So I decided to become a driving instructor......again.

Let me set the scene, it was back in 2006, when I was a young 22 year old, working in a boring office doing admin, wishing I had a career to be interested in, I kept on seeing these adverts on Telly with a national driving school saying become a driving instructor and earn 30k a year, be your own boss, work your own hours...... I gave this some thought, spoke to my family about it and they laughed... me a driving instructor... the lad with a Modified car on the driveway (you know loud exhausts, neon lights and body kit fitted)... how could anyone think I would make it to be a driving instructor.

After some research, I decided I would go for it and I trained with a lovely Instructor called Jim.. he was with TheAA driving school. I managed to pass all 3 of my exams and I with an Approved Driving Instructor in January 2007. I joined TheAA as a franchisee, paying a couple of hundred pound a week driving around in a brand new Ford Focus that was replaced every 6 months... I looked the part, I was a professional driving instructor, Driving around in one of the most recognised driving school companies in the UK.

The dream was short lived, I didn’t know how to run a business, I didn’t understand pricing points, I thought having a full diary was a good thing... but to do this, I priced myself low, I didn’t know how to put a high value on myself... I felt bad for saying I charge 23 per hour... I didnt think I was worth the same as the other instructors in Ashford as I was the young lad on the block.... with the high franchise fee's, the advertising costs, the website design and costs, petrol prices, TheAA merchandise I was struggling to make any money, working long hours just to get ahead of myself.        

I worked solid for 12 months, 50-60 hour a week away from home to drive across Kent to get pupils in... with a lot of help from my family I managed to buy a brand new Renault Clio, I left TheAA, I was still charging 20 per hour, or 10 hours for 180... but I had no weekly franchise, my clio was a diesel and had much better fuel consumption... I didnt need to travel across Kent, I stuck to Ashford, I was doing 35 hours a week teaching over 6 days a week, but had more money in my back pocket... and most importantly more time at home..... fast forward to 2016 I decided that I would step away from teaching and go and pursue a normal career... I wanted a job for a better mortgage, a pension, sick pay and holiday pay.

Fast forward to 2023, my daughter turned 17, I had found her a lovely little Micra, she had driving lessons with another AA driving school instructor in Whitstable... all was going well until 6 weeks into her lessons her Driving Instructor sadly got ill... my daughter had her test booked, but was struggling to get a driving instructor, so I stepped in, she came to Ashford a lot in the Summer holiday’s, drove as much as she possibly could.. and passed her driving test in October, I was so very proud to have taken part of driving lessons..... but it left me thinking just how much I missed teaching people to drive, sharing my knowledge with people, watching them develop their skills... and pass that all important driving test, So I set about retraining to be a driving instructor.... again.