Transitioning from external payrollers to Soigné Pay

With four locations opening one after another, RGB Silent Disco Bars handled their growth pragmatically. They needed to focus on operations, and since they were already familiar with payrolling services, they stuck with it. While efficient and safe, the cost of this setup was suppressing profit margins.

Switching costs

RGB paid a payrolling factor of 1.62x on gross salaries. Comparing that to Soigné's pricing per employee and calculating the difference was clearly a good reason to switch. But apart from costs, there were two more factors to take into account.

First, insurance for long-term sickness. While this felt like a risk, it was just that: a feeling. RGB's staff was mostly on-call, reducing the absenteeism risk drastically. Looking back on the last few years, RGB hadn't had a single case of long-term sickness—yet they were paying heavy insurance costs for it.

Second, handling the contracts and running the pay run in-house. With Soigné, anyone can handle HR and pay their team. You don't need expensive expertise to handle these routine tasks. Soigné is purpose-built for hospitality, and therefore simple and robust, with very little room for mistakes. René Bakkerus, RGB's owner, was sold at first sight. "When I logged in, I immediately thought this was the next-generation HR platform. I wanted in, even though Soigné was still in the test phase."

Seeing the gains

Once familiar with Soigné's tool, René used the integrated addenda to have all employees sign off on the employer switch. The response from the team was positive, and the transition was legally completed within days. Looking back, RGB used external payrolling to prevent headaches short-term, but they were still spending time managing the payroller. More importantly, they weren't building the internal muscle that drives long-term competitive advantage. Now, time is invested in their in-house capabilities, and without paying the premium rates of payrollers, René sees the difference directly in his bank account: "I had to double-check with my accountant: is this really this month's profit? I couldn't believe how much we gained by switching to Soigné Pay."