Daniel Baron has worked behind the scenes in the nightclub industry since 2010, and he’s ready to step into clubs across the country with his coveted POS system,

SmartTab, a software which boasts practical solutions for the entertainment and hospitality industries, serviced by a vital team of industry vets.

(Note: This story appears in the March 2023 issue of ED Magazine)

There’s a person behind the product of SmartTab, and it’s Daniel Baron, a gregarious personality with a genuine passion for producing user-friendly software.

“If you have a smartphone, you can use SmartTab,” according to Baron. “From a usability perspective, this is going to be the friendliest point-of-sale software out there.”

“Friendliness” is a feature which cannot be ignored in this case. Baron envisions a future in the adult club industry which emphasizes networks, both personal and technological. Emphatic that relationships are what he’s all about, he’s eager to greet nightclubs nation-wide with what he’s confident will be the apparatus for that prospect.

And he has the experience to bolster that claim: After many years of servicing bars, nightclubs and adult clubs, Baron came into the position of owning and operating a failing club he redeemed with the earliest version of his advanced POS system. Baron already had a license to practice law from California, his home state, and was working on his Masters in Taxation when he developed the software for SmartTab, which he left school to pursue in full.

He contends with his years in the industry that they’ve given him insight into the ins and outs of club management: How to meet the high demands of service, operate with flexibility, nurture complex interpersonal relationships and maintain style. In fact, Baron reveals that the entire team at SmartTab has several years of service industry experience.

“I learned quickly that the best way to hire is from within the service industry,” he explains. “And I found ways to bring passionate individuals on-board who were willing to invest long-term. They truly understand and enjoy servicing our clients. So when I say we ‘lead on service,’ I mean that all of us are trained professionals.”

Take a risk on SmartTab, they’ll take a risk on you

Baron understands the risk that clubs are making when they consider moving POS systems to SmartTab, which is why he’s resolved to precede that risk with his own.

“I front all the merchants the cost associated with getting them live,” Baron insures, noting that SmartTab won’t charge for hardware, for labor or for set-up until after the system’s successfully implemented and the establishment’s staff has been trained to operate to one hundred percent of the client’s satisfaction. “I want the merchants to know I’m taking a risk, too. If you’re not suitable for our product — if we didn’t sell our product honestly to you, or if we didn’t underwrite the risk of going into your business — that’s not on you to bear a loan. That’s on us to get punished by finding out how expensive it is to misrepresent something, to execute improperly or to sell you a product that’s not suited for you.

“I didn’t build the product to sell more accounts, grow fast and then exit,” he adds. “I have staying power. I actually want this product to be everything everyone wants.” 

Building bridges

Daniel Baron

With ambitious intent to revolutionize the industry’s POS and payment processing systems, SmartTab sees three primary needs it seeks to meet immediately: Clubs want a robust point-of-sale system; they want a tool to defend against chargebacks; and they want their food and beverage sales’ systems integrated with a system for tracking their working entertainers. 

“Club sales are not just processing payments and selling alcohol and beverages,” explains Baron. “They’re also selling entertainment and tracking performers, for the club’s purposes, as well as for the purpose of ensuring that performers are properly compensated.”

In light of this complexity, Baron was overjoyed to share his developing relationships with other vendors in the industry, especially Pole Position, an app for exotic dancers, which he has plans to work with directly in the future.

“I’m excited to see how the app Pole Position will bridge the gap between entertainers and club owners, and in integration with SmartTab,” Baron anticipates, “I think we will complete an ecosystem in which clubs may not only enjoy the benefit of the greater efficiencies, but know that they can continue operating the way they have with intelligence behind them.” 

By the “intelligence” which has allowed him to meet clubs’ needs preemptively, he means a combination of his own expertise and what he’s learning from industry leaders he’s in regular communication with. As Baron notes, two club chains — Peppermint Hippo and Bucks Cabaret — have already switched to SmartTab, as well as independent clubs like Exposé in San Diego. 

“Not only do they see the value in what we can deliver today, they like to be invested in the future of the business,” says Baron. “And they’re getting in early with us as our innovation partners, because they want to be close enough to have influence on the direction in which we build these tools to better serve their needs.”

“Not only do (Peppermint Hippo and Bucks Cabaret) see

the value in what we can deliver today, they like to be invested in the future of the business.

 

And they’re getting in early with us as our innovation partners, because they want to be close enough to have influence on the direction in which we build these tools

to better serve their needs.”

 

– SmartTab’s Daniel Baron

Technology for security

SmartTab can best be described as “a premier point-of-sale solution for hospitality operations in high volume/high velocity bars, nightclubs, restaurants and adult clubs,” according to Baron. “It’s modern, it’s easy to use and it’s well-established. And as our tagline suggests, SmartTab is ‘the POS system that doesn’t suck.’” 

Of course, there are hidden threads in the technology Baron couldn’t reveal in this story. Among SmartTab’s software developments that are open to the public, Baron shares that they’ve recently advanced by creating their “profile network,” which tracks guests based on their driver’s license or ID cards. The importance of this technology, Baron suggests, is that it will help protect clubs against the enormous risk of chargebacks. This is because of the capability of SmartTab to preserve the customer’s identifying information at checkout. When the customer is handed a digital bill, a series of photographs is snapped from the selfie camera of the tablet upon signature of the receipt. This feature also captures an image of their ID, front and back, which is preserved as proof that this person was there at the time of sale. 

“All of that information gets compiled in the ‘profile network,’ so that anytime the ID is presented, whether at the point of checkout or admission, the establishment is able to pull up a full record of the customer,” Baron explains. “This identifies who was physically there last, any credit cards they’ve used, and what their standing is. Thus, an ‘identity-based profile’ is created.”

The future of the industry — and its POS systems

An occasion like the 30th Anniversary EXPO not only inspires a look into the industry’s past, but also invites questions about the future. Baron believes that SmartTab will be a product to help usher in that future, and he’s aiming to work with more clubs and club chains as he further modifies the system that’s designed to work well with adult clubs.

“What we’re hearing in our feedback is a lot of excitement from the adult entertainment industry for what’s coming next, as well as the expectation that we’re going to be a part of that,” says Baron with enthusiasm. 

Of course, for Baron, the deliverance of that expectation is a personal ambition, one he plans on sticking around for. You’ll have a hard time finding someone with as much enthusiasm for his work as Daniel Baron, who claims he rises daily, eagerly, with “a joy and confidence I can continue to serve the adult entertainment industry.”

For more information, please call (888) 612-1309, email info@smarttab.com or visit SmartTab.com. 

EXPO deal 1

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