Catering or arena: choosing a calculator's kind

Two quite different businesses use Caterway. A caterer takes orders where the customer says when and where. An arena or event venue hosts dated happenings, and the customer picks an event, then a suite or table, then the food. The kind you choose keeps each one seeing only the settings that fit, instead of a screen full of switches that do not apply.

Where you choose it

• Log in to Caterway.
• Open Calculators from the menu on the left.
• Press Create calculator. The builder opens on the Basic tab.
• At the top, under What is this calculator for?, pick one:
• Catering: you cater. Customers say when and where, or collect. A space is an optional extra you can offer.
• Arena or event venue: you host events. Customers pick an event, then a suite or table, then their food.
• Carry on filling in the rest of the calculator and save when you are ready.

You can change the kind later, it is not a one-way door.

What the kind actually changes

The kind sets sensible defaults and, more usefully, hides what does not apply. Choose Arena and the builder shows an Arena group for events and spaces, and assumes the order is served on site. Choose Catering and that group stays out of your way, and the calculator leans towards delivery and collection instead. Every underlying setting is still there and still editable, the kind just decides what you see first.

Good to know

• Existing calculators already have a kind, worked out from how they were set up, so nothing changed for anything you built before this.
• The kind is about what is shown, not a cage: a caterer who genuinely wants to sell a room can still turn spaces on.