Don't Panic

This is the first of 3 blogs that may help you with improving your business, focusing on a better future and giving you an optimistic outlook. If you like these you may want to subscribe by visiting our website.
 
Are you ready for change as change is inevitable? 
 
We are living in uncertain times. Having just climbed out of one recession, have you put any strategies in place to protect yourself if and when we fall back into another? We know that the economy continually goes round in circles, it goes up and it goes down. Currently, I have never read so many stories of ADIs doing well with full diaries and working too hard. When it's good we suffer from work / life balance and when it's bad we just struggle.
 
A way of protecting yourself is to develop a unique selling point (USP) that helps you stand out from the crowd. This can be difficult to find in an industry where we are all equal by just holding the green badge. The DVSA have thoughts about creating a hierarchy of ADIs through 'earned recognition' and this very thought may send you running to social media to protest and voice your opinion shouting loudly 'how dare they?' The DVSA  are responsible for the standards of ADIs that are held on the Register and the DVSA believe the general public should be informed of those standards. You can see this already happening on the www.gov.uk website when you look for the 'find your nearest driving instructor'. 

A starting place to find your own personal USP is to look at what sets you apart from your fellow ADIs. Below is a list of points that you may want to look at with regard to your competition:
 
Price (remember this is not about being the cheapest - it's about giving value for money - you could even be the most expensive)
Quality
Range of Products and Services
Website
Ease of booking
Speed of delivery
Reliability
Qualifications
Grade
Availability
 
 
You may want to add more to this list. 
 
So start comparing yourself to the competition and find out what sets you apart. Create your own unique selling points because at the end of the day we are in business.