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Driving school franchise options
Added: (Fri Jul 07 2006)
Once people have decided that they want to be driving instructors they have choices to make on how to go about it and then how they want to operate.
They first have to take exams and obtain qualifications to become an approved driving instructor. This is where they are faced with their first choice, as some franchised driving schools such as the British School of Motoring (BSM) provides training services which will then see instructors work for them once they are fully qualified.
Other franchise driving schools like the Automobile Association (AA) only take people on when they have completed courses elsewhere and with this option people can look at a range of schools before deciding which one is best for them.
However, the potential franchisee should research the industry and particular companies because it might be difficult to get a position with a top franchiser due to high demand. Therefore, some could think that having a job guaranteed after training is the best option.
Another choice to make is whether to start an independent company instead of choosing a franchise. However, in this industry there are many advantages to joining a franchised driving school.
Franchisers will either supply a franchisee with their own car or attach the company logo to a car owned by the franchisee. They have regional offices where staff will supply a certain number of pupils in addition to those brought in by franchisees, provide maintenance services and various types of insurance and back-up in case anything goes wrong.
Many of them will also provide ongoing business management training, which will cover issues such as how to maximise profits, planning lessons, managing seasonal trends, personal and presentation skills and dealing with nervous drivers.
The choices do not end there because franchises vary in the amount of services they provide, allowing people to decide how much help and independence they want.
The larger companies cost more money and are required to fit into a company structure but most of them will provide extras such as sickness insurance schemes, reduced price or free breakdown membership and a wider range of training programmes and vehicle support.
Smaller franchisers will not require a large franchise fee, instead franchisees pay for the services and support they want and need, although these will be limited compared to bigger firms.
Smaller franchisers will also generally help instructors to become more independent after the first few months so they can generate the majority of their own work and they are more willing to provide flexible hours around people's existing commitments.
Therefore, car school franchising offers people the chance to decide the way they want to work while giving varying degrees of vital support and assistance.
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