Franchise or independent driving instructor?

Join a franchise or be an independent driving instructor?

This blog post follows on from two previous ones about the choices when training to be an instructor. Now we turn out attention to what to do once you have qualified.

I have just qualified as an ADI – what next?

Firstly, congratulations if this is you! The hard work you have put into your training has paid off and you are now the proud possessor of your green ADI badge – you are a fully qualified Approved Driving Instructor (ADI). So the question is – are you going to join a franchise or be an independent driving instructor?

One question that many new instructors have is whether to work with a franchise or go it alone as an independent instructor. There is no simple answer to this and what suits one person may not work for another. Let’s take a look at some of the issues both for and against each. You can then make up your own mind as to what is best.

Working for a franchise

You will be paying the company a franchise fee so make sure you are clear what this covers. Most will include your marketing to get you new students as well as taking all call enquiries. Hopefully they will also have a good website that attracts new enquiries. One thing we believe is very important is a social media strategy. This means regular posts on social media (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, etc). Most driving schools in our opinion do not have a strategy and post haphazardly. At Training Wheelz we have regular themed posts on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays each week. We are then free to post test passes and other items on the other days as and when we need to.

Some franchise fees will also cover the lease of a car and. its servicing, insurance and repairs. This inevitably increases the cost and leads into another discussion involving the merits of leasing as to buying a car. That discussion we will leave for another day!

The franchise company will probably manage your diary for you – or at least provide you with an online diary system that allows you to manage it yourself. This is the route we have taken as we like to give our franchisees the freedom to work as they prefer each week rather than prescribe for them when and where they will travel to learners . After all, this is one of the main benefits most people give for becoming a driving instructor in the first place.

Obviously the cost of the franchise fee is a big factor in deciding whether to go down this route or not. But probably as, if not more important, is the length of time you could be tied in. Some companies require you to to be tied to them for a minimum of 6 or even 12 months. You need to think very carefully about this as we hear only too regularly of ADIs stuck in a contract they are unhappy with. Another factor to consider is the promise (if there is one) of how many pupils you will be supplied with. We believe it is impossible to give a guarantee on this with any certainty. But what we are confident with at Training Wheelz is that our marketing policy ensures we are in the forefront of peoples minds when it comes to looking for a driving school which makes us confident we can supply enough learners to keep our franchisees happy.

Going independent

The attraction of this surely is that you are your own boss, paying nobody a franchise fee so your earning potential is likely to be higher. You have the choice of car and also whether to lease or buy (although at Training Wheelz we also give our franchisees the freedom of choice on car).

However there are outgoings you need to consider:

Will your car be leased or bought? What about the servicing and repair costs? If you buy what happens if your car is off the road for an extended period?

How will you attract new pupils? What marketing strategies will you employ? Do you need a website? Who will take calls for you while you are out on the road? Probably nobody so what can you do to ensure you don’t miss potential new customers? To begin with you will probably have a small base of customers to work with and, until you have built your reputation and gained a few good customer reviews, it could be quite difficult to attract more work.

There is never one right answer to all of this and what works for one person may not be right for another. At Training Wheelz we have had many instructors who have trained with us, stayed for a few years and then decided the time is right for them to become independent sole traders. We also have some instructors who like being part of a team and we know they are going to stay with us. Mind you, we don’t take them for granted so we make sure we have regular team meetings and social events and listen to what they have to say about how they like to run their part of our business.

I hope this has given you a bit of an insight into the routes you are likely to be considering no that you are qualified. If you would like to discuss this further we are always available to listen to what you are thinking and we like to think we would give impartial advice. We have a policy of only offering a franchise to people who have trained with us so if you have been training with and qualified after being with another company we feel we can give totally impartial advice as we won’t be looking to get you to franchise with us!

Please fell free to call Kevin on 07983228452 or email info@trainingwheelz.co.uk

If you are considering training to become a driving instructor you can find out more from the DVSA web site