Unit 51: The car, the instructor and “Hell, is that the time?!”

The Car:
First things first – you’re going to be in it a lot – make sure that it is comfortable for you and your customers. Do not forget to check the passenger seat – this is the one you’ll be in for the majority of the time.

The petrol or diesel debate will always rage, petrol cars are cheaper to buy, diesels are cheaper to run and usually easier to drive for learners. The majority of instructors are now changing to diesels, so if you pick up customers from another instructor and they find that they are constantly stalling in your petrol car this may become a problem.

Dual controls are essential for obvious reasons and for insurance purposes for the job. Some cars cannot be fitted with dual controls, and some older cars could be a problem, though many instructors are also mechanical, and can adapt ‘universal’ dual controls to most cars – just make sure they can be fitted before you buy.

Cabriolets and cars with only 2 seats (Smart fortwo for example) aren’t usually suitable due to DSA guidelines. Check with the DSA about any car you decide to buy which may be out of the ordinary.

Many cars have had recalls on them in the past. If buying a second hand car, ensure that the recall has been dealt with and make sure you have a certificate of proof of this work being done.

Make sure the car is clean both inside and out. It is worth keeping cleaning wipes in the car for the wheel and controls – customers with colds and flu could knock you out of action, losing you money and, potentially, customers.

A reliable car will allow you more time working and less time waiting in garages for things to be fixed – a car off the road for a day loses a lot of money, and will test your customer’s patience.

The Instructor:
Don’t smell, don’t look like you’ve spent the rest of the day slobbing out in front of the telly – attempt to look professional. This doesn’t necessarily mean shirt and tie (in fact this may put some customers off), but it does mean a relatively smart-casual appearance.

Punctuality is important, leave yourself enough time to get to a lesson, bearing in mind that a journey that can take 5 minutes at a quiet time of day could take 50 minutes in rush hour.

This is also important with regards to giving a full lesson – don’t cut them short. If your stated lesson plan is finished with 10 minutes to spare – make sure that something useful is done with this time – show and tell questions, and recaps on simple skills like hill starts are good, but don’t make a habit of padding out weak lessons with these – your customer will notice. Being reliable will gain you custom – many instructors still feel that this is a part-time casual job and can be treated in the same way.

‘Hell, is that the time?’:
As has been touched on above and in an earlier unit, punctuality is important but time spent travelling is dead time, earning you nothing.

If you can organise your diary well, you will be able to have customers in adjacent areas on the same day with short gaps between them. However, there will always be times when you have 3 customers and need an hour to travel between each of them. This is sometimes unavoidable, but with good planning should not happen often.

If covering a wide area, it can often be worth encouraging customers to travel in to your area from where they live – this can save both of you money – they get a lesson full of value, instead of getting to know the road in and out of town perfectly for half an hour every lesson, and you get less dead time.

Longer lessons will always save you money and be easier to plan around. People who live a long way from the test centre (if they cannot travel in to meet you) will need longer lessons – as a rule of thumb, if they live over 10 minutes away from the test centre, I will only do 1½ hour lessons; over 20 minutes away and I will only do 2 hour lessons. This may not be strictly necessary to teach the early stages, but will become a necessity when it comes to mock test time.

Discussion Points:

• What car, and why.
• Finance and Leasing
• The “uniform”
• Your area
• Pricing
• Your diary – when will you work and lesson lengths
• With a franchise – setting your area and gaps between lessons

Unit 52: Record keeping

Effective records will save you a lot of time and money.

Lesson Appointments and Payments:
Ensure your diary is kept neat and tidy – this will avoid confusion. Try to book customers with regular slots well ahead – this will allow you to book new customers in without worrying whether you are bumping a current customer out of their regular slot.

Keep a note of all up-front payments for lessons. This money must be held for the customer – you can’t spend it until their lesson has been taken.

Give all of your customers an appointment sheet detailing the date and time of their next lesson. This sheet can also contain information on how many payments they have made, allowing them to check when they will next owe you money for lessons.

