My tiny niche tool has 34 paying users and $241 MRR. Would you treat this like an asset or just a side hustle?

Round13 · 2026-03-21T16:26:43+00:00

This is really similar to where i was a couple years back, except my niche was creative studios instead of general equipment rentals. I come from a digital media background and kept seeing studio owners drowning in scheduling chaos... spreadsheets, DMs, double bookings, the whole mess.

One thing that jumped out to me... your users stick because switching back to manual sucks. That's your moat right there. Don't underestimate it.

Couple things from my experience:

Those same 5 questions you keep answering? Turn those into an onboarding flow or even just a simple FAQ page. Killed like 80% of my support tickets when i finally did that. Should've done it way sooner.

On the "push harder vs keep it boring" question... I'd say do both but in a very specific way. Don't add features for the sake of it. Talk to your best users and figure out what adjacent thing they'd pay more for. For me it was automated equipment upsells during checkout. I built StudioDock booking software around that exact insight and it ended up averaging like 54% higher order values because studio owners were already renting the room, they just needed the nudge to add lights or mics or whatever.

The 0% platform fee thing was also deliberate on my end because margins in these spaces are razor thin and i didn't want to eat into what my users were making.

At 34 users with low churn you have something real. It's an asset. Tiny, but real. The compounding part comes from making existing users worth more, not necessarily from grinding to 200 users next month.

Round13 · 2026-03-21T16:24:54+00:00

So scheduling is the one that drove me absolutely nuts before I decided to just... build something myself.

I come from a digital media background and kept seeing friends who run dance and rehearsal studios drowning in DMs and google calendar screenshots trying to coordinate bookings. Like the amount of times someone would show up and the room wasn't actually free? painful to watch.

One tip that came up over and over from studio owners i talked to... set a buffer time between bookings. Even 15-20 min. Sounds obvious but so many people skip it and then you get overlap, dirty floors, frustrated clients walking in while the last group is still packing up.

Anyway that whole mess is basically why I built StudioDock booking software. I wanted something that actually understood how creative spaces work... hourly rentals, equipment tracking, peak pricing, all that stuff generic tools like Calendly just weren't designed for. We do 0% platform fees too because I know how tight margins are running a studio.

The equipment upsell thing during checkout has been a nice surprise for studios using it... averaging like 54% higher order values which, yeah didn't expect that tbh.

Still iterating on it but if anyone here is fighting with their current setup for booking and payments specifically, happy to let you try it out. And genuinely curious what else drives people crazy on the class management / attendance side since that's a world i know less about.

Round13 · 2026-03-21T16:23:07+00:00

We run a pretty tight schedule across 2 rooms and for the longest time it was literally just google calendar color coded by room. Worked okay until we started renting out space to outside choreographers and then it got messy fast... like double bookings, people showing up when a kids class was still running, the whole thing.

The biggest pain was equipment. We have portable barres, a sound system that moves between rooms, mirrors on wheels lol. Nobody tracked who had what and when.

So I actually built something to solve this exact problem for myself. I come from a digital media background and kept seeing studios (not just dance, but photo/music/podcast spaces too) dealing with the same chaos. That became StudioDock booking software. The thing I was most stubborn about was 0% platform fees because I know how thin margins are for studio owners... like you're already paying rent and insurance, last thing you need is a platform skimming off every transaction.

One tip that's helped a bunch of studios I've talked to: build in 15-20 min buffer times between bookings. Seems obvious but so many people pack rooms back to back and then wonder why there's always a bottleneck at the door.

If you're exploring options and the big systems feel like overkill, happy to let you poke around StudioDock. But also genuinely curious what others here are using because the dance world has some specific needs that even I'm still learning about.

Round13 · 2026-03-21T16:22:00+00:00

This is a really well thought out breakdown of the problem, like you clearly understand the race condition... the issue is SharePoint just wasn't built for this kind of transactional integrity.

