typical<\/strong> annual takings of between \u00a395,000 and \u00a3200,000 per annum – and anyone who doesn\u2019t know what they\u2019re getting themselves into and screws it up only has themselves to blame. McDonalds sets it out clearly and makes no guarantees.<\/p>\n\n\n\nA typical McDonalds franchisee will therefore have to find at least \u00a360,000 as well as take out a bank loan for the remaining 75% of the restaurant\u2019s value. McDonalds will take 5% of any sales turnover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A driving school franchise, on the other hand, costs virtually nothing up front. You might have to place a deposit of \u00a3500 for the car (often refundable, at least in part), and there might be a notice period if you decide to leave. If you read the small print – which anyone with any sense would – you\u2019d know this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The problem as I see it – and this is probably why the woman I spoke with was complaining – is that many people who become ADIs are very immature (at least in the business sense). They get all excited by qualifying, sign their names to everything without thinking, and then when they decide to jump ship for whatever reason (usually greed) they start whining about the terms of the contract they signed of their own free will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A driving school franchise is only a rip-off if it reneges on something it promised. Admittedly, you hear tales of some smaller schools promising an infinite supply of pupils (which never seems to be written down anywhere), but most of the large national schools don\u2019t do that. However, if a school states clearly that is costs, say, \u00a3200 a week for the car, it is definitely not a rip-off just on that detail – it\u2019s just what IT charges, and you can either take it or leave it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I don\u2019t know what the BSM franchise costs per week these days now that they\u2019re part of the AA. But once upon a time it was the most expensive one going, costing well over \u00a3300 a week. Everyone who signed up with them knew this in absolutely crystal-clear terms. It was bloody expensive, but it wasn\u2019t a rip-off because you knew everything up front.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keeping a new car on the road as an independent ADI costs around \u00a380 (approximately) a week minimum<\/strong>, and that\u2019s before you start driving it or trying to get work. Obviously it depends on the model, but a decent car on lease will set you back by at least<\/strong> that amount. People often claim that it\u2019s much less, but it isn\u2019t – not unless you permanently drive an old car. If you\u2019re bad at (or very selective with) business maths you can perhaps argue that in a given (and carefully chosen, if you\u2019re an agitator with an agenda) year it has cost you less than \u00a320, but over a number of years it will average out at much more than that (as I said, unless you drive a banger all the time – and a few do).<\/p>\n\n\n\nAn independent ADI has also got to market himself. So paying a franchise another \u00a3100 on top of the basic car cost for the additional benefits a franchise brings (they do the advertising for you – often on a national scale) is a clear and sensible option some will want to take up. A newly-qualified ADI would be stupid to try and go it alone in the current climate (most fail miserably if they do).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ignorant ones will argue that \u00a3200 a week is \u201ctoo much\u201d when you could be paying \u201conly\u201d \u00a380 as in independent (or \u201conly\u201d \u00a320 if you\u2019re bad at business matters). Well, firstly it is none of their business if someone chooses to go down the franchise route – it\u2019s a freely available option which can be taken or left as the buyer sees fit. These agitators are often just fuelling their own prejudices with their misleading and totally inaccurate \u201cadvice\u201d. There\u2019s no benefit to paying even \u00a320 a week for a car if you have no work.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nAnd more importantly, although people who buy into McDonalds franchises might go bankrupt because they can\u2019t pay off their huge bank loans in spite of turning over hundreds of thousands of pounds a year – which is really nothing to do with McDonalds itself – a driving instructor goes bankrupt because they can\u2019t get enough work.<\/strong> That can happen whether they\u2019re independent or with a franchise – although these days it is more likely with an independent, many of whom are now joining franchises to try and survive.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe two situations are totally different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n