Starting out in your Instructor Business

If you've recently qualified as an approved driving instructor (ADI), then congratulations, and welcome to the fold.

You have probably by now decided on which driving school you are going to take up an instructor franchise with, or if opting to work as an independent ADI, made arrangments to buy or lease a driving school car, and are looking forward to finding your first pupil and teaching them how to drive.

I remember my first week as a qualified driving instructor, I had decided to take up a franchise with one of the National Driving schools, had picked up my training car after the induction, had been allocated my first few learner driver pupils, and was now all exicted and ready to go! It is an exciting time for anyone starting a new career as a driving instructor, but you must not lose sight of the important things you need to do to get your driving school business established.

1. Offer your pupils incentives to introduce others to you, eg your 11th lesson free after you friend takes 2 lessons with me (11th lesson means you are not losing out immediately, and also means they stick around a while to get the reward).
2. Tell your pupils to blog about their lessons and put a link to your website (you do have a driving school website?).
3. Find the local colledges or 6th form schools, park outside, and give your cards away. Many will ask if 1st lessson is free, so be prepared with an appropriate answer (remember you are trying to earn a living, so you can give everyone a free lesson, more over what makes you sure they will stay after the first lesson).
4. Have a good reason why someone should take driving lessons with you, and it shouldn't be I'm the cheapest in the area (though many people are always on the lookout for cheap lessons).

It takes a while to get established, and because there is not a shortage of driving instructors out there, the competition is great so you will need to do some marketing as well like cards in local shop windows, tell friends and local neighbours about your services, don't forget parents at local schools if you have children there. You could also offer prizes to local school or church raffles to also spread the word around.

Don't get caught up in the excitement, that you fail to start working on making your business viable. Being a driving instructor, is more than just teaching learner drivers.