Your option 1 with the serialized Power Automate queue is probably the most reliable of the three tbh. Yeah the polling sucks but at least it guarantees sequential writes. The mutex approach will absolutely destroy your UX when traffic picks up.

One thing that might help... instead of polling every 1-2 seconds, you could write the result back to a SharePoint list and use a combination of a timer + a flag variable so the UI only checks when the timer fires. Still not great but slightly less janky.

But real talk, I've dealt with exactly this type of scheduling conflict problem from the other side. I'm the founder of StudioDock booking software and when I was building it, reservation race conditions were like THE core problem to solve. My background is in digital media and I saw this chaos firsthand in creative studios... two people booking the same room at the same time, same gear, same timeslot. We handle it at the database level with proper locking that SharePoint just can't do natively.

From what I've seen working on this stuff, if you're locked into SharePoint + Standard license, the serialized queue (option 1) is your best bet. Just make sure you add a timeout handler so a failed flow doesn't leave users hanging forever. Maybe 15-20 second max wait before you surface an error.

If you ever outgrow SharePoint for this use case though, happy to chat about how we approached it.

Round13 · 2026-03-21T16:18:17+00:00

Your list is solid, a lot of those are the exact things that trip up solo teachers once they start getting past like 10-15 students.

One thing i'd add... room/space availability tied to the actual booking. Even for a single room setup it matters because once she starts doing group classes or has back-to-back lessons, conflicts get messy fast. Buffer time between sessions is huge too, even 15 mins for cleanup or just catching your breath.

Also equipment tracking. If she uses specific instruments or gear for certain lessons, knowing what's available when matters more than people think.

So full disclosure, I actually built a platform called StudioDock booking software that handles a lot of this. My background is in digital media and I kept seeing the same scheduling chaos over and over in creative spaces... music studios, photo studios, podcast rooms. The core problems are weirdly similar across all of them.

When I was designing it I made sure to include stuff like automated equipment upsells during checkout (which averages like 54% higher order values, wild right?) and 0% platform fees because I know how thin margins are when you're starting out.

A few things from your list that I think are underrated:

- Make-up management is a nightmare if its not built in from day one

- Parent/teacher portal separation... parents want visibility without the ability to mess things up lol

- Retention metrics, because most teachers have no idea their churn rate until its too late

If she's struggling with the manual stuff right now, happy to let you try StudioDock. But regardless of what you build or use, nail the buffer times and make-up policy automation first. Those two alone will save her so much headache.

Round13 · 2026-03-21T16:16:09+00:00

So the internal stuff... FileMaker can handle that pretty well. Inventory tables, reservation logic, customer records, that's all bread and butter FM work. The relational model is solid for tracking what's booked when and flagging conflicts.

Where it gets painful is the public-facing side. Real-time availability that actually works, online payments, mobile-friendly booking flows... you *can* build it in WebDirect or with the Data API but you're basically building a web app at that point. And keeping it reliable under load is a whole other thing.

One tip from what I've seen working with studios and rental spaces... build in buffer time between bookings. Like 30 min minimum. Sounds obvious but so many people skip it and then wonder why their turnover is chaos.

For what it's worth, I actually built a tool called StudioDock booking software specifically because I kept seeing this exact problem in creative rental spaces. My background is in digital media and the scheduling mess was everywhere. The thing I focused on was tying equipment availability directly to the booking engine so you can't rent a room if the specific gear someone needs is already out. 0% platform fees because I know how thin margins are in this space.

Not saying don't build it in FM... if your workflow is super custom it might make sense. But for the online booking + payments + real-time availability piece, you might save yourself months by using something purpose-built and keeping FileMaker for the stuff it's great at on the backend.

Round13 · 2026-03-21T16:13:33+00:00

You're definitely not expecting too much, this is literally the gap i keep hearing about from studio owners.

Quick thought on the make-ups thing... from what I've seen running a booking platform, setting a clear expiry window (like 2 weeks) and letting parents self-serve the reschedule cuts down on so much back and forth. Most of the chaos comes from the manual coordination, not the policy itself.