Advertising:
Keep a note of how people found out about you – this will allow you to understand the effectiveness of your advertising. If your advertising is not effective, you may find that you pay much more than you need to for advertising which is not reaching your customers. It is also worth noting down who a recommendation came from – this can be used to reward a customer who regularly recommends you.

Accounts:
Mileage:
Your car and its fuel will be your biggest single outgoing and you can claim all of your business use, but beware of the tax office – unless you keep good records of how much mileage is business related and how much is personal, you may find they refuse a certain amount of the costs.

What can be claimed:
An accountant can help you with this (claimable!), and so can your local tax office.

The basic principle is that if something is for the sole use of your business, then it can be claimed.

Lease car – minus personal mileage as a percentage of cost.
Insurance – as above.
Bought car – depreciation can be claimed, though this is more complex and your tax office or accountant can work this out for you.
Uniforms – with logos.
Stationery – for sole use of the business.
Office equipment – computers and the like can be claimed for but may be subject to personal use as well.
An office – a certain proportion of your mortgage may be claimable, though this may well prove more trouble than it is worth.
Utility bills – as above.
Phone line – certainly if you have a separate one for the business, and a percentage of a single home line may be claimable.
Car Washing.
Car Repairs.
Sign-writing.
Advertising.
Websites and hosting.
Phone answering services.
Book-keeping.

If you feel that the only use for something is for your business – then it is worth claiming for. If you are unsure about something – ask someone in the know. There are a lot of experienced self-employed instructors on the forums, who will often have tried something before – don’t be afraid to ask them.

Being self-employed can be a lonely thing to do sometimes, but remember there is a whole community out there who are doing this too – keep in touch with them.

Discussion Points:
Design of a lesson appointments and payments card
Recording the cost effectiveness of advertising
Mileage records (and mpg)
Accounts – What can be claimed, and what will you need to buy?

Unit 53: Continuing professional development

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is due to be introduced as mandatory for all driving instructors. The principle is sound but some details may need work. DSA suggest that 50% of training will be compulsory, while 50% will be ‘elective’ allowing you to decide on your specialism. The list below has been put forward for consultation by the DSA:

You will already have an idea as to where you would like your career to go, and as discussed earlier you may wish to progress beyond teaching learners. Whatever niche you would like to occupy, having extra skills sets which customers cannot find from other instructors in your area will guarantee your income.

All of this training will cost you money, though many local instructor groups are planning on doing group training with local independent instructors in order to reduce the costs of this training. Work out what area you feel you would like more training in and discuss this with your trainer. Do the research with regards who can provide this training, and who will be the best people to work with.

If you are with a franchise you will want to discuss your training with your trainer or area manager, as they will know what skills the franchise would like you to have to make you (and them) more saleable to prospective customers.

Originally published on Beyond Driving.

This unit is out of date due to the introduction of the Standards Check.

Unit 54: The check test

Within your first year as a qualified ADI (hopefully within the first 6 months) you will receive a letter from the DSA asking you to undertake a check test. During the check test (which lasts 1 hour), you will either be observed giving a lesson to a customer, or if you decide to take a role-play check test, you will give an hours lesson to a “customer” role-played by the supervising examiner.

The role play check test will involve you deciding which of the following scenarios you would like to teach to your “new customer”:

A remedial lesson
Junctions
Mirrors and a manoeuvre
Pass Plus module
Dual carriageways and open roads
Meet, cross, overtake, anticipation pedestrian crossings
Advanced/fleet drivers
Extended, disqualified drivers

Whether you decide on roleplay or taking one of your own customers, you need to plan effectively for the check test. Using the self assessment forms from earlier, you can go back through your training and make sure that you are up to date with your methods and that bad habits haven’t crept in.

With this first check test, you can be graded E (eductational – this would be a fail at part 3), 4, 5 or 6.

If you are not up to standard, you will need to work hard as you will receive another check test within 3 months, and if still not up to standard, you will have a check test with a regional examiner. If you fail this third check test you can be removed from the register.

If you get a grade 4, you will probably be called for your next check test in around 2 years. With a grade 5 or 6 you will be called within 4 years.

It is well worth coming back to your trainer whenever you have a check test due.