirčić brothers during the corona crisis, and the initial reactions from users confirmed to them that they were solving a real problem and provided additional motivation to continue.

– We launched Zoyya with our own funds and have gradually invested in product development over the years. From the beginning, it was important for us to grow sustainably, as much as our own resources and the revenue we generate allow. In the second year of development, we received a smaller investment from a Berlin investor in startups, the APX fund. It came at the right time; without it, the continuation of development and growth would have been significantly more challenging. Initially, we invested a lot of time and resources in educating the market as well. A few years ago, the need for automation was much less recognized, especially among smaller service providers in the beauty industry, where we started. Today, the value of such solutions is recognized much faster, which shows us how much the market has changed – assesses Nikola Smirčić.

Although the founders are family-related, they do not consider Zoyya a family business. Each leads the area in which they have the most knowledge and experience, he states, and the success is also contributed to by other employees. The company’s headquarters is in Zagreb, but it does not have a classic business space because twelve employees work remotely. For Smirčić, it is not important where they are located, but their expertise, responsibility, and fit into Zoyya’s way of working. In daily operations, he also uses artificial intelligence tools, which have significantly contributed to speed and productivity, but artificial intelligence does not replace the expertise of his team; rather, it enables existing capacities to be utilized more effectively.

Creating conditions for growth

Zoyya collaborates with many domestic and foreign technology partners and digital service providers. Collaboration is most often achieved through technological integrations, sharing expertise, and connecting complementary solutions.

– We have also integrated with other solution providers in the beauty industry because we believe in an open approach. If a user needs to combine the best functionalities of two or more systems, we believe that should be enabled. Our goal is not to keep the user within a closed system but to facilitate their business and allow them to use the tools that best meet their needs – believes Smirčić.

Understanding the market and responding to user needs have increased revenues. More users and subscriptions, somewhat new projects and business partnerships secured 243,355 euros in revenue last year, which was 30.65 percent higher than in 2024. The net profit last year was 4,467 euros, or 43.26 percent lower, but according to Smirčić, this was influenced by higher investments in product and platform development, team expansion, and increased employee numbers, leading to a subsequent rise in operational costs.

– We invested part of the revenue in people, technology, and the development of new functionalities to create conditions for further business growth. This year, we are operating in line with the set goals. We are recording more users and subscriptions and continuously expanding the functionalities of the platform. We expect significant revenue growth compared to 2025, along with continued investment in product development and service quality – he notes.

New trends demand upgrades

He further notes that the most important business trends are further digitalization of service industries, growth in online bookings, and user expectations that they can easily find, book, and pay for services in one place. Reservation tools are evolving into comprehensive business management platforms, he added. There is a strong trend, of course, in the application of artificial intelligence and automation. Online payments and loyalty programs and gift vouchers are also on the rise.

– For Zoyya, this still means further development and upgrading of the platform, which serves not only for booking appointments but also actively helps partners in more efficient management and business growth. However, the biggest challenge is not the lack of need for digitalization but the speed at which the market turns that need into a concrete decision. Although interest in digital tools is increasing, some entrepreneurs still postpone the decision to change established ways of working. This is a challenge faced by many technology companies developing solutions for traditional industries. Therefore, it is important for us to create simple and concrete solutions whose value users can quickly recognize in time savings, greater efficiency, and growth potential – he states.

The business is certainly also influenced by geopolitics, he says, albeit indirectly, due to rising labor, technology, and other operational service costs, as well as users’ more cautious decisions regarding spending and investments. As a technology company, Zoyya is not directly energy-intensive, but it feels the effects of the general rise in prices and market uncertainty. Smirčić tries to mitigate them through careful cost management, setting development priorities, and further investing in functionalities that help partners increase efficiency and better manage their businesses.

Support needed for new projects

According to Smirčić, Zoyya is comparable in breadth and depth of functionality to solutions for large companies, but it is designed for the needs of small and medium service providers, for whom complex business systems are often inaccessible, too expensive, or too demanding to use. Feedback from partners has confirmed the value of such an approach; they have testified that Zoyya has simplified their daily operations, reduced administrative burdens, and allowed them to focus more time and attention on clients.

– This has precisely motivated us to continue developing the platform in close collaboration with business partners and end users, gradually upgrading it from a scheduling tool to a comprehensive solution for business management and development. However, a significant challenge for us has been access to support in the earliest stages of development when the initial financial impulse is most needed. Many programs require certain revenues, the number of employees, or other indicators that a company cannot meet at the very beginning. Therefore, we have financed most of the development with our own funds, carefully managing costs, priorities, and the pace of investment. The largest investments were related to product and technology development, team expansion, and building the infrastructure needed for platform growth. In the second year of development, the mentioned smaller investment from APX allowed us to continue development and growth at a stage where it would have been significantly more challenging solely with our own funds – emphasizes Smirčić, who plans to apply for appropriate state and European innovation development programs to accelerate new projects.