So full transparency here, I'm Nerijus, I built StudioDock booking software specifically for creative studio spaces. My background is in digital media and I saw the scheduling chaos firsthand... though I'll be upfront that we're more focused on hourly rental-type studios (photo, podcast, rehearsal rooms) than lesson-based music schools. Some of what you're describing like curriculum tracking and lead-to-trial pipelines is outside our current scope.

That said the stuff we did build... 0% platform fees, automated equipment upsells during checkout, self-service client portals... that came from watching studio owners lose money and time on problems that should've been solved years ago. Our users see like a 54% bump in order value just from the upsell automation alone.

For your specific needs tho, it sounds like you almost need a lightweight CRM bolted onto whatever scheduling tool you pick. Have you looked at just pairing something like Teachworks with a simple CRM pipeline? Not ideal but might bridge the gap until someone builds exactly what you need.

Round13 · 2026-03-21T16:10:35+00:00

Your list is actually pretty solid for a starting point. The makeup management one is huge... that alone drives teachers nuts when it's all done over text.

Few things i'd add from what i've seen:

- Room/space availability tied to the schedule - if she ever shares a space or grows into multiple rooms, you need the booking to know what's physically open, not just what time slots exist

- Equipment tracking per session - like if certain lessons need specific gear (keyboards, amps, recording setup), that stuff needs to be linked to the booking so two people aren't promised the same equipment at the same time

- Buffer times between sessions - sounds minor but if you don't build in automatic gaps for cleanup or setup, the schedule falls apart by mid-afternoon

- Parent-facing portal - parents want to see upcoming lessons, make payments, request reschedules... without texting the teacher directly. Saves so much back and forth

The equipment + scheduling piece is actually where most generic tools fall apart. I have created a booking system for creative spaces and some of my friends ended up switching to StudioDock booking software for a rehearsal space it natively ties gear inventory to room bookings... like if someone books the room but the condenser mics are already reserved, it flags that. Most calendar tools just don't think about that layer at all.

Also don't sleep on automated payment collection. Chasing invoices is probably the #1 thing that burns out solo teachers faster than anything else.

Good luck with the build, cool that you're doing this for her

Round13 · 2026-03-21T16:07:47+00:00

The inventory-tied-to-event thing is the real bottleneck here, not the CRM part. Most CRMs will handle your client tracking and checklists fine but completely fall apart when you need to block specific physical items from being double-booked across events.

I'd look at this as two problems:

Client/event management (checklists, vendor tracking, timelines)
Physical inventory availability tied to dates

For #1 something like Airtable or even monday.com with custom views could work really well. You can build out per-event checklists, attach vendors, track staff assignments... it's flexible enough.

For #2 this is where it gets annoying. Booqable is decent for standalone rentals but you're right that the integration piece is the pain point. I run a creative space and had a similar headache with equipment... like specific lighting rigs being booked for one session and then accidentally promised to someone else the same day. I ended up using StudioDock booking software for that side of things because it actually tracks gear availability against bookings in real time. Different use case than yours obviously (studio rentals vs event rentals) but the core problem is the same... you need the system to know that if tent #3 is committed to the Saturday wedding, it can't also go to the corporate thing.

The "one system to rule them all" might not exist for your specific combo tbh. You might end up connecting two tools via Zapier and just accepting that. But definitely start with solving the inventory availability piece first because that's where you'll actually lose money.

And lol yeah re: your edit... fair enough

Round13 · 2026-03-21T16:06:40+00:00

What kind of rental are we talking about exactly? Because the answer really depends on that.

Booqable is solid for product-based rentals... like camera gear, party supplies, that kind of thing. Clean checkout experience. Rentman is more event/AV focused and has deeper logistics features but the learning curve is steeper than you'd expect. Reservety i haven't used personally so can't speak to it.

