A career as a driving instructor is rewarding but comes with a lot of business management and planning, especially if you are self-employed. From student bookings, lesson plans, social media, and bookkeeping there is a lot to keep track of.
In this blog we’ll explore ways to plan your business and keep track of the things that matter most as a driving instructor. Helping to make day-to-day tasks easier and scale and automate parts of your business as it grows.
An important aspect of being a driving instructor is managing your lesson bookings and day to day planning. This means you don’t overbook yourself, have adequate breaks during the day and do not double book any learner drivers!
When you are booking in lessons there are many different tools you can use. Depending on where you are in your instructor journey or if you are independent or with a franchise, this process can look different for everyone. Some franchises may have their own booking systems so you will not have to worry about your own diary management.
Almost all email tools and phones have free in-built calendar apps that you can utilise for booking lessons with students. This tends to be a more manual approach, as you will have to input all your lessons and manage this in your free time to avoid conflicts.
Online calendar apps can be a good option if you are just starting as an ADI and need something free and easy to use. Tools you could use for this are Google Calendar, Outlook Calendar or iCloud Calendar. One of the main benefits of using these apps is that they often sync between platforms, meaning you can access them on phone, tablet and desktop.
The downside is that it may need a lot of management from you to keep everything up to date. If you have very full books or don’t have free time for diary management this may not be the best option.
If you are looking for a more streamlined and easy approach to driving lesson booking, a better option may be booking apps. These are apps designed specifically for booking driving lessons.
A lot of these apps also come with additional features for business management such as payments, pupil information, and lesson tracking. There are a number of apps, some well-known ones are: MyDriveTime, Total Drive and GoRoadie. They often offer paid and free versions with different features and packages.
The benefit of these apps is that it will manage your time for you and flag conflicts in your diary. This means there is less manual input required from you as the app will let you know what timeslots you have available. They may also have automated lesson reminders and features built-in to help with business management.
If you are a self-employed driving instructor, marketing can play an important role in growing your business and reaching new audiences. It can help build visibility and trust with learner drivers who are choosing their first instructor. To do this, it is good to have an online presence and post on social platforms regularly.
Canva is an online website with free and paid versions available. In Canva you can create designs using templates that can help with social media planning and marketing. You can bulk create social posts to make social media planning easy. With the paid version you can also schedule posts on Facebook, Instagram, X, and LinkedIn.
Canva can also be helpful for local advertising, like flyers and posters. The website allows you to design and order prints in one place. These features makes it a useful all-round tool for ADI marketing.
Facebook and Instagram are important platforms when it comes to promoting your business. A good way to get the word out is through ads and boosted posts. This lets your posts reach more people through paid advertising. In the Meta suite you can set up audiences to show ads to, add an image/video and set a budget. The Business Suite is free to use but you will need to pay to run ads. Running ads can be helpful if you need new clients or want to build awareness of your business.
If you are struggling to keep up with posting regularly it may be easier to schedule posts. This means you will not be taking time out of your day to post and instead can schedule everything for the week or month ahead.
There are many tools that allow you to schedule posts, or you can do it within the social app. This can be more time consuming as you need to go on each website, rather than scheduling all posts at the same time but, it is a free option. Instagram, Facebook and YouTube all allow for scheduled posts.
For most of the apps where you can schedule posts on multiple platforms you will need a subscription. Prices often depend on how many platforms you are posting on and when level of support you need. Some options for social media scheduling websites are Canva (this will require a premium subscription which will also allow for designs), Hootsuite, sprout social or later.
As a driving instructor keeping up with your income is important. Most instructors are self-employed meaning you or an accountant will be responsible for filing taxes and keeping details of payments.
A must have for tracking your incoming and outgoing is a budget spreadsheet. This lets you see quickly and easily how much you have coming in and what you are spending. For this you can use Microsoft Excel, there is a free online version, but if you want the full suite of Microsoft Office apps, you will need a subscription. Free options for creating spreadsheets include Google Sheets and Canva. Many applications have templates you can use to easily set up tracking and formulas.
If you have an accountant, they will often keep track for you, and you will supply your incomings and outgoings. Make sure you are aware of what you need to keep track of and allowable expenses for your business.
As part of bookkeeping you need to keep track and have evidence of any business incomings and outgoings. This includes invoices and receipts relating to your business. Sometimes this can be difficult to keep track of, so it is good to have a system in place. A free option is using your phone to take pictures of everything and have folders to organise.
If you have an accountant, they may have their own software that they use for tracking, but if you are doing it on your own you may want to invest in accounting software. You can keep track without these tools but as your business grows it may be harder to keep up. Some paid tools you could use are Xero, Sage or Quickbooks.
It may also be beneficial to have a business bank account, separate to your personal account. This will make it easier to keep track of business incomings and outgoings.
Running a driving instructor business requires you to keep on top of day-to-day management and there are tools to help you. As you grow and scale your business there may be a need for automation and simplicity of processes and these tools can help with that.
If there are areas that you feel like you are spending too much time on, research options and find tools that fit your needs. Alternatively, there may be areas of your business that are difficult to learn, such as social media, there are tools that can assist with those areas.
Make sure you stay up to date with latest technologies and review your business practices to help grow and reach new audiences.
Frequently asked questions about driving instructor tools
Not always, there are many free tools that will help run your business if you have the time to use them. Often paid or subscription-based tools are easier to use and more intuitive, which will help save you time.
Marketing your business as a driving instructor is important, especially if you are self-employed. Social media marketing allows you to reach new audiences and build trust as a business. Pick 1 or 2 platforms that best suit your business and regularly post on those channels.
As with any business, there is a lot to keep up with as a driving instructor. Whether you are self-employed, or part of a driving school can determine the complexity of your job. As long as you have systems in place and know what you need to keep track of for tax purposes, you will be able to get a business up and running.
If you are new to the industry, you might not want to invest too heavily in tools and developments. Until you know your profits and income, it may be hard to know how much you can invest in tools. There are plenty of free options to use, as your business grows and develops you will be able to scale and invest into business tools.
No, you are able to do your own accounting when you are a driving instructor. When you first start out this may be the most cost-efficient option, but you will have to learn how to do it correctly. As your business grows, hiring an accountant to manage your money may help to focus on your business rather than money tracking.
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