WORK OPTIONS. Driving instructor training. Franchise or work for yourself.
Once you have passed your three exams and are on the register of approved driving instructors, you can look forward to a rewarding career. You will be your own boss, you can work for yourself, and decide on your own hours. You have several options:
If you were sponsored by a driving school on a trainee licence, you may wish to continue working for them, or, you can work for yourself. There are many adverts at the moment promising a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Unfortunately, they fail to tell the whole story.
Some of the large driving schools at the moment charge around £200 franchise fees. You will sign a contract in which you must pay this amount weekly to them. In return you get hire of the car, servicing (in some cases), Insurance (in some cases) and use of the company name. They usually supply things like stationary. You also of course benefit from their advertising, which could be TV/Radio/Yellow Pages. They do not usually guarantee you pupils. If they do supply you with pupils, they usually charge you a pupil generation fee (this could be £15/£20 per pupil). This, together with your petrol costs, may mean you have to work a lot of hours to make a profit. You really need to generate all the pupils you can yourself and not rely on the company to do this.
Remember: A good driving instructor never needs to advertise, they will, literally, have people queuing at their door from word of mouth!
Another option is a franchise deal where you supply your own car/servicing etc, and the franchise fee means you have use of the company’s advertising and name. They usually supply headboards for the car and stationary. They may also charge pupil generation fees. These franchise fees will be a lot lower than ones where you hire a car through the school. It would depend on where you live etc, but you’re looking at about £70 a week for an established company with good advertising. But remember, you can always NEGOTIATE this!
Another option is to set up on your own and work for yourself. This means it could be hard at first while you start up your advertising and word of mouth spreads. You will need to supply your own car, have dual controls fitted if you wish, have your own insurance, pay for your servicing costs, do your own advertising, supply your own stationary.. basically fund and set up everything yourself!
Different people go for different options depending on their circumstances and finances, so it is up to you to research well and look carefully at all the options. Read the small print on a franchise agreement, and negotiate!