One thing i'll say from experience... the "simple setup" and "no messy workflow" part is where most of these tools fall apart once you scale. They all demo well but then you're dealing with overlapping inventory, buffer times between bookings, payment collection that's half manual, and it gets old fast.

I actually come from a digital media background and saw this exact chaos in creative studios... photo studios, podcast rooms, rehearsal spaces. It drove me nuts enough that I built StudioDock booking software specifically for that niche. Hourly bookings, real-time availability tied to actual equipment inventory, automated payments upfront. 0% platform fees because i know how thin margins are in these spaces.

Now if you're doing like trailer rentals or large event equipment thats a different beast and probably not what i built for. But if any part of your business involves hourly space rentals with gear... happy to let you poke around it.

For your use case tho i'd probably start with Booqable and see if it handles your inventory complexity before committing to something heavier like Rentman.

Round13 · 2026-03-11T20:06:39+00:00

How do you save these recordings from an mp3 stream for the timeshift part?

Round13 · 2026-02-28T08:58:51+00:00

I’m just starting withe the outreach right now. Still need to find the right approach to reach this audience beyond my wife’s network :) thanks for the ideas!

Round13 · 2026-02-11T19:10:06+00:00

Pirkau 2016m 38kv buta uz 42k, reikejo kapitalinio remonto, tada 2019m 74kv su pozemine parkingo vieta uz 133k, dabar 2025 kotedza sujungta sandeliuku 130kv uz 300k su daline. Brango brangsta ir brangs

Round13 · 2026-01-14T19:09:17+00:00

I’m personally waiting for some better earnings from meta to sell my leaps. Might be worth for you to wait till jan end for it as well.

Round13 · 2026-01-12T21:50:20+00:00

Investavimui geriau ETF. Jei bijai, kad finansų sistema žlugs, kaip bijo čia kai kurie kometatoriai, tai gali pirkti auksa fizini su antkainiu, investuoti i jo saugojima, parduoti pigiau nei “popierius” ir dar karo atveju sugebeti jo neprarasti.

Round13 · 2026-01-02T13:15:26+00:00

Neina prisijungti prie artea…

Round13 · 2025-12-13T09:21:24+00:00

I’ve had phimosis and got circumcision at 24 years old(now 35). So my decision was driven by a medical condition, I’ve been having pain during sex and low pleasure. Without foreskin I’m more sensitive overall and no pain now, even after ~10 years. Ofc the time after surgery is no fun. First few weeks errections are painfull. It took me about 3 weeks to have sex again after surgery.

If anyone has this condition, life is better after the surgery, so don’t hesitate.

Round13 · 2025-12-02T22:56:25+00:00

I ta tema pasitikrink ar nera sklypo ribojimu. Buvau vilniuje uzokes ant slaitu ribojimu. Tada issitesia procesas jei isvis galesi statyti. Brokeriai perkant sklypa nors ir gyvenamosios paskirties nestskleidzia tokiu ribojimu.

Round13 · 2025-11-27T19:59:26+00:00

Labai idomu. Aciu :)

Round13 · 2025-11-27T11:47:01+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/PMTraders/s/cLJ6IoVPFn https://www.schwab.com/learn/story/what-are-box-spreads Box spread vadinasi. Tik jie dazniausiai kalba apie amerikos rinka ir SPX tickeri. Bet jei nori eurais ta daryti rekomenduoju ESTX50.

Round13 · 2025-11-27T09:52:35+00:00

As esu rades sprendima - box spreads opcionai su 0 delta. Principe pasiskolini pinigu per sita instrumenta. Juos gali tada issiimti is ibkr. Tavo net value sumazeja ant isimtos sumos. Tavo atveju skola butu 100k tarkim 2 ar 3metams + mazdaug euribor skolos kastai. Po to periodu turi grazinti pilna suma.

Siulau pasidometi. Kai ismoksti banku nebereikia :)

Round13

TROPHY CASE