How to Start a Driving School Business
Driving School Business is an alternative to transportation business.
If you have a car and know how to drive very well, starting a driving school business can bring regular income for you more than you ever imagined. With the huge potential customers in the cities, you will expect to see many going into driving school business.
Surprisingly, reverse is the case. Establishing a driving school business is actually a good alternative to going into transportation business.
Basic requirements for starting driving school business
The requirements may differ from one country or state to the other. However, most states or country will require that you meet the following requirements before you can be allowed to start a driving school business:
- You must be a citizen of the country or be lawfully present and resident in the country
- Anybody that will start a driving school business must be at least 21 years of age. Confirm this from your local authority
- You must hold a valid driver’s license
- You must possess at least a high school diploma or equivalent
- A person that will start a driving school business must not have been convicted of any felony offenses related to the operation of a driving school
- You must not have been convicted of a crime involving violence, dishonesty, deceit, indecency or an offense involving moral turpitude within the last ten years
- You must not be a current or previous owner of a driving school whose license has been revoked
- You must not have been convicted of any misdemeanor or felony offenses involving controlled dangerous substance(s) or driving while intoxicated within the last ten years.
- You must pass a background check before you can be licensed to start a driving school
- You must have a valid e-mail address
- You must submit a complete application package for the establishment of driving school business
Key Success Factors
- Certification is non-negotiable when it comes to driving school business.
- Organization: A good driving school should be able to keep record about the beginning and ending time of each class day, lunch and break periods included. Students should know the number of class days in the course, material sources and the time periods assigned to each topic.
- Ability to keep the expenses of a driving school under control will increase your margin.
- Motor vehicles are the main equipment needed to operate driving school business. The vehicles need to be maintained regularly.
- Promotion and Advertisement. Driving school business requires that you offer special packages especially if you are just starting in order to attract customers.
How to Start a Driving School Business
If driving school business appeals to you, here are the steps you need to take in order to actualize your dream.
Register your driving school business
A proof that you are ready to start a driving school business is to have it registered. You need to search for the availability of your chosen business name. If the name is available, you can now register it. You can register your business school business as a sole proprietorship, partnership of a limited liability company. Each of these legal structures has its own advantages and disadvantages.
Read Also: Choosing a Legal Structure of a Business
Certification
You need certification before you can start a driving school. You can go back to the requirements you need to meet before you can be granted a license to operate a driving school business as discussed above.
Write your business plan
You may not know how huge the market for driving school business is until you start. Like any other business, you need to prepare a business plan for your driving school business. When your business starts to grow, you can easily approach investors or lenders with your business plan in order to seek funds for expansion purpose.
Choose a good location
The choice of a good location is crucial to the success of driving school business. You should consider a place where you can easily find customers. That is, the location of your driving school business should be a place where you will not need to spend too much money on advertisement before customers can locate you. The location should be large enough considering the fact that you will be teaching people with no driving experience.
Seek for funds
If you don’t have a vehicle which you can use for your driving school business, you need to seek for funds in order to buy one. Consider various sources of funds to ensure that you raise substantial amount you need to jump-start your driving school business. Apart from your personal savings which may not be enough, you can borrow money from friends and relations. You can also bring in a partner who can provide additional capital. If you are bringing in a partner, you should consider writing a Partnership Deed.
Secure Assets
The most important asset required to run a driving school business is motor vehicle. Ensure that all your vehicles are well insured and properly managed. The insurance should cover vehicles maintained by the driving school. The insurance should also cover liability, theft and damage caused by collisions.
Record keeping
You should maintain a good record keeping for your driving school business. You are expected to keep records of each learner driver separately. The records must be available for one year after the learner has completed his lessons. The record should contain the following:
- Name, identity number and address of learner
- Period of lesson, with details of dates and hours per day instructed
- Fees paid to the driving school
- Number of hours driving lessons received in city or town
- Number of hourly lessons received outside or in town
- The date of which tested by registering authority and result of test
Advertise
You expect people to start patronising you immediately you start your driving school business. You need to carry out some advertisement so that people can be aware of your driving school. Make use of Facebook page to reach your friends and colleagues. You need to offer promotional price in order to attract customers.
Read Also: How to start Car Rental Business