We all work hard during our driving lessons and feel that we do a great job for vey little reward.
We would all like to earn that little bit extra for our hard work helping our pupils to exceed with their driving.
There are a few ways you can add that little bit extra to your bank balance with very little work. Its called ‘Passive Income’ and its a system which earns you money with minimal work and you can even be paid while you sleep!
Lets look at an example.
If a builder needs a plumber for some complicated plumbing work he may have a colleague he recommends and in return get a referral or recommendation fee. Most ADIs already do this to help boost their Word of Mouth Advertising. My recommendation on this is to organise a bank transfer to send your pupils £20 rather than giving it to them in cash or as a free lesson as this is more likely to be seen as a business expense, it is advertising after all, and be tax deductible.
How can this work for you?
Firstly you could set up a scheme where by you ‘sell’ leads to your fellow ADIs and they pay you a fee after the pupil has four lessons. A further development on this idea is to take on a second (third, fourth, you get the idea) ADI as a franchisee. This will give you a regular income and allow you to grow your brand all the while earning a little bit extra for your efforts.
Another way to make that little bit extra is to form links with local businesses close to you that can serve your customers. An example of this would be an agreement with a local car dealership that sells cars in the £200 – £3000 price range where by you get a commission per sale of a car. Additionally these cars would need servicing and repairing so get in touch with a local independent garage and set up a similar scheme (it can work both ways so you pay them for every pupil).
One of the easiest ways is to help your pupils find insurance for a car while they are practising with a parent or relative. Collingwood, Marmalade and National Learner Driver Insurance (NLD) all provide a provisional driver insurance which will enable your student to practice in a friend or relatives car without risking the owners no claims discount,.
It is important to note that in most cases the car will need to be insured in the normal way. If it is the pupils car you need to find an owner/learner driver policy so that they are also covered for fire and theft.
While at first glance it may appear that these three companies offer precisely the same product there are some very subtle differences. Collingwood and NLD offer a Owner Learner Driver policy. and only NLD will insure the driver after they have passed their test (it must be stressed that this is for the drive home ONLY) and this means that you won’t have to run the risk of driving the car home should they choose to take the test in their own car. NLD will also pay you a referral on renewals as well as the initial insurance policy and the pupil gets the best price right away.
Another albeit less profitable way to earn some extra dosh is though referral schemes. Dropbox, moo.com, Theory Test Pro and many other service providers all offer a scheme whereby they will give you money or money off for referring a new customer.
Lets look at the offer from the most relevant to us as driving instructors, Theory Test Pro. If you introduce a friend to Theory Test Pro they will give both you and your referred person 10% off both of your subscriptions for a whole year which is better than a month free.
These are just a few of the ways that you can earn money while sleeping and I would strongly advise signing up with NLD and you can do so at go.joinnld.com and get earning today!
Chris & Ian