Many people lost their jobs in 2020 while others realized that more and more jobs can be done from the comfort of one?s home. If you?ve decided that the nine-to-five office work is no longer for you, you might be looking for an alternative. Perhaps you?ve never thought about teaching until a global pandemic happened but if you have a skill or vast knowledge you can share, why not make a profit doing it? However, starting from scratch can oftentimes be scary so to help you out, we?ve made a handy guide of the things you should know if you plan on starting an eLearning business.
Know your audience and competition
When starting any business, it?s essential that you understand who your target audience is. Who are the people that might want to learn your skills? Are they willing to pay money for it? Then, of course, you need their demographics, i.e. their age and location, as well as what they expect to gain from your classes. Furthermore, knowing who your competitors are is also important. Do they offer the same type of content? How are their classes structured? What are they charging for their services? Are their clients satisfied? Is there something that you can do that will set you apart from the crowd? Answering all these questions will help you see if your business has potential.
Decide on a business model
The next thing you need to cover is the business model. There are two typical approaches to eLearning: academy and night-school. The former is great for experts that offer a range of skills in one niche. In this approach, your clients will pay a monthly fee and get access to all the content you share at once. However, the academy model might be a bit difficult as you constantly need to be producing new content. On the other hand, the night-school model might be better for a beginner as you will only have a one-off course that the users will pay for only once. Additionally, you will need to register your business with the government so that you can pay taxes and see whether you require any licenses.
Find the best platform
With the business set up, it?s time to decide on the platform you will be using for your eLearning business. One approach is looking for an established platform that can host your courses, no matter if you want a single course or a few. Quality platforms nowadays offer various features that will make the whole process of uploading lessons and interacting with students easy. Alternatively, you can look for a professional that will help you build your own website and platform that you can use for this purpose. This might be the best way to have a clean UI/UX.
Develop your courses
While all the above-listed steps are crucial, you cannot overlook creating quality courses. If you don?t offer anything of substance, you will not be able to keep the audience interested. So, decide how many lessons you will be dividing the course into and if you?ll be releasing them all at once or weekly. How do you plan on testing your students? Will you give them some learning materials so that they can follow the lessons easier? Every once in a while, you could do a survey so that you can see how you can adjust your approach and make it better for your students.
Obtain quality materials
If you intend on providing your students with learning materials, you can make your own. However, you need to keep in mind that this can be time- and effort-consuming. Instead, you can find quality RTO materials online and save a lot of time. To make teaching easier, download and modify the materials you need for your course and distribute them among your students so that they can follow the course and prepare for the exam.
Set the right prices
You also have to set your prices. If you?ve done your research, you know how much your rivals are charging so you want to set competitive prices. When forming the fees, take into account how much you want to earn on a monthly basis. You want to be able to cover rent, overhead costs, taxes, and have enough to treat yourself on occasion. By figuring out how many students you might attract every month, you should be able to calculate what your prices should be. Don?t forget to offer multiple payment options.
Remember to invest in marketing
Lastly, as it?s important to attract your target audience, you need to promote your business. Create profiles on different social media platforms and decide if you want to pay for ads. Ask friends to share your profile. Consider starting a blog and sending a newsletter. Moreover, you should also ask for testimonials from satisfied customers.
If you?ve decided to start your own eLearning business, keep in mind that it can?t be a success overnight. You will need to put in plenty of effort in order to attract an audience but once you do, it can be the best decision you ever made.
Mike is an Australian business consulting specialist. He?s working with companies that outsource their IT maintenance. He often writes about technology, business and marketing and is a regular contributor on several websites.
