Minimum notice

Minimum notice is the shortest gap allowed between booking an appointment and the appointment starting. Set to two hours, a client at 10am can book 12pm but not 11am, which stops bookings arriving faster than the shop can see them.

Also called: lead time, cut-off time, same-day booking cut-off

Without a notice rule, someone can book a slot starting in ten minutes while the shop is mid-service and unable to look at a phone. The client arrives expecting a chair that was never really free.

Most shops land somewhere between one and four hours. Longer than that and genuine same-day business goes elsewhere; shorter and the schedule can surprise you.

Minimum notice is separate from the booking window, which controls how far ahead someone can book rather than how soon.