Simply put, planning each step of production effectively. 

Look:

It’s tough to manage customers and workers. But with the right appointment scheduler, you can maintain your calendar and execute your business plans easily. 

The best scheduling app for small businesses allows for booking, rescheduling, and canceling appointments with ease. Therefore, booking software can help you cut down on losses and inconveniences. 

Click this affiliate link to get SchedulePro Project Management and Scheduling Software.

The best part?

Using the software is pretty straightforward. Just go to the business website, social networking sites like a Facebook page, or a place where the booking software is supported, and book the appointment based on available date and time. 

Benefits of Scheduling

Scheduling simply means planning your time to get the most out of it. With endless meetings, urgent last-minute tasks, and frequent interruptions, it can make it difficult to keep up the schedule.

That translates to less progress on high priority projects. But the best scheduling app for small businesses can help you keep up with your schedule.

Scheduling time is important in the following ways:

• It gives you a picture of what you can realistically achieve with your time.
• Ensures you have enough time for crucial tasks 
• Add contingency time for “the unexpected.”
• Effective planning – not taking more than you can handle 
• It helps stay focused on your personal and career goals.
• Achieve a good work-life balance.
• Have enough time for yourself, family, and friends

There are various tips you can apply to save time. For instance:

• Scheduling essential actions
• Finding available time 
• Scheduling high priority activities 
• Scheduling contingency time 

Certainly, these methods work. But they are manual methods, which means it may be difficult to maintain a schedule.

A small business may opt to do scheduling through tools like excel, pen &paper, or whiteboards. These processes are both inefficient and lackluster. At least, they will add to your headache.

The good news?

There are lots of scheduling apps and software, which can make the whole process effortless. Your small business shouldn’t suffer inefficiencies anymore. Just invest in the best scheduling app for small businesses.

Without the right booking systems organizing various aspects of your small business can be really hectic.

So what? 

Invest in the best appointment scheduling and booking software for your small business.

Click this affiliate link to get SchedulePro Project Management and Scheduling Software.

The Best Scheduling App and Software for Small Business

We have put together four of the best appointment apps you can use for your small business. First, check out the summary.

Acuity scheduling – best for customization 

Appointlet – scheduling appointments for free 

Appointy – best for scalability and customization 

Setmore – ideal for native apps and integrations 

Before we analyze this software, let’s define a few things:

What is an appointment scheduling app?

Every business that dreams of running efficiently should invest in these business tools. An appointment scheduling app helps clients to make bookings or reschedule meetings. 

Besides, if they are not available, they can reschedule the meeting. Clients can also make payments through the appointments schedulers. 

The majority of apps and booking schedulers are cloud-based, so you can access information from anywhere so long as there is an internet connection.

Various platforms support booking software. It can be a website, social media channel like Facebook, among others. Clients can check the available dates and times and select what is available.

Click this affiliate link to get SchedulePro Project Management and Scheduling Software.

Important things in a scheduling software

You need to enter parameters of interest in your scheduling app. Therefore, on the back end, indicate things like times when people can book (as per your available hours), and set times and dates when your staff and other services are available.

Besides, you can indicate special offers, promotions, and vacations.

A handy feature of the booking app is that it detects and prevents double booking and overbooking. 

Tips to Choose the Booking Systems for Small Businesses

By now, you know that booking software and apps tell clients the time that you are available. But, they do more than that. 

Beyond telling them when you are available for a meeting, service, or treatment, it allows them to cancel and reschedule the appointment without necessarily contacting you.

What’s more, they allow managers and business owners to do the following:

• Streamline communication
• Centralize payments
• Effectively manage your staff.

That leaves with no other choice but to find the best scheduling app for small businesses.

Here’s why:

Flexibility

Each business has unique needs. But what remains similar across all small businesses is growth. The best scheduling app should be able to accommodate the different needs of each business.

As a result, they come with multiple customization options. This way, you can customize depending on how you want your booking system to look like. 

If you offer one on one weight loss training sessions, your booking system cannot be similar to a high-end workshop renting gardening equipment to the community.

