Any driving instructors I have a few questions.
Discussion
I'm thinking of changing career and I stumbled upon some driving instructors courses so for £1k to £1.5k I could be a fully qualified driving instructor. (If I pass the tests).
Are there any instructors on here to answer a few questions?
Weekly income? (Based north lincolnshire)
What's best independent or franchise?
Insurance costs?
Any tips or is this a really bad idea?
Are there any instructors on here to answer a few questions?
Weekly income? (Based north lincolnshire)
What's best independent or franchise?
Insurance costs?
Any tips or is this a really bad idea?
Not answering your questions - but you need to look at your market first.
What is the market gap?
Are there many or few driving instructors in the area you are targeting?
How much do they charge?
How are they rated?
How will you be different as a newcomer? (package price for 10 lessons, specialise in nervous learners, pass rate, etc)
(Local Facebook groups are handy for information)
What is the market gap?
Are there many or few driving instructors in the area you are targeting?
How much do they charge?
How are they rated?
How will you be different as a newcomer? (package price for 10 lessons, specialise in nervous learners, pass rate, etc)
(Local Facebook groups are handy for information)
myvision said:
I'm thinking of changing career and I stumbled upon some driving instructors courses so for £1k to £1.5k I could be a fully qualified driving instructor. (If I pass the tests).
Are there any instructors on here to answer a few questions?
Weekly income? (Based north lincolnshire)
What's best independent or franchise?
Insurance costs?
Any tips or is this a really bad idea?
Dont! Ive had several driving instructors work for me in a previous business because their work was slashed by competition from Red and AA, etc. Its a tough business and then some. I recently got thanked by my neighbour for stopping him taking the plunge. Are there any instructors on here to answer a few questions?
Weekly income? (Based north lincolnshire)
What's best independent or franchise?
Insurance costs?
Any tips or is this a really bad idea?
To me the sums just don't add up. Ok if you're just after a bit of extra work, a bit of pin money, but as a full time job I can see it paying enough for all the aggro and unsocial hours.
If you go on £25 a lesson. Say you do 6 lessons a day, taking into account travel between customers and breaks etc thats £150/ a day. £1050/ a week.
Then all the costs, the car lease/purchase. Insurance must be huge. Car running costs, fuel tyres, maintenance. General business costs.
Then the unsocial hours, you'll have to give up weekends if you want to keep busy, and evenings.
If you go on £25 a lesson. Say you do 6 lessons a day, taking into account travel between customers and breaks etc thats £150/ a day. £1050/ a week.
Then all the costs, the car lease/purchase. Insurance must be huge. Car running costs, fuel tyres, maintenance. General business costs.
Then the unsocial hours, you'll have to give up weekends if you want to keep busy, and evenings.
A neighbour came to it after her previous role as a farm accountant ended when the farm was sold. Started with Red - but soon became clear self employment was better. But its not enough.
Stumbled upon being a part time course tutor for driver speed awareness courses - which has become very big business in North Yorkshire in the last year or two. And she's very good at it - just don't ask why I know
Two related income streams.
Stumbled upon being a part time course tutor for driver speed awareness courses - which has become very big business in North Yorkshire in the last year or two. And she's very good at it - just don't ask why I know
Two related income streams.
I can only relate my experience.
To start with the £1,000 packages will undoubtedly require you to sign up for a franchise during/post qualification. Once you passed part II and are being coached by qualified driving school you can apply for a 6 month provisional licence. For this you will have to sign up to your sponsoring school. In my case it was a 12 month deal where the franchise cost was around £300 per month!
Suffice to say, I qualified at the end of the 6 months and was able to get out of my contract and go independent. The bigger schools may well provide you with a car during your 6 month pink licence otherwise it's down to you and committing to a multi-year lease is not prudent should you not qualify. You therefore have to have the capital (or loan finance) to purchase a car and get it converted.
Understanding your market place is important. I live in a rural area of Wiltshire. All the ADI's I know are overwhelmed with demand and I'm very fortunate to have a couple of schools/colleges quite close by so now I'm established word-of-mouth provides a ready supply of students.
