Is becoming an instructor a good way to spend your redundancy?

There's been a massive increase in people searching for a few worrying things since the start of the credit crunch, though at least a few have got their heads screwed on, as we keep turning up for "driving instructor earnings".

Unfortunately though, we also seem to turn up far more often for searches for training with the big providers.

All we can say is - if you read what they tell you, then remember that EVERYTHING they say is designed to get you to buy their product. Even the ones who are "honest" about the business still want you to buy.

At the moment the reality is not good. Just have a look in your local paper - driving instructors are giving stuff away cheaper than Woolworths - for exactly the same reasons. They're going under and are desperate to get money in.

The simple facts mean that any driving instructor who is charging less than £10/hour is losing money. Actively GIVING MONEY AWAY in the hope that they will bring in work and that those people who feel that £10 should be the hourly rate for an instructor will stay with them when they put their prices up to £17/hour.

Fact is they won't.

The REALLY scary bit is this - the people trying to flog you instructor training will then expect you to put up with this kind of thing when you are a franchisee -

1. Surepass have a really STUPID OFFER, which makes you wonder whether this major driving instructor training provider has enough work for it's instructors.
2. Bill Plant are also guilty of idiotic irony, on this page which shows a load of ridiculous offers, desperate to drag work in, yet still has the brass neck to suggest "INSTRUCTORS URGENTLY REQUIRED"!!!! Must be frickin joking.
3. Or the wonderful irony of Passmasters page with (in their words) "slashed prices" on the same site as the page offering a "guaranteed position" but remember, this is NOT A JOB, this is a guarantee that they will let you become a customer and pay them a franchise - talk about positive spin!!

(These links will be removed soon as I don't like giving these morons any more publicity or search engine help. Their franchisees are already paying for this kind of lunacy, I don't want to add to it.)

These are just a few of the offers. Even BSM and the other big guys are having to offer reductions and daft discounts.

Some companies will bear the cost of these discounts and as they may actually help to keep up your supply of customers you may not mind that the customers then disappear after the offer has finished - you still get paid don't you? Well, yep. But who's paying for the offers again? Oh yes, it's the franchise fee YOU pay every week to the company who are generously footing the bill for the discounts.

In the meantime the public are beginning to believe that the right price for driving lessons is around £10-£15/hour, when really this would leave the average instructor earning around half the minimum wage for every hour they work (they usually work around 1.5 hours for every hour they actually get paid and overheads are between £5-£10/hour).

Worst is when the franchise advertise these offers then "recommend" that their instructors offer the discounts themselves (or worse insist that they do) at which point the average instructor can actually find themselves paying for the priviledge of working.

So what do you think - is becoming a driving instructor a good way of spending your redundancy?

Intensive guaranteed pass driving courses - again!

Yep, this subject keeps coming up, and all I can say is -

THERE'S NEVER GONNA BE A FRICKIN GUARANTEE!!!!!

So stop searching for one on google.

If you want anything in life you've got to work for it - and that includes learning to drive. Did you choose your sixth form by guaranteed A-grades? Did you search for your University by guaranteed firsts?

No. You knew it would take work from yourself, so why is driving any different?

I reckon it's because you're paying for it - well I've got some suggestions for you - have a look at:

Driving Lesson Prices and Costs

and work out how much it should cost you.

Then find the best driving instructor you can get your hands on.

Have a look at:

Top ten tips for picking a driving instructor - if you want a quick guide

2pass guide to finding an instructor - with links to their directory and forum

How to find a driving instructor - an in depth guide of what to look for, avoid and ask

and don't try to rush it - it'll cost you more in the long run.

And after all of that - if you insist on finding intensive courses - make sure you do an assessment before hand - preferably with a couple of different instructors so that you can find out whether you get on with the person you're going to be sharing a car with for the next 30 hours!!!!

The Average Price of Driving Lessons Going Up

As economists will tell you - when you get a glut of supply, prices will drop.

They will also tell you that when prices drop enough, suppliers will stop producing, as they cannot afford to continue, which ironically pushes the price back up!

At the moment, there is a glut of driving instructors across the country, but more and more instructors are giving up the job and returning to "normal" paid jobs. The insecurity and low pay has taken it's toll on them. Irresponsible customers who cancel late and pay irregularly are often cited as the final deciding factor - just a few phone calls during the week can half the weekly profit.

And when the excuse from the pup is "well I can't afford it anymore" then we have to wonder if we want to keep servicing these kind of people.

More and more of the bigger companies are advertising "first 5 lessons for £49" or similar - an excellent advertising ploy, drawing lots of people in to start lessons which are not economically viable for the driving instructors who are pushed into offering them by their franchises. Unfortunately the people who can afford driving lessons at less than £10 an hour simply can't afford them at £20 an hour, or they decide they want to try another special offer from the next franchise, so you lose money on 5 hours work, and get nothing from it.

