Are you thinking of starting a driving school? If yes, you have come to the right place. Here in this article, we have covered various requirements like startup budget, licenses and permits, and licenses required to start a driving school business.
Nowadays most people want to drive cars and vehicles. However, you need to have a driver’s license from the respective DMVs of cities. Though to get a driver’s license, attending a certified driver training course is not a must.
However, most to-be drivers prefer to go for a training course before appearing for the test. This creates a huge business opportunity in this automobile-related business.
Here are the 10 Steps to Start a Driving School
1. Choose the Type of Driving School You Want to Start
The first decision to make before starting a driving school is whether you want to start your own or buy a franchise of a reputed driving school. In the United States, you can opt for buying a franchise of SurePass or 911.
Buying a franchise comes with a cost like paying a franchise fee, however, the nitty-gritty of starting a driving school will be taken care of by the franchisor. But, if you are interested to start your own driving school, you must decide on the type of driving school you want to start. Below find some of the niche driving school course specializations you can cater to:
a) Preparing Learners for Passing Test Examination
To drive a car legally, everyone needs to have a driving license from licensing authorities from the respective city or town. You will train the learners to pass the driving license examination conducted by the transport authority.
b) Commercial Driving School:
This type of driving school trains candidates who will be driving commercial vehicles like trucks, buses, cranes, heavy vehicles, etc.
c) Disabled Drivers Training School
This kind of school specializes in training specially-abled people.
2. Understand the Local Market of Driving Schools
In the present day, most people learn to drive. As a result, the possibility of an already running driving exists in most localities. However, there is always a scope to have more driving schools as the demand is growing.
You must go for market research and try to gather as much information as possible to know your competitors, their strengths and weaknesses, the pricing, and services they are providing to learners, etc. This will give you an idea about how to go about starting your driving school.
3. Create a Business Plan
Based on the information collected, you must write a detailed business plan for your driving school business. Write down your mission, objectives, operating plan, financials, marketing strategies, manpower requirements, etc in a structured way. You can take help from business plan generators in writing the business plan document.
The basic topics that must be addressed in your driving school business plan document are as follows:
- Startup and recurring costs
- Target customers
- The operational and hiring plan
- Pricing plan
- How do you plan to promote your car driving services?
4. Name your Driving School
It is essential to choose a catchy and easy-to-remember name for your driving school business. An attractive name will a long way in creating a solid driving school brand and will surely help in finding more customers. In addition, do check website domain name availability to ensure that your website URL is similar to the name of your driving school business.
Learn More: How to Name Your Business? Step-By-Step Guidelines
5. Licenses and Permits
To operate a driving school, you will need to be licensed by the respective state. Every state has its own rules and regulations. You need to contact the appropriate authority and collect the required information. For example, if you want to start a driving school in Florida, you need to get in touch with the department of highway and motor vehicles.
6. Calculate Startup Cost & Arrange Finance
At this point, you will be aware of the various costs associated with starting the business. Your likely investment will be mainly on space, licensing costs, vehicle procuring costs, manpower hiring costs, business insurance, administrative costs, etc. If you are looking for funding, approach investors with the business plan you have documented.
7. Procure Vehicles for Driving School Business
It is advised to buy second-hand cars if you are starting with a low capital investment. Ensure the vehicles have proper insurance and have signage for a student driver’s car. Install an additional brake system, steering, and instructor mirrors for safety purposes.
8. Select the Location
Location plays a key role in the success of any driving school business. Try to find a space in a building that is located on the roadside. It enables people to locate your driving school with ease. Also, have sufficient space for parking your training vehicles.
9. Create Curriculum & Pricing for Driving School
Create lesson plans both on theoretical and practical fronts. You can procure pre-packaged lesson materials from your DMV’s approved list of providers.
The pricing of training course modules should be competitive and should be affordable for students. You can charge more for personalized classes conducted for individual learners who are busy professionals or looking for special attention.
10. Advertise your Driving School
The whole effort of promotional activities of your driving school would be to ensure to get candidates are admitted. Create brochures and leaflets and distribute them to potential customers. Create a website and mention the services and have a contact page so that candidates can reach you. Use social media platforms and promote your driving school.
About the Author: 99businessideas.com led by Rupak Chakrabarty is committed to helping beginners, entrepreneurs, and small business owners in starting, managing, and growing their businesses.
