So you've decided to start your own driving school business? Here's some guidelines to help.
If you've missed our Part 1: Starting up your own driving school - Part 1
Q . What do I need to do to start up?
A. Most importantly, working capital. You will have to provide money towards a training vehicle, unless you already have a suitable car, as well as an income until your business has established itself.
You will have to work out how much money you will need to survive on for at least the first 18 months. 90% of new businesses fail within the first 18 months to 2 years without adequate funding.
Q . What are the other considerations?
A. We recommend you create a business plan. This will help you to keep track of where your business is going.
A business plan will enable you to:
- forecast your finances;
- make key decisions about your business
You can get this information from a business advisor at a bank, or there are various books on the subject. or you can click here for more info on creating a Business Plan.
Q. What training car should I use?
A. That depends on what your going to use it for? If you intend to use it purely as a training vehicle, a Super mini would be sufficient, for example a Vauxhall Corsa, Ford Fiesta or Toyata Yaris etc.
If you're going to use it as a family car, then a medium size car could be a better choice, such as Vauxhall Astra, or maybe a Toyata Corrolla.
The car you decide on, should have: :
- good all round vision
- light controls
- be comfortable
Another consideration when choosing the car, is the fuel consumption. As you will be be doing a lot of miles in the car, the car needs to be economical. If fuel consumption is a priority, then maybe you should consider a diesel engine .Choosing an 'exotic' training car is a bad idea, as it will put many prospective learners off.
For info about suitable training cars, click here for our road tests database.
Q. How do I finance the training car?
A. Once you have decided on the car, you have two options: To lease or buy.
- Leasing gives you the freedom to change your car on a regular basis. You can lease the car for say 12 months, at the end of the term, you can replace the car with a new one. Maintenance is usually included in the the contract. Typical rental cost for a Ford Fiesta 1.3 LX, is £85.76 per week Another advantage of leasing is that you have a fixed outlay every month. The downside to leasing is that the car is never your own.
- Buying the training car allows you to own the vehicle at the end of the agreement. Unlike leasing, you will have to put money aside for servicing and maintenance. The downside to ownership, is that the resale value will be low owing to the high mileage.
It's recommend that if your planning on buying, to shop around for the best deal
| For info on renting: |
| adi car rentals |
Driving School contract hire |
Q. Do I need to use a brand new car?
A. Not necessarily. many new instructors buy a nearly new car for their first car
.
Q. How do I advertise my new venture?
A. There are various methods, namely:
- Leaflets, put through letter boxes; Cost: around £100 for the printing. and free to deliver, if you do it yourself
- Postcards in newsagents etc windows. Cost: around £2 to £4 per week.
- Advertise in your local 'Free' newspaper; Cost: depends on the size of the advert.
- Talk to local shopkeepers, they may allow you to leave your leaflets on a counter. Cost: depends on the shopkeeper, but would be minimal.
- Hand out business cards liberally; Cost: about £50 for the cards.
- Thompson/Yellow Pages directories. Cost: These can be expensive. If you start with an entry, nothing. If you have anything more this can be from £150 to maybe £5,000 depending on the size. Alternatively, advertise on their web site equivalent
- As you are starting up, it would be better to start with just a line entry, with your name, address and phone number.
- Add your name to the many free web site listings
Finally, any new business venture needs some luck, as well as good planning. Also, its a matter of trial and error finding the best and cost effective advertising that works for your business. Unfortunately, its a bit 'hit and miss' what will work for you.
