A driving instructor franchise is a great way to make some money on the side – you get to teach others how to drive and you can get paid quite a bit for it if you are active – there are some people who make up to £800 a week. That said, there are so many driving schools in the UK offering franchises that it can be quite confusing to choose especially in the big cities. That means that it is up to you to know what you are looking for. Remember, a franchise is a legal contract so you want to be very careful so that you don’t find yourself in a bind in the future.
The first thing you want to check is how long they have been offering franchises. If they have been around for many years it is likely that things will go smoothly. The driving franchise industry is not unlike other franchising industries. It is more likely, for example, that someone who joins a McDonald franchise will be successful whereas someone who joins a newbie will fail. McDonalds has been doing it along time and they know how to help their franchisees succeed. Choose a driving instructors franchise the same way.
In addition to how long they have been around, it helps if you can investigate the details of the contract before you sign it. This is a legal document and you don’t ant to sigh it before you fully understand it. You are looking for things such as how you get paid – in a franchise, the students pay you and then you pay the school. Find out what kind of support you will get – do you get a uniform, easy access to cars, business cards and so on? Your diary is also very important – there are some driving school franchises that insist on controlling the diaries of their franchisees. This can be bad for you – you want to be the master of your own time.
Training is a must before you become a driving instructor. Ideally, you should train with the same driving school that you will franchise from. Look for reviews on what others have to say about the quality of training that they received. Did they get one-on-one lessons with their instructors? Did they have access to learning resources such as books and videos? Do they have a good overall assessment of their experience there? All these things matter because you if the school provides high quality training for driving instructors, it is quite likely that they are keen to support them once they take out a franchise. Before you make the commitment, then I would seriously consider taking into account the driving school franchise fees – a serious factor to think about!
Lastly, how much money on average can you expect to make? This is determined by how popular the school is. If it is attended by many you will make a good chunk of money every week.