Custom Software
The Mountain Club
One platform that replaced five tools, took the copy-and-paste out of running a members club, and gave members an app they actually want to use
A Queenstown members club paid around NZ$90,000 a year for software it barely used. We replaced five tools with one platform built around how it runs.
Over NZ$100,000 a year saved, before any new revenue
HubSpot and Optix cost around NZ$90,000 a year. The platform costs NZ$200 a month to run, so the club saves about NZ$87,600 a year on software alone. On top of that, more than 26 hours a month of accounts admin is gone: 12 hours of copying café and bar purchases onto invoices, about 10 hours of statements and other account admin, and 4 or more hours of itinerary accounts reports. Valued conservatively at NZ$50 an hour, that is around NZ$15,600 a year of staff time. The travel team also saves 10 or more hours on the documents for every itinerary. None of this counts the new revenue the platform opens up, such as member referrals in the app and prospective members trying the app before they join.
The problem
What was actually broken
The Mountain Club is a members club in Queenstown with two venues, Beach Street and Five Mile, around 400 members and a team of about ten. It runs coworking, cafés and a bar, more than 300 events a year and a luxury travel service. Each of those ran on a different tool, and none of the tools talked to each other properly.
- Around NZ$90,000 a year on HubSpot and Optix, with only a fraction of either actually used.
- Every month, café and bar purchases from the Lightspeed tills were copied onto each member's invoice by hand. That alone took 12 hours.
- That was one of 10 to 15 jobs like it, from statements of account to reports for the accountants. Each one was a symptom of systems that didn't talk to each other.
- Members couldn't check themselves in, and a front-desk person had to do it for them.
- The member app that came with Optix was slow and limited, so members avoided it.
- A custom travel itinerary took about two weeks to build as a 60-page Canva deck, followed by invoices typed into Xero by hand.
Why it mattered now
The club was growing, and the plan is to grow a lot more. Every new member meant more subscription seats and more copying between systems. The tools were getting more expensive and the admin was getting heavier, and neither would get better on its own.
The approach
How we approached it
We followed the same six steps we use with every client. Most of the early work had nothing to do with code. It was about understanding how the club actually runs, team by team.
- 1
Connect
We started with the club's leadership: where the business is heading, what was costing too much, and what was slowing the team down. We only take on work where we can see a clear return, and here it was obvious.
- 2
Explore
We sat with each team and walked through the software they used and the jobs they did every week. That's where the real list came from: the subscriptions barely used, and the 10 to 15 manual jobs that only existed to make one system match another.
- 3
Strategy
We worked out what the club genuinely needed from HubSpot, Optix and the rest, and what it was paying for and never touching. That became the brief for one platform built around how the club works, rather than around what an off-the-shelf tool allows.
- 4
Hit go
We built it and rolled it out team by team, so each team moved across when its part was ready: membership and billing, bookings and spaces, events, itineraries, then the new member app.
- 5
Measure
We tracked what changed for each team. We counted the hours each team got back and the subscriptions the club could switch off. That's where the numbers on this page come from.
- 6
Iterate
We kept improving the platform as the club used it day to day. Each team's feedback, and the numbers, decided what we changed next.
The solution
What we built
The Mountain Club now runs on one platform built for it. There's a console for the team, an itinerary builder for the travel service, and a new app for members. Behind the scenes, it connects to the two tools the club kept: Lightspeed at the tills and Xero for accounts.
One console for the whole team
Members, plans and billing, bookings and spaces, events, products and messages all live in one place, instead of being spread across five tools.
Till purchases land on invoices automatically
When a member puts a coffee or a drink on their account, it shows up on their next invoice in Xero without anyone copying it across. Anything paid at the till is recorded as already paid.
Self check-in that counts allowances
Members scan a QR code to check in. The app uses up their plan's allowances and applies their discounts on the spot, with no front-desk step.
A member app worth opening
Members can chat with each other in real time, get notifications, book spaces, sign up for events, and see and manage their own plan without emailing the team.
Itineraries without the document grind
The travel team builds a trip day by day from a catalogue of suppliers. The client quote and the Xero invoices come straight out of it, instead of a 60-page deck and hand-typed invoices. That saves 10 or more hours on every itinerary.
Billing that runs itself
Plans are billed on schedule and invoices go to Xero automatically, so the monthly billing run is no longer a job for a person.
Before & after
From manual to automatic
Before
After
Around NZ$90,000 a year on HubSpot and Optix, with most of what the club was paying for never touched.
One console built around how the club runs: members, billing, bookings, events and messages in one place.
Every month, each member's café and bar purchases copied from Lightspeed onto their invoice, one line at a time.
Till purchases land on the member's account within a minute and roll onto their Xero invoice automatically.
Members waited at the front desk while a staff member found them in Optix and checked them in.
Members scan in themselves. Their allowance updates and their discount applies on the spot.
A custom itinerary took about two weeks as a 60-page Canva deck, with the Xero invoices typed separately afterwards.
The trip is built day by day from a supplier catalogue, and the quote and Xero invoices come straight out of it.
The member app that came with Optix was clunky and limited, so members barely used it.
A Mountain Club app with real-time chat, notifications and a live view of each member's plan.
[TBC: quote from Billy]
The impact
What it changed
The club pays for one platform built around how it works, instead of five subscriptions it half used, and the copy-and-paste jobs that held those subscriptions together are gone.
Return on investment
Over NZ$100,000 a year back, for NZ$200 a month to run.
About NZ$87,600 a year in software the club no longer pays for, plus around NZ$15,600 a year of accounts time at a conservative NZ$50 an hour. On top of that, the travel team saves 10 or more hours on every itinerary. And this is cost savings only: it doesn't count the new revenue from member referrals in the app, or from prospective members who can now try the app before they join.
More work
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About us
We turn your goals into AI and software that actually works
A team of product engineers based in Queenstown, NZ. We work with you to understand the problem first, then build the right thing — not just the possible thing.
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