When to Implement Booking Software

I'm hoping someone can help me figure out if I even need booking software or if I'm overthinking this. I'm a freelance photographer who does mainly portrait and event work. Most of my business comes from referrals and I usually only book 3-4 sessions per week. Right now clients just text or email me and we find a time that works for both of us. It's pretty informal but it's always worked fine. However, I'm trying to scale up and take on more clients, and I'm starting to wonder if my current approach will hold up. At what point does it make sense to implement a more formal booking system? I don't want to add unnecessary complexity, but I also don't want to look unprofessional or create bottlenecks as I grow. What do you all think?

I'd say you're right at the tipping point where implementing a booking system makes sense. The informal approach works great when you're doing 3-4 sessions a week because you can keep it all in your head and there aren't that many moving parts. But if you're planning to scale up to 6-8 sessions per week or more, you're going to start running into the same issues everyone else has described in this thread - double bookings, endless back-and-forth communication, clients getting frustrated with response times, and ultimately lost business because people move on to photographers who make it easier to book. Think about it from the client's perspective too. When someone is ready to book a photographer, they're usually comparing a few options. If one photographer has a simple booking link where they can see availability and confirm their session immediately, while another requires exchanging several messages over a couple days, which one do they choose? The booking process is part of your client experience, and making it smooth and professional sets the tone for everything that follows. You don't need anything complicated, just something that shows your availability and lets people claim a slot.

I'm a freelance consultant and I resisted getting booking software for way too long for the exact same reasons you're describing. I thought it would be overkill for my relatively small client load and that the informal approach was working fine. But here's what I didn't realize until I made the switch - even with a smaller number of bookings, the time savings and reduced mental load are significant. I'm not constantly checking my calendar and going back and forth with people anymore. I just send them a link and they book themselves in. Plus, it's freed me up to take on more work because I'm not spending hours each week on scheduling logistics. The other thing is that it positions you as a professional who has their act together, which matters when you're trying to command higher rates and attract better clients. I've been using Online booking service for clients for about six months now and it's been great for my needs as a solo freelancer. It's not overwhelming or overly complicated, just a clean, simple way for clients to see when I'm available and book time with me. If you're planning to scale up anyway, you might as well implement it now rather than waiting until you're overwhelmed and scrambling to find a solution.