So we are going to lose instructors.

More instructors will move into specialist training like Fleet and FLH.

Learners will need to take more lessons to fulfil their year long learning obligations.

Ergo - prices will rise.

Considering that at the moment, it costs on average around a grand to learn (45 hours at £20 an hour, plus a bit to be insured on your dad's insurance, test fees, dvds etc), how much do we think the public will pay.

I reckon that if I couldn't drive, it would be worth well over £3000 to me.

Roll on the £50 driving lesson. I might even move back to teaching learners for that money!

I think the bubble is about to burst.

I'm not normally one to be pessimistic (yeah right!), but I reckon that there is a tipping point coming in regards to our business.

The saturation of ADI's/PDI's is continuing, as is the constant advertising for new people to join the industry.

Every ADI who is getting frustrated with learners is thinking of becoming a trainer (if you let learners frustrate you - you'll never survive PDIs!), all looking to encourage more punters to join the business.

And what many people may not have recognised is that with the new 1 year learning rules coming in, many learners will be priced out of the market completely.

Very few learners can afford to insure a car privately, and very few parents want to supervise, so the majority of the heralded 100 logged hours driving will be with driving instructors. Simple maths will tell you that this will mean spending around £2000 before test fees, if not more.

At the moment, many of our customers start to learn with no understanding of how much it will cost, just thinking that £20 a week is ok, and well,...me da sez it'll only tek a coupla month. By the time they pass, they've spent nearly £800 without realising it. When they are told they MUST learn for a year and MUST take 100 hours, then even the least mathematically minded will understand that it'll be £40 a week until this time next year!

That may just make the difference. It's a lot of money to many people. We may find ourselves losing customers to public transport, and once people get past 20 without driving they tend to stay non-drivers unless their situation changes.

Will there be enough work?

There will certainly be enough driving instructors!

How are you going to get through it?

Too much work - do I franchise it out?

Yep, it's true.

I've turned down 6 learners in the last fortnight.

I've dissuaded 3 people from taking intensive courses.

I've given a lot of information to a potential driving instructor in the hope that he will do a lot of research. Then I gave him my competitor's number!

And I still haven't got enough time to think...

And no. I'm not earning the fabled £30k a year - some of us simply can't do that many hours - we go slightly mad, or feel terrible that we're not offering value for money.

It does raise the question though - should I start a franchise? Should I charge someone £100 or more a week just for doing the same stuff I do for myself? Should I just find an ADI who wants to pay me an intro fee for customers? Should I take on a PDI and train them up "in my own image"?

Or should I just stick to being the one man band, be glad that I can pick and choose my own customers (not take all the dross that phone up with the same stupid questions), and just keep raising my prices until it settles down?

I'm voting for the easy life guys, sorry. I promise I'll pass on the work if you're good. If you're not, you just won't get a mention.

Oh, and if you want driving lessons - don't ask the price as your first question - there's more important things when choosing a driving instructor. If you ask the price you'll immediately get the brush off from me, because I reckon you've probably done very little research (prices are published on my website) and from experience you'll mess me about, won't listen to my advice, and you'll cancel on me when I really don't need the trouble.

I'll stick with the people I like the sound of.

(PS: Apologies for guys out there who're struggling - I guess I'm lucky - give it time and either you'll be busy too, or I'll be hoping you refer someone my way!)

AAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

THE PRICES ARE ON THE FRICKIN WEBSITE PEOPLE!!!

Why do I keep getting these phone calls? Now I know I have to stay positive, I have to portray a good image of the company, but to be quite honest I'm sick of it.

It really puts me off a customer, and as I'm busy I'm not desperate for everyone who comes along, so I'm starting to get picky.

If someone asks for prices I try to find out where they found my number - if they say on the website then they've lost the game - I won't take them on. Let them find another mug - I really have no interest in wasting my time with foolish lazy people who don't actually look at the information they're given.

If however they ask articulate questions, based on intelligent research and sensible thought - I'll do them a cheap rate.

So be warned - an interview (be it over the phone or not) works both ways - if you don't make a good impression I won't take you on.

I reckon I'll save myself a lot of stress and aggro, and might have some fun at the expense of ill prepared and badly organised people which always makes me feel better!

(Should I have got out of bed the other side this morning?)

Reasons for not driving an automatic

Well, it's what the Americans do isn't it? Isn't that a good enough reason? Not really.



There's a lot of anti auto snobbery in Britain (and Europe to some extent), and I'm not sure where it stems from. There seems to be a feeling that you're not a "proper" driver unless you use a stick shift.



Though obviously being able to drive both well is an advantage - how many people do you know who really can drive a manual to a really good standard?



Not many.



