Driving Instructor Franchise

Legacy_user

DH is due to retire from his job in a few months and will receive a pension.

However being only 49 and in the current credit crunch crisis he wants to do something else, probably part-time. He has recently undergone retraining and attained his licence to drive lorries and buses.

However he is also considering becoming a driving instructor through one of the franchises out there but has found it difficult to find information other than from the franchises themselves. They seem too good to be true and I'm very cynical about this sort of thing. So does anyone have any experiences, good or bad, with taking on this sort of franchise?

dzdoris

Hi Pam,

I not so long ago looked into this. Apparently the training you actually receive isn't as much as they make out i.e. they teach in classes. I discovered this website http://www.adiforum.co.uk which is full of arguments for and against. I found somebody on there who could do the training (1 to 1) for half the price but obviously you have to pay as you go. I didn't haven the money at the time and have noticed a lot of learner cars and was starting to wonder whether the market was swamped (my opinion)? Anyway hope that helps him out.

Nikki

passatrider

Pam17 wrote: »

DH is due to retire from his job in a few months and will receive a pension.

However being only 49 and in the current credit crunch crisis he wants to do something else, probably part-time. He has recently undergone retraining and attained his licence to drive lorries and buses.

However he is also considering becoming a driving instructor through one of the franchises out there but has found it difficult to find information other than from the franchises themselves. They seem too good to be true and I'm very cynical about this sort of thing. So does anyone have any experiences, good or bad, with taking on this sort of franchise?

It seems your DH has chosen the three professions where the demand for drivers has taken quite a dive in the past 6 months or so.

I looked at the Driving Instructor route myself just recently and although you can do the training at a much lower rate than the BSM or RAC schools. The market has become saturated with new instructors, not to mention the number of current instructors waiting to qualify.
It doesn't take an expert to realise that the first thing to go when money is tight is luxuries, such as driving lessons. This has also increased the competition between current driving schools to compete for fewer pupils too.

Read the forums...tread very carefully!;)

System

Thank you both for your replies.

dzdoris that link supplied very good information and advice. I was amazed to see the number of ADI courses one particular school has sold (18K) at over £3500 a time. DH has been talking about becoming a driving instructor for some time (I think he would be good) but I have noticed an increase in the number of new instructors in our area and thought I had persuaded him to give up on that idea until the recent glut of advertising on the TV. passatrider is right on the mark about over saturation of the market.

I will pass the information on to him and let him rethink his options.

456789

He could always became an ADI and then train other people to do it - thanks to all the ads I guess a decent amount of people would be interested

System

456789 wrote: »

He could always became an ADI and then train other people to do it - thanks to all the ads I guess a decent amount of people would be interested

I suppose he could but when I read the info on the company I mentioned above it just seemed like one huge pyramid scheme. Eventually you just run out of interested people to train/invest.

ruddio

hi there,
as a hgv driver myself DH could register with local agencies to get work,normally there is quite a lot of weekend work or odd days if looking for part time although it is a quite time of year for haulage.
if you need any further advice please let me know.
Martyn

paulsad

Hi All - Newbie here
I'm in a similar fix at 50 - I have been self employed in the print industry for the last 30 yrs (!) running a small one man band of a business. Its on its last legs now and out before existing overheads start to create more debt. I need to find something else.
I've looked at driving instructors (and other) franchises and I think there are just too many out there already - I'm very suspicious of franchising - they are in a win win situation ; if you fail they still get their money.
I've looked at reading meters for a company but their expectations are massive you must read (that's actual reads no good if no one is in the house)250 meters at least a day over a 5 day week - thats like 1 meter every 3 mins for 8 hours! To earn £200 a week. No Way.
I did start off life as an electrician but to retrain and get all the current qualifications/training your looking at £4-5K with no guarantee of work after as times are hard for sparks as well up here.
Might be interested in doing my HGV licence - how much does it cost to train and how long? - Martyn if you'd be so kind. Sorry to hog your thread Pam17.

System

paulsad - DH did his bus training first and it worked out at £120 per day. I think he took 5 days and then there were the test fees and hire of the bus for the test on top.

For the HGV, because he did it so soon after the bus, he only had 1 1/2 days training and again the test fee. Same price I think.

He did it through Transport Training Services here in N Ireland and was really happy with them.

ruddio - DH is in the fortunate position to be receiving his pension straight away so he really is only interested in part-time work. Anything to avoid the loads of odd jobs I can find for him around the house . I'll advise him about registering with the agencies.
I think that although he wants to relax and do nothing for a couple of months he needs to get some work and haulage experience behind him especially before he hits the big 50 next year. I know employers aren't supposed to discriminate on the grounds of age but I'm sure it still happens and unfortunately in the current climate he will be competing with younger drivers.