I'm not totally dependent on the income from driving instruction but to give you some idea I grossed about £25k last year doing on average 22hrs per week.
Total running costs of the car including fuel and insurance was just over £3k. Being rural I covered about 22k miles.
From my experience city based ADI's face far more price competition; I charge around £28 per hr. I know a number of London ADI's who are lucky to hit £22 per hr.
As for whether it's a bad idea, the answer really depends on you, your enthusiasm and aptitude to teach/coach driving skills. Don't under-estimate the training and testing - particularly the Part III! Also don't under-estimate the time required to qualify. I was able to train full-time but it still took over a year to get my green licence. If you're trying to train alongside your current day job then it could easily take the full 2 year window DVSA allow.
To start with the £1,000 packages will undoubtedly require you to sign up for a franchise during/post qualification. Once you passed part II and are being coached by qualified driving school you can apply for a 6 month provisional licence. For this you will have to sign up to your sponsoring school. In my case it was a 12 month deal where the franchise cost was around £300 per month!
Suffice to say, I qualified at the end of the 6 months and was able to get out of my contract and go independent. The bigger schools may well provide you with a car during your 6 month pink licence otherwise it's down to you and committing to a multi-year lease is not prudent should you not qualify. You therefore have to have the capital (or loan finance) to purchase a car and get it converted.
Understanding your market place is important. I live in a rural area of Wiltshire. All the ADI's I know are overwhelmed with demand and I'm very fortunate to have a couple of schools/colleges quite close by so now I'm established word-of-mouth provides a ready supply of students.
I'm not totally dependent on the income from driving instruction but to give you some idea I grossed about £25k last year doing on average 22hrs per week.
Total running costs of the car including fuel and insurance was just over £3k. Being rural I covered about 22k miles.
From my experience city based ADI's face far more price competition; I charge around £28 per hr. I know a number of London ADI's who are lucky to hit £22 per hr.
As for whether it's a bad idea, the answer really depends on you, your enthusiasm and aptitude to teach/coach driving skills. Don't under-estimate the training and testing - particularly the Part III! Also don't under-estimate the time required to qualify. I was able to train full-time but it still took over a year to get my green licence. If you're trying to train alongside your current day job then it could easily take the full 2 year window DVSA allow.
Edited by caiss4 on Friday 12th January 16:43
Should be able to help you with this one.
I'm not an ADI but my family run a driving school, my dad qualified in 1986, started his own company in 2003, My brother qualified in 2014. We currently run 11 ADI's and need more, we have 3 training at the moment. Circa 2009 we had 18 ADIs, 2012 we had 5 (recession)
When things are great they are great, it is very seasonal, people will cancel lessons if they are skint without caring about your bills 9prepayment is king). Christmas always goes quiet, bearing in mind I run marketing I was able to get every single one of our ADI's fully booked with a £20 facebook advert - but we do have a really good reputation in our local area.
Want a holiday - you don't get paid, car breaks - don't get paid, flat tyre on a test - you lose money.
The good - well you work your own hours and work where you want, we had 2 new guys qualify this year, we trained them both for free on the basis they stick with us, we knew them before they started training so they did get a good deal - both went from minimum wage jobs to £26 per hour (going up soon) yes they pay franchise for the car and work but still a better career than what they had.
We have 6 of our own cars and 6 owner drivers - one of our cars is waiting for a trainee. out of the current 11 only 1 uses a lease, the others buy used and run for a few years. One guy recently had to take time off when his car broke, we managed to sort out a hire car but he ended up with a very large bill for repair and for hire car. Since christmas we have had one car needing a new thermostat, one DPF clean and one is in for a new clutch and DMF today - none of the cars are bad cars either, thermostat and DPF both under 60k, DMF is around 100k.
