The problem
Weekday parties are rare, so school holidays are quiet unless an entertainer runs their own shows, such as a magic show or a circus skills workshop in a village hall. Taking bookings by message with cash on the door means a hall booked for 40 children and 18 turning up, plus an hour of messages per show. The hall costs the same whether it's half full or full.
What the AI does
Bookwhen is a booking system for classes, courses and events: customers book and pay on your booking page, and you manage attendees and waiting lists. Lite (€12, about $13£10€12A$19C$19 a month) takes payments for up to 300 bookings a month; Standard (€19, about $21£16€19A$31C$30) adds a waiting list, reminder emails and attendance tracking. List each show with its hall, time, age range and price per child, take payment at booking, and share the page in local parents' groups and with schools that agree to pass it on.
A worked example
A children's entertainer in Suffolk runs 6 magic shows in village halls in a half-term or Easter month, with 40 places each at $11£8€10A$15C$15 a child. They move bookings from messages and pay-on-the-door to a Bookwhen page with payment at booking.
Before
About 18 children per show, mostly paying on the door, with some booked children not turning up
After
About 24 children per show, all paid in advance, with the page shared in local parents' groups
What it's worth
About $306£230€274A$442C$432 a month in profit in a show month: 6 more children per show at $11£8€10A$15C$15 across 6 shows is $383£288€343A$553C$541 at an assumed 80% margin after card fees and materials, since the hall is paid for either way. That's against about $13£10€12A$19C$19 to $21£16€19A$31C$30 a month for Bookwhen Lite or Standard. The extra 6 children per show is an assumption.
How to set it up
- Choose Lite to take payments, or Standard if you want a waiting list and reminder emails.
- Create each show with the hall address, time, age range, price per child and whether parents must stay.
- Ask only for the parent's name, phone number and number of children, plus any allergy or access needs the parent wants you to know.
- Share the booking page in local parents' groups and with schools that agree to pass it on.
- Use the attendee list to check families in on the day, and delete it after the holiday.
What goes wrong
- Make it clear that parents or carers stay. If they don't, you take on responsibility for the children in your care, which needs a safeguarding policy, checks and enough adults.
- Allergy and access details are health data about children. Collect them only if needed and delete them after the show.
- Card payment fees are separate from Bookwhen's price, through Bookwhen Payments, Stripe or PayPal.
- Bookwhen shows prices in your local currency; check the price in pounds before you sign up.