Training new people how to be good drivers is a major multi-million dollar business in the United States. The market size, as per a study, is estimated to be more than nine-hundred million dollars. Additionally, it is expected to grow by six percent in 2021. For these reasons, starting a driving school business of your own can seem to be a lucrative career choice.

However, there are various complexities involved in starting a driving school business. You should be aware of the state and federal motor laws, be a licensed driving instructor yourself or have licensed teaching staff, cognizant of the paperwork and documentation required, among other factors. Thus, to help you out, we have provided you some easy tips that can get you started on your business journey.

Research State Regulations

Every state has different laws and regulations for opening a driving school business. These regulations vary from state to state, and hence you should check the laws about your state before anything. The information regarding state laws can easily be found online on the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles’ website. (for example, Florida).

Read and understand all the requirements needed to open a driving school. For example, check whether your state requires you to take an instructor test or whether your vehicles need to pass certain inspection tests. This will help in further planning.

Create A Budget

Next, you need to create the budget required for starting and running the business. The budget should be prepared considering various factors such as:

• The vehicles’ costs (either renting vehicles or purchasing them)
• The rent for your business location (if you don’t have a place of your own)
• Vehicle fuel and maintenance costs, including accidental repairs
• Vehicle insurances
• Business advertising and marketing
• Employee salaries (if you plan to hire any, as instructors or administrative staff)

Research Your Competition

Most locations already have a driving school that provides training to the local community. Researching and analyzing your competition can lead to your business success. Check the services offered by your competitors and the charges for the same. Similarly, analyze the marketing strategies adopted by them to understand better which strategies work with the customers.

For example, if your competitors are using digital marketing for attracting customers, see what keywords they are targeting for SEM and other online marketing processes. You can use tools like SEMRush and Ubersuggest for the same. Similarly, you can use print advertising strategies adopted by your competitors to increase awareness about your business.

Create Your List Of Services

Next, you need to decide on the services you will offer at your driving school. Similarly, it would help if you also decided the charges for the same. Since you have already done thorough research about your competitors, you can easily complete this step. Providing better services at low prices than your competitors is guaranteed to attract customers. Similarly, you can also provide discounts for early-bird customers.

For example, you can offer theoretical classes, about various state courses and tests, such as the four-hour DMV drug and alcohol test, at discounted rates to the first ten applicants every month. However, make sure that you offer discounts that are competitive and affordable, yet don’t lead to losses.

Develop A Marketing Plan

Lastly, you will need to develop an excellent advertising and marketing plan to attract customers. If customers aren’t aware of your business, they surely won’t apply at your driving school. You can adopt either traditional marketing, digital marketing, or both marketing strategies.

In this technological age, however, digital marketing has gained prominence. Hence, you shouldn’t ignore digital marketing for your driving school business. You can hire a digital marketing agency for the same or have in-house digital marketing staff for all your digital marketing needs.

Hire Staff

You will require hiring staff for various operations as running a driving school single-handedly is nearly impossible. Even if you have a small business, you will require at least one employee to handle administrative tasks like answering phone calls or attending walk-in customers.

Similarly, you might also need to hire an instructor from the beginning so that you can focus on other aspects of your business. Additionally, you will require an accountant to handle your finances and a lawyer to handle any legal issues that may arise during business operations.

We hope that this blog helps you set up and start your driving school business. Opening up a new driving school may seem like a difficult task, but if you break it into simple steps, as mentioned above, it will be a cakewalk.