You can do training yourself on part 1 fairly easy, find a good local trainers if you are paying for it - I can recommend some trainers if needed. Obviously I am biased towards a franchise, but loads make a great living from being independent. Just remember being solo you need do your own marketing, enquiries, run further than normal, no-body to cover you if you need help. We generally have a spare car if needed and if somebody breaks down or can't cover a test we help where we can, last week the guy with DPF issues got another instructor to cover his test - it may seem like an necessary cost but you'll do more work without one. Our team meet up every so often, we have the guys doing for a coffee weekly, then go-karting quarterly and a meal / night out paid for once a year - its a team and everybody gets along.
One thing worth noting, prices are high at the moment and theres a lack of instructors, instructors will build in numbers and the price competitions will start again. If you do go to a franchise - try and get a feel for them first, they work for you, not you for them.
Dont forget, prepayment is great but generally you offer a discount (save £30 over 10 hours) also your car is your office but the more you pay the less you earn, you can drive a corsa and earn a decent wedge, drive a mercedes and you'll earn less, we operate fiestas, corsas, DS3's, astras, b max, a class, v40's, civics, minis,
rambled post / any questions feel free to PM me
I'm not an ADI but my family run a driving school, my dad qualified in 1986, started his own company in 2003, My brother qualified in 2014. We currently run 11 ADI's and need more, we have 3 training at the moment. Circa 2009 we had 18 ADIs, 2012 we had 5 (recession)
When things are great they are great, it is very seasonal, people will cancel lessons if they are skint without caring about your bills 9prepayment is king). Christmas always goes quiet, bearing in mind I run marketing I was able to get every single one of our ADI's fully booked with a £20 facebook advert - but we do have a really good reputation in our local area.
Want a holiday - you don't get paid, car breaks - don't get paid, flat tyre on a test - you lose money.
The good - well you work your own hours and work where you want, we had 2 new guys qualify this year, we trained them both for free on the basis they stick with us, we knew them before they started training so they did get a good deal - both went from minimum wage jobs to £26 per hour (going up soon) yes they pay franchise for the car and work but still a better career than what they had.
We have 6 of our own cars and 6 owner drivers - one of our cars is waiting for a trainee. out of the current 11 only 1 uses a lease, the others buy used and run for a few years. One guy recently had to take time off when his car broke, we managed to sort out a hire car but he ended up with a very large bill for repair and for hire car. Since christmas we have had one car needing a new thermostat, one DPF clean and one is in for a new clutch and DMF today - none of the cars are bad cars either, thermostat and DPF both under 60k, DMF is around 100k.
You can do training yourself on part 1 fairly easy, find a good local trainers if you are paying for it - I can recommend some trainers if needed. Obviously I am biased towards a franchise, but loads make a great living from being independent. Just remember being solo you need do your own marketing, enquiries, run further than normal, no-body to cover you if you need help. We generally have a spare car if needed and if somebody breaks down or can't cover a test we help where we can, last week the guy with DPF issues got another instructor to cover his test - it may seem like an necessary cost but you'll do more work without one. Our team meet up every so often, we have the guys doing for a coffee weekly, then go-karting quarterly and a meal / night out paid for once a year - its a team and everybody gets along.
One thing worth noting, prices are high at the moment and theres a lack of instructors, instructors will build in numbers and the price competitions will start again. If you do go to a franchise - try and get a feel for them first, they work for you, not you for them.
Dont forget, prepayment is great but generally you offer a discount (save £30 over 10 hours) also your car is your office but the more you pay the less you earn, you can drive a corsa and earn a decent wedge, drive a mercedes and you'll earn less, we operate fiestas, corsas, DS3's, astras, b max, a class, v40's, civics, minis,
rambled post / any questions feel free to PM me
megaphone said:
So if you do an average 35 hour week you can clear £25-£30k before tax etc. That's not too bad really, better than minimum wage!
I've found that 6hrs per day is optimum so 30hrs per week Mon-Fri. When I do 8hrs of instruction plus travel time it can easily be a 10hr day which, TBH, is just too much and the last student of the day probably doesn't get the best from me. I choose not to work weekends or evenings after 6pm as a rule but if I did I could probably do a regular 34-36hrs per week.Gassing Station | Jobs & Employment Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff