Music And Tech Veterans Launch Fons So Instructors Can Focus On Teaching Instead Of Running A Business

SEATTLE, Feb. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Fons, a professional online service for teachers of any discipline, today launched its web and mobile-based app to help instructors focus on teaching what they love while reducing the time spent on administrative tasks. The app provides any independent instructor – from ballet and guitar to tennis and yoga – a simple and elegant platform for scheduling lessons, accepting payments and managing their small business effortlessly from a mobile device.

Founded by Eric Branner, a 15-year private music teacher, and Jared Wray, former founder of Tier 3, Fons aims to eliminate the 20 hours per month independent teachers spend juggling schedules, tracking down late payments, and managing business reports. Now, teachers and small business owners can focus on sharing their passion with clients and students without the nuisance of administrative tasks.

"Teaching music is about analyzing scores, not reports. About finding harmony, not collecting money. That's why Fons was born,'' Branner said. "As a teacher, I love working with students and helping them realize the full potential of their passion. But it was always a bummer teaching kids about Hendrix and Bach, and then having the stressful conversation with them about outstanding payments and rescheduling. Fons allows me to keep the focus on the music, the lessons and the love of teaching, not the business—which is what's important."

For a monthly fee, Fons gives each instructor the expertise they need to effortlessly manage their business. Automated payments eliminate the hassle of clients needing to write checks, keep cash on hand or remember whether or not they paid for a lesson. Lesson policies and rates— which clients accept at signup— are clearly stated and enforced in the app. And Fons' Family Feature allows parents to create and share one calendar feed and keeps multiple schedules, lessons, policies and payments in one place.

"Before Fons, I was piecing together multiple spreadsheets and paying a bookkeeper to handle most of my business administration," said academic coach and Fons customer Beth Peterson, a beta user and one of the hundreds of private instructors Fons surveyed while building the platform. "Fons handles everything for me so I can give up the spreadsheet scene and save money on bookkeeping."  

Fons was built with the best business practices in mind and every step of the process has been analyzed, tested and refined to create the ultimate experience.

• Billing: Fons eliminates hours of work most instructors spend on invoicing, processing checks, transferring balances and adding payments to a ledger. Clients simply add a credit card to their secure Fons account and are automatically billed at the completion of each lesson. Funds are deposited directly to the instructor's Fons account, and a receipt is emailed to both parties.
• Scheduling: By seamlessly integrating with iCal, Fons helps clients and instructors manage their schedules with ease. Set clients up with a weekly time slot, or individual appointments. When adding lessons to the schedule, Fons will send a notification prompting clients to confirm or reject the appointment.
• Reporting: Fons features an easy-to-use accounting system to securely invoice and manage payments. Balancing the books has never been so simple. All revenue is in one place, and can be generated into a report using Fons.

"You don't need an accounting degree or MBA to operate Fons. All you need is the desire to teach and learn," Wray said. "Our mission is to let instructors and students everywhere stop worrying about the minutia and start making beautiful music together."

To sign up for Fons and start your free trial, visit https://fons.io

About Fons
Fons is a business solution for anyone who needs to automate the scheduling and billing aspects of an independent business. The service was conceptualized by a private music teacher and built by a team of tech industry veterans to eliminate the 20 hours per month spent on important but time consuming administrative tasks. Fons automates every administrative task necessary to run an independent business including scheduling, billing and reporting via its web and mobile app. Fons saves time so users can get back to doing what they love. To learn more about Fons, visit https://fons.io 

Connect with Fons on Facebook: http://facebook.com/getfons

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http://www.fons.io