It's all about accessibility. I've had situations where people weren't able to book through Italki, but they could book through YouCanBookMe."- Jonathan Allen, Founder of Jonny Teacher
Jonny Allen didn't follow a conventional path into teaching. After years working in bars and nightclubs, he decided he wanted something more fulfilling. So Jonny got his TEFL qualification, and just two weeks later, he found himself in front of a classroom full of kids in China, expected to teach them English. No formal training, no gradual introduction. Just personality, adaptability, and a willingness to figure it out.
What followed was a decade of teaching across four countries: China, Slovakia, Spain, and Italy, before COVID pushed him, like many others, to take the leap online. He hasn't looked back since. Today, Jonny runs his tutoring business independently, taking students from B1 level upwards in conversational English lessons that are anything but by the book.
I wouldn't say I'm your standard English teacher. I do things a little bit off script. I know I'm not the best teacher in the world, but I focus on those qualities that I know I can bring that other teachers can't."
Finding the right tutor scheduling software was part of building something that worked entirely on his own terms: simple, flexible, and free from the kind of platform dependency that eats into a freelance teacher's margins.
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Claire’s stats |
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Location United Kingdom |
Company size Solopreneur |
Industry Education - Tutoring |
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YCBM stats Customer since: Feb 2025 Lifetime bookings: 673 # of booking pages: 3 |
Key integrations |
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The fees from the third-party teaching platform were adding up, and Johnny didn’t want to pass those extra costs on to his students.. He needed a way for students to book with him directly—one that worked smoothly with his calendar and payments, without making his simple setup more complicated. |
Jonny built his tutoring business across two channels: a well-known language learning platform that brings in students from around the world, and direct bookings for students who come to him through social media. The platform side works well for discovery—it's good marketing, and he wasn’t about to abandon it—but the commission structure had become a problem.
The commission was the straw that broke the camel's back. It went up by 6% to 21%. And for what I do, it wasn't fair to students. You don't want to ask them to pay commission, but you want to value what you're worth as a teacher."
He needed an alternative for direct bookings. Something that integrated with Google Calendar, accepted payments through Stripe, and didn't require him to become a tech expert to get it working. He also needed it to be genuinely accessible; students booking from Russia, Ukraine, Italy, Spain, China, Korea, and Japan all need a payment route that works for them, and not every platform accommodates that.
It's all about accessibility. I've had situations where people weren't able to book through Italki, but they could book through YouCanBookMe."
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After trying another tool that didn't quite fit, Jonny found YouCanBookMe. The Google Calendar integration, Stripe payments, and clean appointment types gave him exactly what he needed: nothing more, nothing less. |
Jonny's first stop wasn't YouCanBookMe. He tried Calendly first and it wasn’t for him, so he started looking for a better alternative.
I'll be honest. I went to Calendly. It didn't work out.”
When he tried YouCanBookMe, everything clicked. The integrations made sense, the Google Calendar sync worked, and connecting Stripe meant he could take payments directly—without routing every booking through a platform that took a large cut.
And that didn’t mean replacing italki. Jonny sees italki and YouCanBookMe as doing two completely different jobs. Italki is the shop window. It's where students from around the world find him. But when a student comes to him directly, or simply can't pay through the platform, YouCanBookMe is where they go.
If you can't pay that way, pay this way. It's all about accessibility."
That accessibility point matters more than it might seem. Jonny teaches students from across Europe, Asia, and beyond, and payment options vary enormously by country. Having YouCanBookMe as an alternative route means Jonny never has to turn a student away because of how they book.
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With over 600 bookings in just over a year, Jonny has built a direct booking channel alongside italki that works for students around the world, avoids the hefty commissions of third-party platforms, and stays completely out of his way. |
In a little over a year, Jonny has logged more than 600 bookings through YouCanBookMe.
Students from across Europe, Asia, and beyond can find a time, book, and pay directly without paying an arm and a leg in commission. And for students in countries where certain payment options aren't available on third-party platforms, YouCanBookMe provides an alternative route in, meaning Jonny can be as accommodating as possible regardless of where a student is coming from.
It's easier to recommend something that you've had a good experience with. And so far, the experience with YouCanBookMe has been good."
Jonny's booking page makes an immediate impression. A striking background image sets the tone: personal, distinctive, and full of character.
The real work is done through appointment types. Rather than offering a single generic "book a lesson" option, Jonny has built out a menu of what he actually does: a trial lesson for students meeting him for the first time, and a range of named session types, including Literary Journeys and News Article Discussion, each with its own clear description. A student can look at the options and pick what appeals to them, then come back next time and choose something different.
The descriptions set expectations, give students a sense of what they're signing up for, and let Jonny shape the lesson before it's even booked.
Go online sooner than feels necessary. Jonny wishes he'd made the leap earlier than he did.
"I would have said go online sooner. 100%. Because of the life that it offers—the time you save, the more you can do. It's more manageable."
He actually created an online account years before he started using it properly, then forgot about it and rediscovered it three years later. The regret isn't bitter (everything happens for a reason, as he puts it!), but the point stands. The tools are there. Use them.
Jonny Teacher isn't trying to build an empire. He's trying to do good work, help students actually speak English rather than just pass exams, and run a business that fits around his life. The tools he uses exist to support that, not complicate it.
YouCanBookMe is a quiet but essential part of that setup. It handles the scheduling, takes the payment, syncs to the calendar, and stays completely out of the way so Jonny can focus on what he's actually good at: helping someone find their voice in a language that isn't their own.
Create your free YouCanBookMe account today.