Of course, a large business will need a system that allows customers to select from a menu of services. Other businesses may need the client to specify the location of the meeting or service delivery.

So the best scheduling app should let you customize parameters to meet the needs of your customers.

Calendar syncing

Almost all booking systems require a calendar. Consequently, they allow you to sync with the calendar for easier management. Typically, it lets you see the scheduled appointments and other important information, including scheduled renovations or holidays.

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Payment processing

An appointment app can collect payment; however, different booking systems have different approaches to this aspect. Payment collection methods include PayPal, Square, and Stripe.  

During booking, your booking app can request a deposit for an appointment. Still, other demand that customers pay upfront for any services they are seeking.

So choose, depending on your needs. But the advantage of such a booking system is that it cushions your business against total loss in case the client doesn’t show up.

Multiple points of access

Your customers can access your scheduling app from different points. Once you launch it, clients can get it on the social accounts business page, e.g., Facebook or your website. You can embed code to your website to display your appointment scheduling app.

Alternatively, you can use a custom URL with all the booking tools in one place. If you have only a Facebook page, integrate all booking tools in the account. 

Automated SMS appointment reminders

Flexibility is invaluable. However, it is important to have a means of informing your clients about the changes. 

The best scheduling app should allow you to create templates as well as send SMS messages. This way, you remind clients of their upcoming appointments.

Click this affiliate link to get SchedulePro Project Management and Scheduling Software.

Real-time, automated appointment setting

There is more flexibility with a cloud-based scheduling app. If you opt for such booking software, ensure it comes with appointment confirmation and automated denials.  

The advantage of this is that it automatically analyses your calendar so that your clients select the soonest available time.

Creating and sending waivers

Some businesses require the signing of contracts or waivers. You can simply integrate these aspects into the booking system to save lots of time on paperwork. Just create customizable templates. 

Ability to manage deals and promotions

Most businesses offer limited-time offers and seasonal promotions. This is a strategy to keep clients. A good scheduling app should allow easy management of deals and promotions. It’s vital to choose software that packs an automated deal manager for easy operations. 

In-Depth Review of the Best Booking Systems for Small Businesses

Acuity scheduling

Acuity scheduling is a popular choice for those who need extensive customizations. Besides, it makes it possible for users to schedule and manage different time zones. 

It stands out for its powerful features, intuitive interface, easily customizable plan, and reasonable pricing. If you need customers to book appointments ahead of time, choose acuity scheduling.

The app can seamlessly fill and manage your schedule effectively. Beyond allowing booking Acuity, Scheduling does the following automatically:

• Sends 24/7 branded & customized booking confirmations
• Deliver text reminders
• Allow customer set reschedule appointments on their own
• Process payments. There are various payment options, including Square, Net, Braintree, PayPal, and Stripe.

You can share your calendar via Facebook, Instagram, email, or your website. Amazingly, Acuity Scheduling allows you to videoconference with your clients, offer package membership and gift certificates. 

This way, your day to day operations run smoothly. 

The booking system is in real-time, which prevents double booking and overlapping. You can integrate acuity scheduling with over 500 applications via Zapier.

Payment methods include PayPal, Square, or Stripe. Besides, it supports Google Calendar, iCloud, Office 365, and outlook. 

Pricing is fair. There is a free plan, and each premium plan comes with a 7-day free trial. Premium plans range between $14 and $45 per month. 

Choose a plan, depending on the needs of your business. Of course, premium plans offer better features.  

Sadly, Acuity Scheduling lacks chat or phone options for customer service. 

Pros 

• Allows customization 
• Easy booking process 
• Allows multiple integrations
• Extensive range of features 
• Organized system 
• The flexibility of adjusting features to the need of your business 

Cons 

• Doesn’t calculate taxes – not a deal-breaker
• Support through email only 

Appointlet

As a cloud-based appointment scheduler, Appointlet lets your businesses connect with your prospects in various ways. It can be emails, sales funnel, or landing pages. Therefore, you can turn more prospects into customers. 

