Welcome to your driving school franchise
In this Induction Guide, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know about joining our driving school franchise. Once complete, you’ll be invited to our home for your Induction Meeting. We reckon you’ll need around 2 hours to complete this guide. You don’t have to do it all in one go, so take your time and do a section at a time if you prefer. There’s much to learn, so don’t worry if you forget stuff; you can always return to it.
PRE-INDUCTION CHECKLIST
You MUST complete all the steps in our checklist BEFORE you can start teaching.
Start work through the list NOW as it may take some time to organise everything in time for your start date.
Please bring any questions you have to your INDUCTION MEETING.
Tap the button to get a PRINTABLE checklist, or navigate to the MATERIALS tab at the top of the page to view the online version with clickable links.
Important!
Failure to complete these tasks may result in your start date being delayed.
You’ll need your Trainee Licence and Tuition Vehicle before you can start teaching.
Pre-Induction Checklist:
1. Apply online for your to DVSA for your Trainee Licence (Pink Licence)
Make sure you opt for the Additional Training Licence where you’ll need to complete 20 additional hours of training and NOT the supervised one where you’ll need to have 20% of your lessons supervised.
You should apply for this at least 10 working days before you want your badge to start.
Problems!
If you have problems with the DVSA application process you can call the ADI Team on 0300 200 11 22 and then ext 25 to go straight to the ADI team. Do NOT join the long queues with the general public so make sure you dial 25 when the call is answered.
You should check the status of your application by logging into your account at Integrated Register of Driver Trainers (IRDT)
We STRONGLY advise you do this ONE WEEK before your start date. The status should be ‘approved’. If it says ‘pending’, you should contact them as they are likely to have rejected it due to insufficient information. A simple call to them will normally sort this out.
Please bring your badge along to induction (if you have received it) as we’ll need to take a photo of it. If you receive it after your induction please take a photo of the photo side and text it to 07762 414565
2. Send off BOTH of these completed forms to padi@dvsa.gov.uk (sending a photo will be fine)
3. Get tuition vehicle ready and legal to teach
- Source your vehicle. It MUST be either White, Black, Gray, Silver, or Red and be no more than 6 years old. You can try CA Cars and ask for Clara Gibson who is our point person and she’ll be able to help you. Her number is 0116 2849067. Or you can try VIA Dual Controlled Vehicle Leasing.
- Watch this video to learn which is the best option for you: Buy, Lease, Hire Purchase of CPC
- Tell us your vehicle details (VRN, Make/Model, Colour, Transmission) and send them to admin@how-2-drive.com
- Get dual controls fitted (we can recommend David Relph on 01361 695562 or Allan Phillips on 07852 543054)
- Get ADI car insurance for teaching (recommend Towergate ADI Insurance or Adrian Flux )
- Graphics arranged at CIM Graphics (we’ll arrange a date once we have your vehicle details)
4. Tell us your workwear sizes
Just email your sizes to admin@how-2-drive.com
You’ll be supplied with some Polo shirts and a Fleece with our company branding so you’ll look the part. Full-timers you’ll be issued 5 shirts and 1 fleece.
5. Read and sign your Franchise Agreement (sent to you via email)
Please sign the document online. If you have any questions please put your question in an email and we’ll get straight back to you with a written reply
6. Pay the Franchise setup fee
You will be emailed an invoice for the setup fees before your induction meeting.
Please ensure payment is received before you attend the induction meeting.
7. Open a separate bank account for your business
It’s best to keep business and personal finances separate.
8. Register as a self-employed sole trader and arrange to make National Insurance Contributions
9. Have a system to calculate your earnings so you can pay your HMRC Taxes.
We recommend you find an accountant to manage that for you unless you feel confident doing your tax returns.
Here is a free Tax guide for driving instructors
10. Read the Franchise Agreement
Here is a copy of the Franchise agreement_ 2024 v1 SAMPLE
This is a copy so please DO NOT sign this one as subject to changes.
You’ll be sent our current Agreement Agreement via email before you start which will include your details ready for you to sign online.
11. Arrange your monthly franchise fee payments
You’ll be sent an invoice due 14 days after your start date.
The franchise fees are invoiced 4 weekly and are payable in advance.
You can set up a Standing Order with your bank to do this for you each month on the due date.
12. Open a Business Account
We recommend you open a separate bank account to manage your business.
Lots of self-employed instructors use Monzo Business Account.
This has lots of really useful features to make it easy to get paid and manage your money.
For example, pupils can pay you contactless by holding their card near your phone or by QR code remotely!
Next Steps:
Complete the rest of this Pre-Induction course before we meet you
You’ll need to complete this course in full to find out the address for your Induction Meeting.
If you have any questions, please write them down and be ready to ask us at induction.