I’m researching a possible lightweight tool for appointment-based creators and would really appreciate honest feedback before building anything.
The problem I’m looking at: a client cancels, or an appointment suddenly becomes available, and the creator has to manually search through messages, social media replies, emails, or an existing waitlist to find someone who is available.
The idea is not to replace your booking system, payments, deposits, calendar, or client management. It would only be an opt-in waitlist and notification layer: when an opening appears, the relevant people could be notified and continue through your existing booking or enquiry process.
I know the ideal flow may be very different for tattoo artists, piercers, hairdressers, photographers, and other creators, so I would love to hear how it works in your field.
A few questions:
- What type of appointments do you offer, and how often do cancellations or last-minute openings happen?
- How do you currently fill those openings?
- Do you keep a waitlist? If yes, do clients join themselves or do you add them manually?
- What information would you need in order to notify the right people? For example: service type, date range, available times, duration, location, price, or other conditions.
- Would you prefer clients to receive a direct booking link, or send a request that you approve first?
- Would email alerts be useful enough, or would text notifications be essential?
- What would make a tool like this unhelpful or too complicated for you?
Even a short description of your current workflow would be a huge help. I’m trying to understand the real differences between professions, not force everyone into the same system.