For 18 years, driveJohnson’s has focused on teaching learners to pass their driving test confidently and quickly.
As they enter their 18th year of business, driveJohnson’s is also now celebrating having 600 driving instructors nationwide.
Having first been established in 2005 in Milton Keynes, Anthony Johnson, the Founder and Director of driveJohnson’s, has taken his solo career to a growing empire of nationwide driving instructors by placing time and effort into recruitment and training.
After initially becoming a driving instructor, Anthony began helping learner drivers pass their tests while also teaching people how to become driving instructors.
Doing this allowed driveJohnson’s to grow and allow Anthony to develop his skills to a higher level while continuing to improve his teaching abilities.
While Anthony was putting in the hard work and conducting driving lessons in Milton Keynes, his reputation drew in new business and new instructors wanting to know his secret to success.
With interest increasing in joining the driveJohnson’s team, Anthony took the first steps into forming a franchise and expanded into Bedford, Luton and Northampton.
Within the first five years of business, driveJohnson’s Franchise had over 50 instructors and was helping students in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, and Northamptonshire learn to drive.
From word of mouth to the top of Google
driveJohnson’s had grown in size and notoriety over the years, but the business was kicked into gear after they optimised their website.
Anthony had built the website from scratch and was learning the best ways to market the business whilst still providing lessons and additional instructor training.
With the franchise growing, more work was needed, and word of mouth could only go so far. Due to this, Anthony began working on the best way to optimise his website to reach the top of Google.
Thanks to Anthony’s unwavering work ethic, his decision to focus on SEO and growing the business’s digital presence paid off.
By having the digital presence that driveJohnson’s commanded in the early years of their inception, more learners and driving instructors wanted to be a part of their journey.
This led to driveJohnson’s continued expansion and saw several instructors join the franchise and begin to teach in London, Birmingham, Cambridge and several additional areas.
From 1 to 100 London Instructors
“When we broke ground in London and had our first instructor join our franchise and begin to teach, we exploded in popularity.
“What benefited us the most is that we only hired instructors and office staff that we trusted and shared our vision of growth”, Anthony said.
“When we finally had instructors teaching in London and Birmingham, we knew we were onto a winner and being in these major cities, we saw our growth explode because we offer a franchise and lesson plan that other driving schools can’t beat.”
Anthony went on to say, “We now have 100 driving instructors in London and get enquiries from instructors to join our franchise every day. Due to our popularity, we have again had to expand in recent years to keep up with the demand that we are facing.”
How driveJohnson’s went nationwide
18 years after driveJohnson’s started, the company now has instructors in England, Scotland and Wales. Whilst the office staff are based in Milton Keynes, the instructors cover most of the UK, including Norwich, Southampton, Newport, Wrexham, Leeds, Falkirk and Fort William, to name a few.
“Once we began to have instructors further than London and Birmingham, I needed to invest heavily in the office staff.”
“We hired a great team of booking coordinators, instructor trainers, marketing team and managers to help assist with all of our driving instructors across the country.”
The formula that driveJohnson’s created allows them to constantly expand and develop their business by hiring new instructors in new areas. They know that they can sign an instructor up in a new town or city and that they will have them busy within a matter of weeks, thanks to the formula that they have created and the staff that they have employed. The office staff will drum up leads for the new instructor, with Anthony and the surrounding instructors available for support and questions.
In 2005, Anthony started the company solely to provide driving lessons to learners in Milton Keynes, but they have grown and developed to offer several other services. These include driving instructor training, online training for learners, fleet training and pass-plus courses.
Speaking of the growth of driveJohnson’s, Anthony said, “Thinking about the growth from when I first started is fantastic, and I couldn’t have done it without the team that I built along the way.
“We made sure that we have been at the front edge of technology every step of the way and even now offer apps and online services for our learners and instructors.
“When I began my journey, I couldn’t have imagined we would be in this position, but thanks to my team’s work ethic and our instructors driving for success, we have grown into a nationwide company that people can trust.”
Read more:
driveJohnson’s reaches 600 driving instructors across the UK