How receptionist shifted gear to own driving school

What you need to know:

  • "Cases of motorcycle-related deaths and injuries were rife and I saw an opportunity that did not require plenty of capital. I also wanted to contribute to making riding safe” — Entrepreneur Evangeline Wanjiru.
  • “In the past two years, I have trained more than 3,000 motorbike riders,” Wanjiru says.
  • Armed with Sh400,000, Wanjiru registered her business and acquired two motorbikes.

Ms Evangeline Wanjiru was a receptionist at a driving school when she decided to learn how to drive herself.

Little did she know that her driving licence would be a ticket to her own business.
One day an instructor failed to show up and she stepped in to steer the classes.

It is then she realised she could teach and do so well.

The students were surprised at her aptitude in theory lessons and showered her with praise.
“I had attended theory classes and acquired a certificate, I knew them by heart. When bored at my desk, I kept gazing at the road signs and read the driver’s manual,” she says.
“I decided to take up the role (teaching) and that was the beginning of my career as an instructor,” said Wanjiru who holds a diploma in front office and hotel management.
The school transferred her from Nairobi to Gilgil in Nakuru County in 2012 as a branch manager.

OPPORTUNITY
Two years later, the owner of the school decided to close it down and focused on another business.

This was bad news for Wanjiru. Although she had always wanted to go into business, she was not ready yet.

However, she had made some savings. Now that her employer was winding up the driving school, she had no option but to seriously think of venturing into business.
In 2013, she quit the reception job, just before the school was closed down.

She settled on establishing a school to train motorbike riders.
“Cases of motorcycle-related deaths and maiming were many and I saw an opportunity that did not require plenty of capital. I also wanted to contribute to making riding safe,” she recalls.

ATLANTIC DRIVING SCHOOL
Armed with vast experience, she set up Atlantic Driving School at Gilgil town.

However, it was not a walk in the park at first. It took a while for people to warm up to the idea of a riding school as they were of the opinion that you don’t have to go to school to know how to steer a boda boda.

“It was a hard task to convince people especially riders to join classes because most of them said they knew how to ride and had this wrong notion that attending a driving school was a waste of time,” says the mother of three.
With a capital of Sh400,000, she registered her business and acquired two motorbikes.

She also rented two rooms; one was an office and the other a classroom.
In the first month, 10 students registered for classes.

She acted as both the instructor and the director in the school.

“In the first month, I was able to handle the classes on my own since the number was not too big but I later hired two assistants,” she said.

BIG BREAK
Her big break came when she collaborated with the county government of Nakuru to train boda boda riders.

Part of the fees was paid through the Constituency Development Fund.
Currently, she has 12 motorbikes and more than 100 students in the school. She has three instructors.
“In the past two years, I have trained more than 3,000 motorbike riders and facilitated them to get driving licence and road safety tips,” Ms Wanjiru says.
She says boda boda has become a common means of transport overtaking taxis.

CHALLENGES

However, she notes, the business has come with its fair share of challenges.
“There has been increased accidents involving motorbikes with most hospitals setting aside separate wards for victims of such accidents,” she says.
Her school also emphasises the importance of obeying traffic rules.
“Most of the motorbike riders are ignorant and unaware of traffic rules and road safety hence high cases of accidents,” she added.
She charges a fee of Sh6,500 for beginners while experienced riders who need to learn the traffic rules pay Sh5,500.

“There are those who learned riding in some schools only to realise that their licences are invalid. Those pay Sh4,500 to acquire proper licence,” she says.

Wanjiru says she works with the police in conducting tests.

“Our practicals are supervised in collaboration with the traffic police department to make sure the trainee is well-versed and aware of traffic rules before they are granted the license,” adds Wanjiru.
She plans to open more branches in major towns in the country.