The signup wizard gets you to a working dashboard in about three minutes. This checklist covers the few extra things that turn "I have a dashboard" into "I can take my first real customer". Most of it is one-off — done once, doesn't need touching again.
You can tick these off in any order. Most studios are ready for their first customer inside an hour.
1. Finish the five-step setup wizard
The first time you sign in, StudioOps walks you through:
- Studio profile — your studio name and contact email
- Services — what bookable appointments look like (defaults: Consultation, Fitting, Drop-off)
- Working hours — which days and times you take bookings (default Mon–Sat 09:00–17:00)
- Brand voice — your email sign-off
- Square — connect now or skip and come back later
If you closed the wizard partway through, you'll pick it back up at the next step on next sign-in. There's a full walkthrough in Getting started with StudioOps Atelier.
2. Connect a payment rail
You need at least one — a card provider (Square or Stripe) or bank transfer — before you can send invoices or take deposit-at-booking payments.
Go to Settings → Payments.
Square (card payments via Square's hosted checkout):
- Click Connect with Square, sign in to your existing Square account, and approve the requested permissions. Square handles all card data — card numbers never touch StudioOps.
- Square's standard transaction fee applies on card payments. StudioOps takes no cut.
Stripe (card payments via Stripe's hosted checkout):
- Click Connect with Stripe, pick whether you're a sole trader or a limited company, and fill in the hosted onboarding form (business details, bank account, identity verification). Takes ~10-15 minutes.
- Stripe's standard transaction fee applies. StudioOps takes no cut.
- Pick Square OR Stripe — not both — based on what you already use elsewhere (in-person card reader, online shop, etc.).
Bank transfer (customers pay straight into your bank):
- Enter your account holder name, sort code, and account number. StudioOps stores these encrypted; only the last four digits are shown back to you.
- Customers see your bank details on the invoice and pay direct. You mark the invoice paid in StudioOps when the funds clear.
- Always available alongside whichever card provider you pick.
Fuller guides: Payments: Square and bank transfer and Connecting Stripe to StudioOps.
If you already have a Square Catalog or Stripe Products set up in your existing tool, StudioOps offers to import them on first connect — see Importing your Square or Stripe catalogue. Saves retyping every service.
3. Find and share your public booking page
Your public booking page lives at studioops.uk/your-slug/book — e.g. studioops.uk/chayil-couture/book if your slug is chayil-couture.
This is the link to share on:
- Your Instagram bio
- Your email signature
- A printed card
- A WhatsApp business profile
- Anywhere a potential customer currently gets hold of you
When someone books from this link, the appointment lands in your StudioOps diary automatically. No double-entry, no chasing back and forth.
4. Customise your email templates
Go to Settings → Templates.
Each customer-facing email — booking confirmation, reschedule notice, cancellation note, thank-you and review request — has a default version. The defaults work fine, but you might want to tweak the wording to sound more like you.
Things worth doing:
- Match your studio voice (formal, warm, brief, etc.)
- Add a practical line about parking, the door buzzer, or studio access
- Make sure the thank-you note nudges towards a review
The brand-voice signature you set in the wizard appears at the bottom of every template — you don't need to repeat it.
5. Add your first real customer
Go to Customers → Add a customer.
Useful for:
- A bride you're already in conversation with — typing her in lets you raise a quote straight away rather than waiting for her to book through the public page.
- A customer you've had before and want to bring across.
You only need name and email. Phone number and notes are optional but useful.
6. Send your first real quote
Go to Quotes → New quote.
Pick a customer, add line items (description and price), and send. The customer gets an email from your studio's address — your-slug@studioops.uk — with a private link to view, accept, and comment on the quote.
A few things that catch first-time users out:
- The customer doesn't get a price until you send. Drafting the quote in StudioOps does not notify them.
- The customer can accept, decline, or leave a comment on the quote page. Comments + replies land in your Messages tab (the dashboard bell icon flags new ones).
- Once a quote is accepted, you can convert it to an invoice in one click.
7. Watch the two inboxes
StudioOps has two inboxes to keep an eye on:
- Enquiries — when a brand-new customer fills in your booking-page form or emails
your-slug@studioops.ukfor the first time. New enquiries trigger a Telegram alert (if you've connected Telegram) so you can reply within minutes. - Messages — when a customer replies to one of your earlier emails (booking confirmation, quote, invoice, thank-you). These show as a bell-icon notification on the dashboard rather than a Telegram alert — they're follow-ups, not first contact.
Both inboxes let you reply from inside StudioOps; the customer sees the reply come from your studio address.
8. (Optional) Connect the extras
These are launch-day features but they're optional — none of them block you from taking your first booking.
- Stripe or Square catalogue import — if you already have services set up in Stripe or Square, the dashboard offers a one-click import on first connect so you don't retype them. See Importing your Square or Stripe catalogue.
- Google Calendar sync — connects your personal Google calendar so StudioOps doesn't offer slots that conflict with your existing diary. See Syncing Google Calendar.
- Mailchimp — push customers who opt in into your Mailchimp audience automatically. See Connecting Mailchimp.
- WhatsApp / SMS sends — send booking links to customers' phones, not just email. See Connecting WhatsApp + SMS.
- Telegram alerts — get pinged on your phone when a new enquiry lands. See Connecting Telegram alerts.
Pick the ones that fit your workflow. You can come back to any of them later.
What "ready" looks like
If you've done steps 1-7 above, your studio is ready for its first booking. Some of them you'll come back to (more services, refined templates, new payment rail) — that's fine. Nothing is permanently locked. Step 8 is a menu, not a list — pick what matters to your studio.
If you get stuck, the StudioOps help centre at studioops.uk/help has search and a ticket form. For anything urgent, email help@studioops.uk.
See also
- Getting started with StudioOps — the verbose walkthrough of signup and the wizard
- Setting up your services catalogue — services in detail
- Setting up your people + Giving your team dashboard access — the two halves of "your team"
- Booking rules and your cancellation policy — how customers book, cancel, and reschedule
- Payments: Square and bank transfer + Connecting Stripe to StudioOps — the three payment rails
- Frequently asked questions — common questions about StudioOps