To think DH should become a driving instructor?

[Aabbaas]

DH has been made redundant a few months ago and is struggling to find a new job.
He is a very clever man but has ended up working in an industry he isn't passionate about and is at a point in life (mid 40s) where he is questioning what to do next.
He would like a job that gave him flexibility around his hours, wants to be around more for DD6 and going back to the previous industry would mean having to work occasional weekends and festivities and possibly long hours for an average salary.

A colleague of mine mentioned that her DH is trying to retrain as a driving instructor and it got me thinking. It seems to be a job that is in high demand, DH has free time to qualify quickly (albeit it does require 2K or so invested in a course I think) and he could be managing his own schedule/continue to do this potentially as a second stream of income in the future, given we are in such an unstable job market.

What are the serious pros and cons we should consider? Has anyone done this or knows someone close enough that has managed to change their career and earn a decent living from it?

I cannot imagine a more stressful thing to do than constantly sit in the car next to a new learner driver. What did he do before? Does he have any existing skills which suggest that he would be good at this?

What does he want? Does he have people skills? Is he patient?

Surely driving instructor working hours are almost all evenings and weekends i.e. when their customers aren't working?

Retail management before.
He has great people skills, yes, I'd say that's his main strength.

Well yes but this for example means he could do the school run at 3pm and then do some lessons after I am back from work at around 5:30/6pm whereas before he'd be home at 7pm every day

This could work, it just depends on his patience level! And how chilled he is. The driving instructor’s around here do a roaring trade with teenagers. Most are at college so can have lessons in the day around their studies. Won’t he have to buy a car?

Does he have ice water in his veins?
Does he like driving and is he good at it?
Is he good at explaining physical type instructions?

If so then those are probably the main things you need to be a good driving instructor.

Would be an Uber driver before an instructor. V flexible

I don't know how this would work, it's just an idea I had today, honestly! I was just interested in seeing if others have done the same and how viable it is

Can't you choose your hours, generally? so on some days do the 3pm lessons and some days only do mornings or after 5pm for example?

It won’t be that family friendly - many people have to learn alongside working, so demand is strong for early mornings, evening and weekends. An instructor in my street is often out at 7am on weekday mornings, and the roads locally are swarmed with learners on Saturday mornings.

Its stressful, and costs like fuel and insurance have risen a lot in a short space of time, so I imagine profit margins are slimmer than they’ve ever been.

Not the first thing I’d think of for a change of pace and direction.

Self employment means no employer pension contributions, sick pay, holiday pay etc. Thats a big thing to consider. Vehicle and insurance are another up front cost as well as training. If he joins a driving school instead they will determine his hours.

I think you’re severely underestimating the number of hours he’d need to work every week to cover his self employed costs and still make a living. Pension, sick pay, national insurance, income tax, vehicle insurance, liability insurance, servicing/repairs to the vehicle, petrol, and the list goes on.

I think it’s a great idea. My instructor was a young mum and it fitted around her life!

The pass rate for getting his qualifications is really small, lower than 35% pass part 3. It's a very tricky thing to get into

I think it could be a good idea. I’ve just finished learning at the grand old age of 36 so spent a lot of time speaking to my instructor in lessons. He loved the flexibility, it was though long hours! Most college students have free periods so he didn’t have huge gaps in the day. Another thing he did, which was very clever, was to advertise at the local hospitals- this meant he had a steady stream of students who were fully qualified adult drivers in another country so again- not just relying on college students. He said it’s now all through recommendations and he has a 6 month waiting list. Hes 65 so looking to finish up in october and was constantly passing people on to other instructors.

its very hard work and not for everyone but at rates at c £50-60 and a 1.5 hour lesson as standard, it can be a good option.

I always think how little they must actually earn - where I live it’s £35 ph, when you take off petrol, wear and tear to the car and insurance, that’s a fairly low hourly rate (plus you have extra driving time as you can’t always coordinate pick up / drop offs between students easily)
Taxi driver would be much easier - if you live anywhere near London then airport taxi drivers seem to always be busy but much less stress.

It's really not a family friendly job! People want lessons in the evenings, early mornings and at weekends so they can learn around work and school.

Lots of 17 year olds are in college, have free periods, go in later or finish earlier than you think. Both my children learned to drive in the summer holidays of first year of uni as they had 4 months off. They had at least 2 or 3 lessons a week, 2 hours each at £72 a pop. They took cancellations, people on holiday etc.

Have a look at Ashley Neal on Youtube, he teaches people to be driving instructors. Plus have a look at him teaching people how to drive, he shows people from their first lesson and their progression. Same with DGN, Clearview, Driving School and Conquer Driving.

Around here is between £45-£50 per hour. Assuming at least 25-30 hrs per week with a month off during the year overall that's around £54K to £72K pre tax he could make? Yes then you take off tax and other expenses but it is less hours overall than what he'd work if he was tied to 40 hrs a week in retail plus 2 hrs of commute daily?

Wouldn’t he also need to buy a dual control car? I think doing the school run would reduce his market as all the colleges near me are overrun with learner drivers between 3 and 4 when instructors collect the learners so they can drive themselves home, but it might be possible for it to work around this.

Are you allowing for c 30 minutes unpaid between lessons to get between pupils and refuel etc in those calculations?

I am an adi. It will be a load more than 2k to train. That's what it cost me 13 years ago, and it was one of the cheaper options even back then.

If he works long hours 6-7 hours teaching per day, plus admin, travelling between pupils etc., he would probably take home 30-45k before tax (depending on if franchised, how he provides a vehicle etc.). And that's with no pension, no holiday pay, no sick pay etc.

It's a great occupation for the right person, but as a main wage for a household for example it probably wouldn't fly.