Impressively, Appointlet seamlessly adds bookings into your Google or Office 365 calendar. This lets you focus on selling – you save time by eliminating manual reminders, back-and-forth, and administrative tasks.  

Appointlet’s top features are: 

• Individual/organization scheduling pages
• Supports multiple timezones
• Automated reminders
• Online booking 
• Calendar integration

With Appointlet, you get lots of branding features, which are handy in allowing you to customize your businesses’ emails as well as booking pages. You can add your logos and colors of interest.

Besides, users can personalize appointment schedules, and you can also embed the scheduling page on your company’s website. Better yet, you can distribute it to your customers through email.

You can create a simple booking page and add a buffer time around bookings. Remember, with Appointlet, you can create more than a single page and customize tons of available details. It may be a location, appointment duration, price, and cancellation policy.

Payment method: stripe 

Calendars: Google or Office 365

Appointlet Pricing: Free and paid plans from $8/month per person. But you have 15 days free trial. 

Pros 

• Pretty straightforward to set up and use – intuitive interface and flexible design
• Great branding options 
• Excellent customer service 

Cons 

• Features could be better 

Appointy

Appointy is one of the best scheduling apps for small businesses, as it simple yet powerful and functional.

Besides accepting online appointments, this cloud-based booking system lets you:

• Send automated emails and SMSs.
• Integrate with social media and Google Calendar
• Accept online prepayments
• Create gift cards, deals 
• Specify available time slots 

Look, Appointy offers website widgets to users. As such, it helps to accept appointments directly from websites. Besides, custom sub-domains for booking pages are available. 

If your business has a Facebook page, you can use the Facebook integration to directly add booking functionalities.

You can also set the capacity for your event and track attendance. To manage this, Appointy allows you to set restrictions –monthly or weekly, on classes. Still, students can set recurring classes.

Since it one of the best scheduling app, there’s a version for iOS and Android.

The amazing thing about Appointy is that it works with businesses of all sizes. The developer has a plan for each business.

Supported payment: Authorize, Square, Stripe, and PayPal. 

Integrations: email, Outlook, Google calendar, zoom, Google sheets, and Autopilot

Pros

• Packs lots of flexibility, allowing you to set up unique and complex schedules
• You can create accounts for external referral partners so that they can schedule appointments.
• Excellent customer services 
• Easy to use 
• Supports multiple integrations 

Cons 

• Few customers complain of periodic outages.
• Some customers wish for language options.

Setmore

Setmore is a versatile booking software for small businesses because it makes scheduling appointments really easy. This appointment app allows integration with 35+ apps, including Mailchimp, Salesforce, Zendesk, QuickBooks, and Zoho CRM. Also, it integrates with Zapier 

Setmore is the best platform to empower your business. Ideally, it lets you: 

• You automate appointment booking to accelerate your growth
• Add company information, staff profiles, and service details
• Integrates with Teleport for video meetings – you can generate a video link directly to your app
• Start scheduling on the calendar
• Share Booking Page on websites, Facebook, and Instagram 

Setmore supports numerous web builders. It gives you copy and paste code whenever you want to display booking options. You get codes for Adobe Muse, Weebly, Wix, and WordPress. Additionally, sites running on Joomla, Jimdo, and Drupal get a code too. 

Again, you get automatic email alerts and reminders, classes, and Google/Office calendar syncs. 

The dashboard is unique: it displays weekly appointments, projected revenue, confirmed revenue, and total estimated revenue. Best of all, you get an activity widget – at a glance, you can see everything that happened on Setmore.

Pricing: free and premium option beginning at $25 per month. 

Setmore runs on both Android and iOS apps. 

Supported payment: Square and Stripe. 

Pros 

• Intuitive and easy to use
• The premium option is reliable 
• Instant customer service 
• Multiple booking channels 

Cons 

• Occasional freezing of app 

Click this affiliate link to get SchedulePro Project Management and Scheduling Software.

Booking Systems for Small Businesses – Possible Way to Add To Your Website

In this era, an online appointment scheduler is very vital. It is convenient for you and your customer. Typically, a booking system means less workload and fewer mistakes. Keep in mind; machines don’t tire. 

