There's a moment in every tutoring business story where something shifts, when what started as a practical idea becomes something much more personal. For Nichola Jacques, founder of French Toast Lessons, that moment came at a funeral.
One of her students, Rae, had come to French Toast with no French at all. Over two years, he threw himself into the language entirely, watching French films, reading French books, travelling to France, until his French had, in Nichola's words, surpassed her own. When Rae passed away in 2024, Nichola was asked to read a poem in French at his funeral.
"His friends said that he would have loved that because he enjoyed his lessons so much. That was definitely the most affirming moment for me."
It's the kind of story that doesn't fit neatly onto a services page, but it says everything about what French Toast Lessons is really about.
How it started: From Paris to Manchester, with a gap to fill
Nichola studied French at the University of Nottingham and spent two years living in Paris before returning to her native Manchester in 2015. The move home came with a problem: she couldn't find anywhere that offered the kind of relaxed, conversational approach to French learning she'd experienced abroad.
So she built it herself.
"I couldn't find anywhere that offered a conversational, informal approach to French learning, so I decided to create it."
French Toast launched as in-person group classes, with Nichola teaching them herself. Over time, the model evolved. Tutors were brought in. The format shifted to online. Today, the team has taught over 5,000 hours of French to adult learners as well as the occasional language retreats in France, something that truly sets them apart.
What was the most key early decision made?
One of the most important early choices Nichola made was also one of the least obvious: stepping back from teaching herself.
Not being a native French speaker, she realised that the experience she wanted to offer students required tutors who were. So she built a small, hand-picked team of native speakers and shifted her focus to running the business behind the scenes, consultations, matching, marketing, and operations.
"There's something about learning from a native speaker which just elevates the whole experience, because it's not just a language connection, it's a cultural connection."
That pivot freed her to build something more intentional. Rather than a solo tutor with a booking page, French Toast became a properly structured business with a distinct identity: informal, warm, and culturally rooted, which clients recognised from the moment they landed on the website.
The big lesson to learn when scaling your business
Building a small, personality-led team means tutor recruitment carries real weight. Get it wrong and the whole experience suffers. Nichola is candid about the process.
"I've been doing this for over 10 years and now I trust my gut. I know as soon as I speak to someone whether they're a good fit."
In a decade, she's only been wrong once, and even then, she knew it before it happened.
"My gut was off before we started working together and I ignored it and pushed through. Turns out I was right."
Even though she parted ways with that tutor, the rest of the team has stayed. Many tutors have been with French Toast for years, building long-term relationships with students that go well beyond a weekly lesson.
What’s the secret to French Toast’s success?
Look around the tutoring market, and most websites look like they were built in an afternoon. French Toast doesn't. The site is clean, considered, and confident. The work of a founder who understood early that first impressions matter.
Nichola's research confirmed what she suspected: most French tutoring websites either looked identical or felt dated. She wanted something different.
"I wanted to make ours functional, stylish and beautiful."
The latest redesign also marked a personal step: for the first time in ten years, Nichola put her own face on the brand.
"I have shied away from that for the best part of 10 years. I'm a bit out of my comfort zone but it's part of clients building trust with us before they book."
It's a small thing that signals something larger - a founder who has grown into the confidence her business deserves.
What are the challenges of running a small tutoring business?
None of this happens without effort, and Nichola doesn't pretend otherwise. Running French Toast alongside other employment and raising two young children means the business rarely gets everything she wants to give it.
"The hard thing can be knowing where to put your energy and what to prioritise. I have so many ideas about how to take the business forward but not enough hours in the day."
It's a tension familiar to anyone building something small and good. The ambition outpaces the hours. TutorCruncher handles the admin and financial side, which removes at least one layer of that friction, but the bigger challenge is strategic. What to do next? What to let wait?
What comes next?
For now, the focus is on fully launching French Toast's GCSE offering - something Nichola wishes she had moved on sooner.
"I would introduce GCSE tuition sooner. I lacked the knowledge and network to do it sooner but now we're ready to offer this confidently."
The retreats, paused since just before Covid struck, are also on her radar to revisit. And she's committed to showing up more visibly as the face of the brand, something that doesn't come naturally, but that she's learning to lean into.
Eleven years in, French Toast is still small, still focused, and still entirely French. That's not an accident. It's a choice Nichola has made again and again, even when people asked whether she might branch out.
"I stuck with French because that's the language I am passionate about, and I love to share that passion with my clients."
