Which businesses turnda is for
If people wait for your attention, turnda fits. It's built around the shape of the wait, not around any one trade — so it works the same whether you run a counter, a set of rooms, or several branches.
Any business with a waiting line
- turnda is deliberately business-agnostic — a queue is a queue whether you're a clinic, a repair desk, a service counter, a salon or a branch office.
- You describe your line in plain terms during setup — no industry presets to pick, nothing hard-coded to one trade.
- If you have people waiting and someone calling them forward, you have everything turnda needs.
How it adapts to you
| Question 1 — how a visit goes | Question 2 — who's served first | |
|---|---|---|
| Choices | Served at one place and done — a one stopA single waiting line inside a location — the thing people join. Also called an area.. Or moving through stages you name, like check → consult → collect — a journeyA visit that passes through several stops in order (e.g. reception → consult → pharmacy). Each stop is its own line.. | Plain first-come in pure arrival order, or appointmentsA serving rule where a due booking is always called ahead of waiting walk-ins. woven in alongside walk-ins with a fair-wait safety netA max-wait limit: a walk-in who has waited longer than it is bumped ahead of other walk-ins — never past an emergency or a due booking. keeping things even. |
Add priority tiersAn optional label (e.g. senior, accessibility need) that moves someone up the line ahead of ordinary walk-ins — kept separate from emergencies. or emergenciesThe highest-priority flag — called ahead of everyone, including due bookings. Off by default. only if you need them — they're off by default. You can change any of this later.
Three worked examples
| Business | How it's set up |
|---|---|
| A barber shop | One line, one stop. Walk-ins scan the poster; regulars book a slot online. Serving rule: keep it fairA serving rule that lets a long-waiting walk-in move ahead, while still serving due bookings first., so a booked 3pm trim is honoured but the walk-in who's waited 40 minutes isn't leapfrogged forever. Each chair is a stationA spot where one staff member serves one visitor — a chair, desk, room or counter.. |
| A clinic | One visit, several stops: reception → doctor → pharmacy. That's a single journeyA visit that passes through several stops in order (e.g. reception → consult → pharmacy). Each stop is its own line. — the patient keeps one number and one tracking page through all three, and each stop has its own rooms and rule. |
| A parcel counter | Pure first come, first served, no bookings, no names needed. Visitors take a number at the kioskA tablet at your counter where a walk-in checks themselves in without their own phone. or by QR code, watch the board, collect, done. |
If you're unsure, two questions settle it
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Does a visit end at one place, or move through stages? | One place → a one-stop line. Stages → a journey. |
| Do people book ahead? | No → first come, first served. Yes → take appointments and pick keep it fairA serving rule that lets a long-waiting walk-in move ahead, while still serving due bookings first. (the popular default) or appointments firstA serving rule where a due booking is always called ahead of waiting walk-ins.. |
Everything else is tuning — and every answer can be changed later without starting over.
What it isn't for
Related: ((set-up-by-business-type/setup-a-counter|Set up a simple counter)) · ((set-up-by-business-type/setup-a-salon|Set up a salon)) · ((set-up-by-business-type/setup-a-clinic|Set up a clinic))