VFR800
Buy your own plane (the absolute very best thing), or if you can't afford it try to form a group with a few other keen pilots, and buy a plane between yourselves.
It's the ONLY way if you want to do any real flying. Nearly all the people who are limited to self fly hire pack it in not long after getting their PPL.
You are right, most schools are run by people who could not run a p****p in a brewery, but there are deeper problems in this game which ensure that even a well run business would not make money in the majority of locations.