Do you want to link a scheduling app to your website? Try the methods below:

• Embed an Iframe/inline frame: it means embedding an external website into your website. 
• Link to an external website: simply create a link that will send your visitors the booking system, and embed it into your booking system.
• Install a Plugin: popular CMS like WordPress and popular CMS platforms such as Drupal and Joomla. They add more functionalities. 
• Connect via API: websites having CMS allow for integrating APIs, which offers seamless integration with online booking systems.

10 Unique Scheduling Needs of Small Business

Even a small business has scheduling needs. Apparently, many managers and business owners struggle to come up with an effective schedule.  

You need to optimize all needs of your business. Here are unique things you must incorporate in your scheduling agenda. 

Staff and staffing needs

Each working shift should have enough workers. This way, they handle the workload within a stipulated time. Having too many workers will just waste your resources. On the other hand, having fewer employers puts a strain on the production process.

Also, consider the needs of your staff. Let them tell you what and how they prefer things done. 

Tracking customer support 

Customers make your business grow. So, you should spend your resources and time to make them happy through exemplary service delivery. With modern software, you can automate the process to make it easier and faster. 

Analyze Sales and Expenses

Balancing your numbers will keep your business afloat. During each particular shift, check your sales and income to know where to optimize. 

Again, compare the income to your labor cost. When you compare past and current numbers, you can be able to make sound decisions.

Managing your expense receipts

Managing expense reports for your small business isn’t easy. Tracking and recording them can be a hassle. 

Always track them on time and keep them up to date. This way, you’ll be able to manage taxes and put finances in order. 

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Assigning tasks to employees

Assigning tasks to your staff is one way of scheduling. But before assigning tasks, you need to understand your employees truly. Understand their names, skills, certifications, etc. This way, you get the right employee for specific tasks.

Customization is handy, especially in terms of changing shifts. With a good system, teammates can make changes to the shift without involving management. This saves a lot of time.

Accountability

Every employee is accountable for his/her sector of responsibility. Therefore, keeping an eye on all aspects is vital as it helps create more effective schedules over time. Besides, it helps to increase accountability among your team. 

Keep track of notes 

Notes, ideas, to-do items, and contact information are essential for your business. But you need to keep them organized. When you put them on paper, you might lose them. So looking for a cloud-based storage system is the best idea.

Scheduling Meetings

Meetings are useful for all business. Set aside time to meet your employees, co-workers, and even clients. During the meeting, discuss pertinent issues to ensure that you are on a similar page.

Block your meeting to specific times – 30 minute or 10-minute meetings. This helps connect with staff and give quick advice. 

Set Time Aside for Emails

Regularly check your emails. Potential customers and co-workers with questions may reach through the email. So setting aside time to go through emails puts on top of things in your business.

A few minutes per day is enough to go through your mail inbox. Managing your emails properly is one way of effective communication with your clients, co-workers, and employees. Replying to them on time is one way of being on top of everything.

Appointment slotting 

As a business person, you will set appointments to meet people. In some cases, people will want to meet you. You should set aside dedicated time to meet your customer’s special needs.

Scheduling apps come with appointment slots, which allow you to plan your appointment effectively. Through the app’s functionalities like Google Calendar, you can book a chunk of time for your appointments.

Scheduling workspace 

Have a designate standard workspace is crucial for productivity. Limiting your work to a particular space is important as it helps you to focus. Simply put, when you sit down at your desk, you’ll know you are working.

Planning shifts 

While planning shifts, always put your best employees. Look at efficiency, teamwork, personableness, and experience. With these employees, you can build shifts based on suitable times.

Click this affiliate link to get SchedulePro Project Management and Scheduling Software.

Bottom Line 

Small businesses can make high volume sales and metamorphose into a large business if they manage their affairs well. It is incredibly easy to achieve growth with the best scheduling app for small businesses.

The app will let you prioritize tasks, manage time, enhance efficiency, and enforce the spirit of teamwork. Whether you choose Setmore, Appointy, Acuity Scheduling, or Appointlet, you are sure of efficiency.