Any driving instuctors on here?

[mellow yellow]

Basically i've been in the same office job now for the last 10 years and fancy a career change, i've always had thoughts of being a driving instructor but now i'm really starting to think its time to look into it seriously.

i have had a look on the bsm and red sites but was thinking more of being self employed.

I'm going to have a chat with the guy i learned to drive with as he is getting on a bit now, but thought i would ask on here if anyone is an instructor and has any advice on how to get into it and if its a worthwhile career.

I'm at a bit of a junction (pardon the pun) in my job at the moment and could study further for a chance to progress but at the same time i'm not as happy in my job as i used to be and i cant see that changing any time soon.

any input would be great.

[Jay]

It's not always as well paid as  they make out, my wifes new RED instructor is ALWAYS busy, but the RED instructor she had before was always available and didn't seem busy. I think word of mouth will make or break you. Investigate how many other schools are in your area. If there are hundreds, you won't have a chance of making a decent living out of it, however if it's not a flooded market then you'll do better. oh and price is a must, my wife is lucky and negotiated a good deal with both instructors - which is the same deal RED offered to get her as a student in the first place.

[mellow yellow]

i live in a small town with a lot of villages around and some bigger cities/towns within 30 miles or so.
i know of a couple of instructors within the town but one is close to retirement age.

i'm not sure how i could gauge how much business i would get without actually setting up. i guess it would all be down to pricing and image, ie a young (ish) driving instructor with a decentish car at a competitive price.

[jnufcuk]

My dad is. Don't go with red or aa go self employed. Reason being they were asking ridiculous amounts to use their car so really wasn't worth doing by the time u pay them off

Dad is doing it himself and has at least 2/3 a day (has morning job) so teaches after that  All students have gone thru word of mouth as he has no advertising as he doesn't need it, yet!

It's exensve to start of with, paying to learn etc and then paying to do the final exam, which is very hard.

But just think u have to get a economical car, cheap to buy, get dual controls fitted, service of car, insurance then try and work out how much u have left.

My dad is finding that it's not that much, but he ejoys driving and enjoys helping people to pass their tests 

Hope that helps mate.

Just take a long and think about it especially with petrol prices and prices of lessons etc. how much are u going to earn realistically 

[nealey]

My mate wanted to do it for years, when he first tried they told him to try again in 5 years time as he would of not made any money being in his early twenties. He went back 5 years later, passed all the tests, started working for bsm whilst he built up a customer base. After 6 months he absolutely hated it, some weeks he would have hardly any lessons, others he would be steady. He never made any decent money, it ruined his social life and it just made him angry all the time dealing with troubled teenagers who didn't want to listen. He had to employ some clever tactics to get out of his contract without ending up seriously out of pocket.

[mellow yellow]

cheers for the advise, really does help. looks like i will have to have a fair bit of money behind me to startup if i decide to take it further.