Below is How To Start A Driving School In South Africa
Once you’re ready to start your driving school, follow these steps to ensure that your business is legally compliant and avoid wasting time and money as your business grows:
Form a legal entity & Register for taxes
Establishing a legal business entity such as PTY LTD prevents you from being personally liable if your cleaning company is issued.
When you register your business CIPC automatically registered you with SARS
Open a business bank account
Recording your various expenses and sources of income is critical to understanding the financial performance of your business. Keeping accurate and detailed accounts also greatly simplifies your annual tax filing.
Set up business accounting system
It’s a crucial step that allows you to monitor the growth of your business, build financial statements, keep track of deductible expenses, prepare tax returns, and support what you report on your tax return. Right from the beginning, you should establish a system for organizing receipts and other important records
Get Business Insurance
Insurance is highly recommended for all business owners.
Define your brand.
Your brand is what your company stands for, as well as how your business is perceived by the public. A strong brand will help your business stand out from competitors.
Establish your Web Presence
A business website allows customers to learn more about your company and the products or services you offer. You can also use social media to attract new clients or customers.
Growing Your Business
How to promote & market a driving school
The best way to promote your business is through affiliations. Examples of affiliations include:
Offering discount programs to students from local high schools.
Having special programs that are connected to specific auto insurance companies.
Getting on the list of qualified driving schools for traffic courts in the local area.
Creating cross-promotional campaigns with auto dealers and rental car companies.
How to keep customers coming back
Attracting customers is important, retaining them is less important. The customers usually pay a non-refundable fee for the entire course when they sign up. Although repeat customers are possible, these are very rare. The best way to attract customers is by affiliation programs as described above. Marketing is possible as well. For Internet-based classes only, online marketing is critical.
We know of one company that had workers stationed outside of traffic courts who handed out flyers for their driving school to those leaving the courts. In states where attending a traffic school gets a ticket dismissed this is a very effective way to advertise the business.
For those driving schools that offer on-the-road training, it is important that the school is advertised on the vehicles used for training. In addition to this, it is possible to use advertisements on taxis or other modes of public transportation for the same purpose of attracting new customers.
Register as a driving instructor
To become a legally recognized driving instructor in South Africa, you must be registered with the provincial department of transport. Driving instructors are required to have a certificate specifying the grade or the class of vehicle in which they are qualified to instruct learners.
Instructors are graded as follows:
Grade A – the instructor is competent to train a person for a driving license of any code and such instructor holds a code EC driving license for a manual transmission and a code A driving license
Grade B – the instructor is competent to train a person for a driving license of the code B, C1, C, EB, EC1, and EC, and such instructor holds a code EC driving license for a manual transmission
Grade C – the instructor is competent to train a person for a driving license of the code A1, A, and B, and such instructor holds a code EB driving license for a manual transmission and a code A driving license
Grade D – the instructor is competent to train a person for a driving license of the code B, and such instructor holds a code EB driving license for a manual transmission
Grade L – the instructor is competent to train a person for a learner’s license of any code.
You will deal only with the class of motor vehicles for which you are licensed. The instructor’s certificate is valid for one year.
Go to the nearest driving license testing center (link is external)with your medical certificate form (MC), completed by your doctor, to book a test date.
Complete an Application for registration as a driving instructor form (RI).
You will be referred to a police station to obtain a clearance certificate.
On the date given for the test, you will write the test. If you pass, you must pay the prescribed fee.
The testing center will refer your application to the Member of the Executive Committee (MEC) of the province for approval or rejection. If approved, the testing center will issue the permit.
The permit may be ready in six to eight weeks.
How much does it cost?
Contact your local licensing office for the cost.
Application for registration as driving instructor (RI)
Medical certificate (MC)
How much does a driving school cost in South Africa?
For car lessons, lessons tend to cost between R130 and R200 a lesson.
Driving schools or instructors often offer package deals, however – for example, you can buy 10 lessons ahead for a discounted amount (cheaper than you would pay for 10 individual lessons).