lysasparkles new diary!!!!

Purpleroses

im here! none of my stuff is selling on ebay 3 to go and no bids boo!

thriftymoo

i have bids on 2 for 1p each!!!

Purpleroses

oh dear, i dont know which is worse lol! any luck with etsy?

thriftymoo

just sold my walkman headphones for £1.70! better than nowt

thriftymoo

nooo luck with etsy either..sold a box off one of my phones for £1.80 lol the guy has paid for the headset but not the box yet...

thepinklady

Well done on the ebay sales, remember every penny helps!!!

thriftymoo

i'm feeling a little bit better thanks still a bit fuzzy, weird thing is im fine with the pc its just when i get up and move around that i go wobbly!

yep every penny does help think im gonna try and do just a little bit of summit money making like slice the pie each day will help motivate me!

thriftymoo

i'm 95% sure about the driving instructor thing now...been doing a lot of thinking and talking about it this weekend..ive got a bit of a plan worked out and im working on the rest right now..means re-jigging the overpayment on my debt for a few months but i'll work out better

anyway could you guys tell me what you think of my plan of action and tell me if im mad?

Planning on raising the money i need for training (£3203) and overpaying hsbc at the same time..will mean hsbc isnt paid off as quick but will still reduce the interest.

Will stay at current job in meantime whilst saving. Once i have the cash i need to do part 1 (theory test) which would envolve taking a days hol to go to a training day.

Once part 1 is passed i need to do 20 hours in car training for my part 2 (drivers test) can only do this between 9-5 monday to fri so will need roughly 5 days hol. at this point i'm gonna look for a part time job probably bar work and get as much money behind me as poss.

Once part 2 is done part 3 is a little different. I would get a franchise with a trainee license so would be earning a little bit but by no means a lot. It would cover my bills and the part time job would be a back up. Would leave current job at this point. Need to do 40 hours with students before i can take the 3rd exam and become qualified.

Once i'm qualified and get my franchise, i'd sell my car which would clear 3K of my debt. I would work full time (im assured that women driving instructors are extremely popular) and would come out with £600 more a month than i do now and would have less repayments.

sorry to bore u all but can any one spot anything wrong with this plan?? need reassurance.

I know that i might fail the tests but i'm not really going to let it be an option.

The_Undercover_ADI

Before you pay up front for any ADI training be sure to do some serious research on the matter. Have a look at www.adiforum.co.uk and www.drivertrainingtoday.co.uk before signing anything (no I'm not associated with these sites but I'm an instructor and used to train instructors and these 2 forums have useful information about the industry, the job and training).

Companies who stand to earn £3k+ out of you are bound to tell you that instructors are in demand, but in your area they may not be. Phone a couple and ask for a lesson later this week and find if they say yes then there's not a lot of work around, if they've got a 3 month waiting list then you should be ok.

Beware of the £30k a year adverts - this is not realistic in the first 2 or 3 years unless you are lucky (and work yourself silly). Do a search for "driving instructor earnings" and have a look at the sites which aren't trying to sell you something.

If you can find a good quality trainer you could pass the exams with really good training (well over the quantity that you will get with the larger companies) for around £3k. Beware though, some inexperienced ADIs offer instructor training and some of the big instructor training companies use inexperienced trainers, don't become a statistic - find a trainer who can supply several years worth of references rather than a company who may give you a newly qualified trainer.

For part 2 you may need only 6 hours of training, but you may need 30. If you only need 6 then why pay for the other 14? If you need 30 then you'll need to pay the extra for the 10 hours.

For your part 3 you say that you need to do 40 hours with students before taking the exam - this is not correct, you don't need to do any time with students but you need to have 40 hours of training or have a certain amount of your lessons observed by your trainer - who will charge you more than you earn to do this. If you ask most instructors you will find that 40 hours of training is not enough - the majority need to pay for more training to get close to the required standard.

Do not be taken in by "guaranteed passes", "discounted training" or "pay once you are earning" schemes. The guarantees have no worth, the discount is only there because they cannot sell it at full price and many trainee instructors have been drawn into expensive franchise agreements (tied in for 3 years at £200/month with no car supplied is the worst I heard of) by the offer of "free" training.

I don't know how much you are earning now, but most instructors earn around £1500 a month before costs - these costs with many franchises can be up to £1500 a month and even with a good value franchise or as an independent ADI you will be spending £500 a month on car costs and overheads.

If you start up a new business, you don't anticipate making any money in the first year and though driving instruction is quite a simple and cheap start up, most ADIs don't make more than their tax code in the first year after training costs. Yes it is possible to earn £30k as a driving instructor, in the same way that it is possible to earn £30k a year as a shop owner, but you know that you'll have to work up to it.

It's a great job, very satisfying and there is good earning potential, but it is not a quick fix option.

Good luck with whatever you do, but do the research first - it's free - do as much as you can before spending.

Feel free to get in touch if you want any more information on the training or the industry.

Purpleroses

Morning!
Sounds like you have a good plan Lysa but ADI has some good adivce too, its always best to research as much as you can. You said women instructors are popular - i have to agree with this, when i was learning i was keen to go to a woman than a man, not sure why really.
ohh how exciting for you! hope it all works out!