Once you're opening a second location, you don't want to rebuild your entire SalesThumb setup from scratch. HQ tier exists exactly for this — you can clone your catalog, pricing config, and branding straight into the new shop, then adjust per-location pricing and team from there. Here's the rollout checklist.
Prerequisite: HQ tier
Confirm you're on HQ tier (Settings → Plans & Billing). The HQ tier adds the org-level admin views, cross-shop reporting, and template inheritance. If you're not on HQ yet, upgrade before opening location 2.
See: HQ royalty automation and /pricing for plan details.
Step 1 — Create the new shop record
HQ dashboard → Locations → "Add location." The dialog walks you through three steps:
1. Details — name (required), address, verticals (Tint / PPF & Wrap / Detail & Ceramic / General) 2. Clone setup from — pick an existing location in your org to copy branding, service catalog, film/product pricing, and Sales Matrix configuration (tint/ceramic/PPF/flat-glass pricing, categories, cut files) onto the new shop — or choose "start blank" for a generic starter setup instead (2 bays + 3 installers, no catalog) 3. Confirm & create
If you clone, note what does and doesn't come over: your full service catalog, film/product pricing rules, and Sales Matrix pricing config are copied; photo templates are not part of the clone. Prices come over as-is — edit them per-shop afterward if the new market needs different pricing.
The new shop appears in your shop switcher immediately, and after creation you're taken straight into payments onboarding for it.
Step 2 — Automations stay per-location
There's no bulk "clone automations to a new shop" tool today. Appointment-reminder templates, recurring service-reminder templates, and drip/SMS-reply libraries are configured per shop; each new location gets its own default starter templates that you can then customize (or copy language from your existing shop by hand). The one thing that IS shared org-wide is the HQ → Playbook template library, which shops can pull from directly.
Step 3 — Configure local payment processing
Payments are per-shop, connected through SalesThumb's payment processor — the new-location flow above hands you straight into that onboarding once the shop is created. See Payments — why each shop has its own account for how the per-shop payout model works, and loop in your accountant on whether the new location should be a separate legal entity with its own payout account or roll up to your existing one.
Step 4 — Invite the team
HQ dashboard → Team → "Invite user." This creates an org-level ("Invite to HQ") invite — it's not scoped to a single new shop by default. Set:
- Role (Owner, Manager, Installer, Service writer)
- Shop access (can they see other shops too, or only this one?)
If a manager from your existing shop is opening the new one, give them cross-shop access. Otherwise, scope team members to their location.
Step 5 — Set local hours and blackouts
Bookable hours and blackout dates for your customer-facing scheduler don't auto-clone — every shop has its own real-world calendar. Configure them for the new shop at Settings → Sales Matrix (the Estimate scheduler section): hours, slot config, days of week, and blackout dates for known closures — training week, the manager's vacation, holidays you'll be closed for, etc.
Step 6 — Confirm messaging is ready for the new shop
On the default (platform) messaging setup, a new shop is covered automatically under SalesThumb's own 10DLC registration — there's nothing to register per location. The only case where this becomes a dependency is if the location will run its own Twilio account via Bring Your Own Carrier; if so, that shop's 10DLC campaign needs to be approved with Twilio before you go live — see 10DLC registration and plan for the carrier review time.
Step 7 — Brand customization (if needed)
If you cloned from an existing shop, branding came over with it. If you started blank, or want per-location variants (different logo, different colors), set them at Settings → Appearance for that shop, or manage org-wide defaults at HQ dashboard → Branding.
Step 8 — Pilot quotes + jobs
Before you go live with customers, run 5-10 internal test quotes + 1-2 test jobs end-to-end at the new location:
- SMS sends from the right number
- Card charges land in the right account
- Photos route correctly
- Reports roll up to HQ dashboard
Common bug at new locations on Bring Your Own Carrier: SMS fails to send because that shop's Twilio connection hasn't verified yet. Don't go live until it shows Connected in Settings → Integrations.
Step 9 — Soft launch + monitor
First 30 days at a new location, monitor daily:
- Quote → close rate compared to your other locations
- Customer satisfaction scores
- Operational errors (failed payments, missed appointments)
A new location usually runs 60-80% of mature-location KPIs for the first 60-90 days. That's normal.