Being able to concentrate so much more on the road has to be a safer way of going - maybe we should suggest this in our fleet risk assessments? Lets face it - with all the hybrids being developed, we'll all be driving them within a decade, and it'll only be old colonel Smotherington who's stuck with his outdated slow 2007 Jag who won't change!



Just a thought - and maybe a gap in the market for those who want to keep one step ahead!

....and it takes about half as long to learn - therefore only costs half as much!

What should the average price of driving lessons be?

Well after another of my straw polls (quick search of the internet, and the forums), I reckon the cheapest you can get a driving lesson for is about £15 an hour. There's a couple of discounts involved in that price, but it's still too low.

And the most expensive? Outside London - £25/hour seems to be the highest I've found that isn't actually specialist training.

Something I've asked about before is why this is so low? We pay more for our kids to learn the guitar - and how high are the overheads on that?

So what has happened? Well the problem has always been that people can teach their own kids to drive - so why should they pay anyone else to? I can't play the guitar, so I can't teach my kids, but I can drive - and how hard can it be?

Well the problem with that logic is that playing the guitar badly can't kill your kids! (It might make you want to kill yourself, but that's another issue)

So what can we do to get the price back in line with reality, well, we could encourage the government to restrict personal freedom even more and insist that everyone goes takes professional lessons with an ADI (not keen personally). We could encourage some of the examiners who want to insist on tests being taken in dual control cars (but people can hire them for about £10 an hour).

Or we could make people aware of what it is we do, and we could encourage the DSA to grade instructors more transparently. We could work to make people understand exactly what they are paying for, and we could encourage people recognise the advantages of choosing an instructor who has experience, qualifications and skills relevant to what they want to learn.

A couple of relevant qualifications might be useful - maybe the DIA could run them as CPD courses, with easily recognisable certification:

Certified Confidence Builder - trained in specific techniques to help nervous learners
Certified Mature Driver Trainer - trained in specific techniques to help mature learners
Certified Aspergers/Dispraxic Trainer etc - trained in techniques specific to certain disabilities which should be no barrier to learning to drive.
Certified Language Trainer - able to train those whose first language is not English eg: Punjabi, Polish or even British Sign Language.

I'm sure some of you will be able to think up your own.

Wouldn't that be better than simply putting Dip DI (great course, but what exactly does it mean to the customers guys?) after your name.

Stupid people - AGAIN!!!!

This is becoming a theme!

Just saw a link to this on one of the forums so I couldn't resist posting on it!

http://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/index.php?topic=2980.0

Unfortunately this shows the attitudes that we have to put up with.

The demise of intelligence!

I keep getting phone calls at the moment asking how much my lessons are.

No real problem until I ask where they found out about me, at which point they tell me that they got my number off my website. The funny thing is - my prices are on every page of my website.

Then there's the ones who presume that I'll be able to fit them in immediately, whenever they want, forgetting that I have other customers and a life to accomodate. Then they go all quiet as they realise that it's not quite as easy as they presumed it would be.

It is at this point that I wonder whether I actually want to take on someone whose life so obviously revolves around themselves.

A good driving instructor will try to accomodate customers as well as is possible, but there are limits, and the ones who get a bit annoyed that you can't fit them in will be the same ones who will cancel when they want, and expect you to put them in for test before they are ready.

Anything for a quiet life - I leave them well alone.

Borrowing an instructors car for test

This is how the fone call usually goes:

"Hello, my son's got a test booked for tuesday and I was wondering if he could use your car?"

"Well I don't usually just let people use my car, I'd like to know if he can drive first."

"Well he's been with an instructor for months, but he won't let him use his car."

"Why not?

"He says he's not ready, but he's had 20 lessons."

"If he's not ready, then he needs more lessons."

"But he's a good driver, he drives my car all the time."

"He could do the test in your car then."

"But what if he crashes it?"

"If he stands a chance of crashing a car, then he's not ready for his test. And if you have that little confidence in him, why should I let him loose in the most important tool I have, knowing that if he crashes it, I am out of a job until it is fixed?"

"Oh, right. So you won't take him?"

"No."

Why do people do this? Why do people think that they can fail a test and not take any more lessons before taking another? Why do people think that proving that you are capable of the MINIMUM SAFE STANDARD OF DRIVING is something you can just have a go at?

Is there any chance we can blindfold these parents then ask them to sit in the car with their kids who are so good at driving for a week before they are allowed their licence? And if their parents don't agree to this, could we tell them they need more lessons?

"But he's had 20 already......."

How much does learning to drive cost?

(if you've got here looking for how much it costs to train to be a driving instructor - look at: How much does it cost to train to be a driving instructor?)

So how much will learning to drive cost?

(A little help to calculate the average amount of driving lessons needed to pass, and the average lesson price! Yeah right - and everyone's average aren't they!)

Piece of string anyone?

Well lets start with how long will it take to learn.

Basic: 20 hours.

