How to choose booking software for a small business

Start with your working day rather than a feature list. Write down service durations, hours, breaks and situations where a customer needs a person.

Check for individual staff schedules, service buffers and business opening hours. Test a realistic race: two customers selecting the same appointment at once.

Try changing an appointment on a customer’s phone. A secure link should show the booking and enforce your cancellation deadline. A difficult process creates more calls.

Before buying, inspect data exports, access permissions and external calendar behaviour. Judge results using your actual bookings and manual work rather than vendor promises.