A constant subject that crops up in general conversation with pupils is that driving instruction is money for old rope 'all we do all day is sit there and according to the ads on TV (RED) earn 30-40k each year.
To anyone who may be interested I'm going to dispel a few of these misconceived ideas.
95% of all driving instructors are self employed (I say 95% because there may be some that are paid on a hourly basis by someone like BSM) and there is 2 ways in which we go about our business as a) on a franchise deal with someone like AA,BSM or, b) independent, often under a name like Fred's School of Motoring.
a) Franchise
A franchise is where you operate under the name of a large (usually) company (AA,BSM,Bill Plant etc).
The Franchisee (driving instructor) pays AA or whoever a (usually) weekly fee that varies from about £160 to £250. For this payment the driving instructor gets a car, usually fully insured (some franchiser let you use your own car at a reduced franchise rate) the comfort of being under the umbrella of a large player, big names attract custom, the marketing budget is usually a lot higher and pupils can be targeted - the bottom line for the instructor is that the Franchiser gives him loads of business because the name of AA,BSM etc sells!
As a franchisee all the instructor has to pay for is his fuel.
So how much money can a franchised instructor make?
Well, lets work on a franchise fee per week of £200, Fuel? well my last years accounts says I spend £85 per week so lets use that. Now, we have £285 per week before you start work.
No lets say average lesson price is £20, using the above figures you have to work 14.25 hours before you start to earn any money. On average an instructor will work about 36 hours, much more and the quality of instruction deteriates, your pupils must come first. So, 36 - 14.25 gives (say) 22 hours at £20 per hour which works out at £440 per week. If we say an average number of working weeks per year is 48, we have £440 x 48 =£21120, some way off the 30-40k quoted by RED. These figures don't take into account fluctuations in the working week, pupil holidays, exams, no money! etc so probably the the average number of hours over the year is less than I've quoted. Still the figures give a franchised instructor a living well below the national average.
b)So, how about an independent instructor?
The math is a lot more complicated here because the independent instructor doesn't have a nice little weekly payment that covers car, insurance, maintenance and car tax.
The independent instructor, works only for himself, he has no big name behind him that will bring in a regular stream of new pupils, the independent instructor has to rely on word & mouth (recommendation) or advertising.
Lets take recommendation first, all instructors will agree that the best pupils are the ones that have been recommended by a friend or family, the don't have to be found,sold to or convinced that you can do a job for them, they already know this. However to ensure that you have recommendations you have to do a bloody good job in the 1st place, or no one will recommend you!
Advertising to get pupils can be expensive and time consuming, eating into the hours that you should be spending teaching and earning money. There are so many ways to advertise your wares and some are successful some less so and some a complete waste of time, energy and money. I spent £75 on a very professional (If I say so myself)letterbox stuffer last Christmas, 2000 letterboxes and 3 replies, 1 came on board & passed his test (which is all I needed to cover costs)1 did 4 hours and the 3rd had a family tragedy and couldn't face driving. It paid for itself but I wouldn't regard it as a success.
We can advertise in local papers, yellow pages, Thompson and on the internet, which ever works for a particular instructor, it is however initially going to be hit and miss and therefor expensive.
The benefit of not having a larger company behind you is that you of course are in complete control & there is only yourself to blame if you don't have enough pupils.
This 'vagueness' makes it difficult to have firm figures for the cost of running the business as an independent but i will use information from my last years accounts. Most of my advertising was on web-site development.
Ok, weekly cost of car inc. insurance & tax £89 ( a lot less than the franchise)
Fuel (as above) about £85 per week.
Advertising £28 per week.
This gives your weekly outgoings as £202 divide by £20 per hour, means that you start earning after 10 hours. Then if we work on the 36 hours we had before you will earn £520 per week, over a 48 week year Approximately £25k - still below the national average.
Realistically the number of hours worked are probably nearer to 50 with working on advertising etc.
Again the above figures don't take into account lost days due to pupils sickness,holidays, etc there is also the lost days when the car is being serviced or has to be repaired, there is no franchise backing you up with a loan car. The weather - how could I forget the weather! the snow last winter meant that I worked 4 days the first 2 weeks of this year.
The bottom line is that the sort of earnings promoted and believed by those outside the industry can be achieved, it is however at an expense, most will agree if you work long hours you will not be able to give your pupils (the ones who are paying you) the service the expect, you are also endangering yourself and other by teaching when you are (possibly) not fit.
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