Doesn't sound a lot, but you've gotta be good to do it in that - probably a bloke (spatially aware, with mechanical knowledge, and used to riding a cycle/scooter on the road, been watching others drive for the last 5 years and with loads of motivation)

From here, add:

Female - 5hrs (don't shout at me, this is just a generalisation, and it's unfortunately often true, if you want me to explain then comment at the end and I will).

Lack of mechanical knowledge - 10 hrs.

Over 17 - add another hour for every year older you are (even I don't understand exactly why this should be the case, but I promise you, it does work this way).

Add another hour for every mile you live away from the test centre.

Never rode a bike with gears - 5 hours.

Never rode a bike in traffic - 5 hours.

Impatient parents/partners who shout at or beep at other drivers - 10 hours (charge them for this - it's their fault)

Nervous or easily intimidated - 10 hours.

Every break in lessons of a month or more - 2 hours.

Every break in lessons of 6 months or more - 5 hours.

Only a rough guide, but you can see that a confident 17 year old lad who lives near the test centre, rides a bike with gears through town to his apprentice job as a mechanic could pass in 20 hours. On the other hand, the timid 47 year old lady, who lives 10 miles out of town, has never ridden a bike with gears, and has a husband who shouts, beeps and tailgates everyone could take 110 hours or more.

Take 5 minutes to work out how long it will take, then work out how much your lessons will cost.

Basic lesson cost: £19/hour.

Add to this,

£2 if you cannot concentrate on complex tasks for more than 50 minutes at a time (longer lessons are often cheaper, than 1 hour lessons).

£1 if you cannot get a good recommendation (a good recommendation will save you time and effort. If you cannot get one, pay for a good instructor, rather than hunting down the cheapest, they will be cheap for a reason and may cost you a fortune in wasted lessons).

£3 if you live in London, or central to one of the big cities.

£1 if you want to learn in a fancy looking car (the mini is a favourite of instructors, because it draws in customers, but they need to recover the extra costs of running an expensive car somehow).

So going back to our apprentice mechanic - he could do it for £380, but if he lives in central Manchester, doesn't have great concentration, and wants to learn in a fancy car - it's gonna be £500. The timid lady has had a long chat with all her friends at the WI, and has found a marvellous instructor (who may be able to get her through in 100 hours rather than 110 or more), and doesn't care what she learns in, has good concentration, and lives in an ideal quiet suburb for starting her learning off can do it for £1900. (The lady next door though, the narky one who has the badly bleached hair and snobby attitude towards people who don't have fancy things takes 120 hours, and because of the fancy car, and the fact her husband told her not to have longer lessons pays £2760!)

Go on - how much is it going to cost you to learn! Remember, once you've done it - you've got it for life.

(edit: One thing I forgot to mention - if you wanna drive an auto - it should halve the amount of lessons you need, but add £2 to your lesson price)

How much should driving lessons cost?

Hmmm.

First lesson free, first 2 lessons for £20, 5 for £99, £16/hour, £20/hour, £25/hour?

What the hell....?

My kids get riding lessons (yeah yeah, don't start), and for each kid it costs me twice my hourly rate. One of my kids gets guitar lessons, and this costs my hourly rate, for which I have to take them over and pick them up, and I guess there are very few running costs (insurance I hope, and a bit of equipment). So am I in the right job?

Believe me, my hourly rate is already towards the top end of the list at the start of this piece, and I don't muck about with ongoing discounts, they pay up front, and they usually have to pay if they cancel late. I did a lot of training for this job, and I still pay about £600 a year for extra training (roll on CPD - I'm already ahead of you guys). I don't give discounts to anyone, other than people paying in advance, and then it's no more than a couple of quid an hour.

So why do I earn less than my kids guitar teacher? Who has the more demanding job? Who has the most (relevant) qualifications?

As always, market forces are at work.

I don't have a problem with the discount brigade, but I do feel sorry for them. They will always be trying to undercut each other. They will always be getting the customers who look at the cash they hand over, and not the training they get back. They will always get the raw deal, and they will never be able to get out of this situation until they change their attitude to their business model.

I don't like teaching fools, and fools don't have any money, so I price myself out of their market. The market I enjoy teaching expect the best training they can get - so I improve the training I recieve, and keep it up. The market I enjoy teaching expect to pay a reasonable price and get value for money - so I give them their full lesson (no turning up late or finishing early). The people willing to pay these prices expect reliability - so I run a new car, and I don't cram lessons together and wind up cancelling if stuck in traffic.

Think about how you want to work. Don't be ashamed of asking for a reasonable amount of money for what you do. And NEVER get caught in the price wars.

Given the changes to our business, these prices will soon be going up, as the pink-factories and the part timers find it harder and harder to keep up with things, or get legislated out of the game.

People will get what they want, but will have to pay for it.

How much is being able to drive worth?