Back in 2005, Anthony Johnson, the owner, qualified as a driving instructor, passing his Part 3 exam for the first time.
After several years of working on his own, he then trained his best friend, Peter Hogben, who joined the driving school franchise.
Along came the 2008 recession, which was meant to make things harder, but instead, Anthony delved into YouTube and achieved a fantastic number of subscribers and viewers, with many of his videos reaching over 1 million views. Instead of struggling, driveJohnson’s driving school started to grow and take on more instructors gradually, year by year. Now, the company has over 800 instructors nationwide, and Anthony can still be found in the office daily or out on the roads, helping instructors improve their teaching standards.
Anthony is also a Grade A 51/51 instructor trainer, the highest grade you can achieve on the DVSA standards check.
None of this could have been achieved without a fantastic team in the office, which has continued to grow gradually year after year, and, of course, the driving instructors who provide a fantastic service daily to their pupils.
What’s the recipe for achieving 20 years in business?
According to Anthony, it requires a lot of hard work at the start. Outworking your competitors, not turning down work at the beginning, working late at night and on weekends to generate the extra capital to then re-invest into the business.
Taking calculated risks is something else Anthony is familiar with. At the time of training his first instructor up, there wasn’t enough work for both of them. But with all of the working capital built up, there were funds to invest in marketing.
Striving to provide an excellent service, Anthony understood that you can’t please everyone but you must please the vast majority. He knew that if customers left, then he should question what had gone wrong rather than blame the customer who left. To succeed in business, you should make it a practice to do this every time you lose a customer, especially at the beginning.
Anthony always works hard to be the best at what he does. After initially qualifying, he went on many courses and continued to study. This paid off in the standards check when he achieved a Grade 6 (the highest grade on the old testing format), and then a Grade A 51/51 on his standards check with the DVSA who are the governing body for driving instructors.
Lastly, Anthony knows that as a business owner, you need to find and employ a team who you can trust, and who will support you and believe in you. They should believe in the company ethos and share the same ambitions as you. He understands that you can’t do it on your own; you need a fantastic office team to help you through the good times and the bad times!