Recras: programming for climbers, archers and bike rental companies
Like five kings they look out from their 'tower' onto the central hall; the new office of Recras is located right under the gigantic MEDIACENTRALE letters. A beautiful spot on the fourth floor, where the men settled in early September. High time to get to know Recras better.
Old acquaintances
Although Tijmen, Harrie, Sander, Dirk and Marthijn are new to the Mediacentrale, they are good 'acquaintances' for Waarborg. The start of Recras took place in the building at Kadijk 1 - also owned by Waarborg Vastgoed. Fortunately, the team at Waarborg was able to meet the (growth) wishes of the software developers with a new office in the Mediacentrale. With their love for the web and everything that has to do with programming, the gentlemen fit in perfectly in the media and ICT hub of Groningen. "We were looking for an inspiring place that is also easily accessible by public transport and car," says Tijmen Klein, founder and co-owner of Recras. "We have seen many locations, but the Mediacentrale simply has the best look and feel in Groningen. It is not a typical office building and that is what makes it so much fun!"
We have seen many locations, but the Mediacentrale simply has the best appearance in Groningen.Tim Klein
Software package for the recreation industry
From climbing parks to outdoor sports companies and from water ski slopes to paintball companies; Recras' customers have one thing in common and that is that they are active in the day recreation sector. The story of how Recras came into being is perhaps the most classic story of the start of a software start-up. Recreation entrepreneurs Harrie Kerssies and Marthijn Wolting are looking for an efficient solution for the administrative hassle for their company Taribush. Processing bookings and payments takes up far too much of their time; time that they would rather spend entertaining groups and thinking up new group activities. Befriended programmer Tijmen builds a handy tool to fix that problem for the men. That tool turns out to be not only very handy for Harrie and Marthijn, but also for other recreation entrepreneurs.
From customization to industry solution
However, it will take a few years before a company actually develops around the software and other recreation entrepreneurs can also use this ingenious piece of technology. Tijmen is still studying and the software is tailor-made for Taribush – and therefore not suitable for other companies. However, the news that there is a handy tool available somewhere for the administration of day recreation companies spreads quickly. When Tijmen, Marthijn and Harrie decide to make the software accessible to more parties, about ten companies immediately register that are interested and willing to test the software.
The men's starting point is that recreation entrepreneurs should do what they like again and spend as little time as possible on their administration. Tijmen says: "Most recreation entrepreneurs love to entertain groups and to grow their business, but they hate all the administrative hassle that comes with it. With everything we develop, we try to make it easier and more efficient for the entrepreneur."
Recras
This is how Recras emerged as a complete administration and reservation system for the entire recreation sector. A group that had not yet been served. Tijmen explains: “There are all kinds of reservation systems for residential recreation, for the catering industry and for meeting locations. The day recreation sector, on the other hand, had not yet been served at all. A considerable niche market with a large gaping hole that we have stepped into with Recras. We are now four years further and Recras is the market leader in the field of booking software for the recreation sector. With this we serve great customers, such as Grunopark Groningen, Ecomare, Funvalley Maastricht and Appelscha Outdoor, but larger organisations such as Molecaten also use Recras.”
The software
When asked what is actually possible with the software, Tijmen enthusiastically says: “Recras is a very complete package. For example, you can have all correspondence with customers run through Recras, so that you have all the information available for every reservation. Reminder emails about reservations, appointments and invoices are automatically sent by Recras to customers and purchasing parties. In addition, the software is of course suitable for managing various bookings: from bicycle rental or an afternoon of climbing in a climbing park to arranging a complete all-in group outing with externally hired parties. What makes the software so useful is that you can directly create the staff planning in Recras based on the bookings. Because you can enter in the program which instructors or employees (with, for example, specific certificates or diplomas) must be present in order for a certain activity to continue, a customer can immediately read the availability. The recreation entrepreneur can also directly create a staff planning based on the bookings. Staff members can then log in to Recras themselves and see when they are scheduled. That saves a lot of manual puzzling!”
International ambitions
A complete package for the recreation sector, that Recras. However, the men prefer not to burn their fingers on solutions for other recreation activities, such as software for residential recreation or hall rental. Tijmen: “We want to grow by sticking to this specific niche, day recreation. Then we can only grow if we also look beyond the borders. In the Netherlands, for example, around 80 to 90% of the climbing parks already use our software, so that market is already quite saturated. But abroad there is also a need for our software. That is why we are currently working on translating the software into English. The German and French translations will probably follow quickly.”
Great to hear, all those ambitious plans. From Waarborg we wish Recras much success and fun in entrepreneurship. Would you also like to enjoy the view over the central hall? The gentlemen have placed a fantastic lounger right in front of the window. Anyone who wants to try it out is welcome to work flexibly for a few hours.
