How Little Engine works

Your business number

You get a new local phone number just for your business, matched to your area code. Clients text and call it like any other number, and your personal number stays private. Texts and calls to your business number come to the Little Engine app, so work stays in one place and your personal phone stays yours.

Your services

Describe what you offer in your own words, like “60-minute deep tissue massage, $120,” and Little Engine turns it into a service card you can review and adjust. For each service you can set:

• Length and price for each session
• Buffer time before and after, for setup and cleanup
• Where it happens: your location, a client’s home, or a phone, FaceTime, Google Meet, or Zoom session
• Which days you offer it

Your hours and booking rules

You decide when you work and how clients can book. Little Engine upholds your rules every time.

• Business hours: clients only see times you’re actually open.
• Notice: how much heads-up you need before a client can book, from “anytime” up to 72 hours.
• Cancellation and reschedule policies: set the window (for example, 24 hours before) and the late fee that applies inside it.
• Travel time: if you go to your clients, Little Engine accounts for drive time between same-day appointments, so you’re never booked somewhere you can’t reach in time.

Getting paid

Connect your bank account through Stripe, the payment processor behind millions of businesses. This is where your earnings land.

Your calendar

Connect your Google Calendar (one account or several) and your calendar works both ways. Events already on your calendar block that time from bookings, and every Little Engine booking shows up on your calendar. You can also turn an existing calendar event into a Little Engine booking. Apple Calendar support is coming soon.

How a client gets set up

• Send the invite. Add a client, and Little Engine texts them from your business number with your message and a setup link, followed by your contact card so your number saves in their phone.
• They fill out a short form. Name, email, and address, plus their okay to receive texts from your business. Their email is how they get a calendar invite for every session.
• They save a payment method. A card or a US bank account, held securely by Stripe. Saving it doesn’t charge anything. Your client also agrees to your cancellation and reschedule policy here, so everyone starts on the same page.
• They book their first session. Right from the same flow.

No app, no password

Your clients never download an app or create a password. Links sign them in automatically, and when a link has expired, a quick text code gets them back in.

When a client texts

A client texts: “Any chance I can grab a spot Thursday afternoon?” Little Engine suggests the reply that moves things forward, written and ready to go, along with the right link when one is needed. Tap a suggestion, adjust the words if you want, and send. Nothing goes to your client unless you send it.

How clients book

Clients ask for time the way they always have: by texting you. What happens next depends on the request.

• Simple requests get booked on the spot. When a client asks for a specific time and it’s open (“Can I get Thursday at 3?”), Little Engine takes care of it. Approve with a tap, and the session is booked and confirmed by text. No back-and-forth.
• Everything else gets a live booking link. When a request is open-ended or would take a few texts to sort out (“What do you have next week?”), Little Engine sends your client a link to your calendar in real time. They see only the times that actually work: inside your hours, outside your existing bookings and calendar events, with your buffers and travel time already accounted for. They pick one, and it’s booked and confirmed by text instantly.

Faster for everyone

Either way, booking takes a fraction of the time it used to, for you and for your client. Every booking sends your client a calendar invite by email, so it lands right on their calendar. Every provider also gets a public booking page that new clients can use to book with you.

Recurring sessions

For clients on a regular schedule, set up a recurring appointment once (every Tuesday at 6, every other Friday) and it repeats on your calendar. Clients can still move or cancel a single session without touching the rest.

Reminders

Little Engine texts your clients a reminder before each session, so fewer people forget. You choose the timing: 72 hours, 48 hours, 24 hours, or 1 hour before, or a mix. The default is 24 hours.

Reschedules and cancellations

Clients reschedule or cancel the same way they book: by texting you. Little Engine suggests the reply and the next step, so a change that used to take a string of texts takes one. Clients can also use the link from their confirmation to make the change themselves anytime. Either way, they get a confirmation by text. If the change falls inside your window, your client sees your policy and the fee before they confirm, so there are no surprises.

Whether the fee actually gets charged is always your call. Charge it, waive it for a regular who’s been great, or make an exception when life happens. Little Engine just makes it easy to do either, without an awkward conversation.

Payments that collect themselves

The day before a session, Little Engine checks that your client’s card is good. A few minutes after the session starts, it charges the card on file automatically. Your client gets a payment confirmation by text, with a receipt they can open anytime.

Card or bank account

Clients can pay by card or straight from a US bank account. Bank payments take a few days to clear, and Little Engine texts your client when a bank payment is processing and when it’s received.

Late fees, your call

If a client cancels or reschedules inside your window, you decide whether the late fee applies. Little Engine shows you the fee and lets you charge or waive it in a tap, so you keep full control without chasing anyone for it. For package sessions, a late cancellation uses one session instead of a fee.

Your payouts

Your earnings go from Stripe straight to your bank account. Your Money tab shows what you’ve earned, what’s on the way, what’s coming from upcoming bookings, and anything that needs your attention.