Should I work by myself or with a Driving School?

If I choose a career as a Driving Instructor should I work by myself or with a Driving School?

Normally driving instructors start their working lives as PDI’s attached to a driving school. There may come a point where you ask yourself the following question:

Should I work by myself as a solo driving instructor? Or should I continue working with a team of driving instructors at a driving school?

If you are considering working as a solo driving instructor it is imperative to consider:

• Will I be able to generate enough “word of mouth referrals” to keep busy?
• If I don’t have enough word of mouth referrals am I willing to invest in my business to make it take off?
• Will I be ok financially to wait for my own business to build up if I only have a few pupils each week?
• Do I have the constant motivation needed to set up and run my own business?
• Will the reward of having my own business be worth the extra stress of having to constantly find my own work?
• If I can’t generate enough work would I need to undertake a second job so that I can pay my household bills?
• Do I have enough experience to go it alone yet?
• How many other solo driving instructors and driving schools will I be competing for work with?

Based on the above it would be fair to say that it is a massive decision to make if you are considering changing from being a team member of a driving school to becoming a fully fledged solo driving instructor.

Whilst working with a driving school there are a number of benefits:

• You don't need to find your own work so you can focus on just delivering your driving lessons with minimal stress.
• You are part of a team and may choose to take part in social events with your fellow team members which helps create a sense of belonging.
• If there are any issues with any aspect of your working life or any technical queries your company director is there to provide support.
• There are normally part time and full time positions available to suit your working requirements.
• If you want to increase your income all you have to do is ask for more work.

When choosing to become a team member of a driving school:

If you are in the process of choosing a driving school to start your career as a PDI or changing from one driving school to another as an ADI, it is important that you choose a company which suits your requirements.

You can get some instructors who tour many different driving schools within the space of a year often lured by the cheap franchise fees on offer.

Some driving schools with cheap franchise fees can take on too many instructors which creates a shortage of work, which in turn means less income for the instructors working within that company.

There is a saying it, “is better to have 90% of something rather than 100% of nothing.”

In other words working with a well established driving school which will look after your requirements and keep you busy is of paramount importance as opposed to working with a driving school which attracts you with its cheap franchise fees but then fails to keep you busy and generate enough work for you to earn the income you require.

Manchester Driver Training has a few different options available for potential new team members:

• Option 1 - Driving Instructor Training Course Investment
• Option 2 - Manual ADI Team Member
• Option 3 - Manual ADI Intensive Course Provider
• Option 4 - PDI Trainee Driving Instructor Sponsorship
• Option 5 - Driving Instructor Business Venture