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Online educational platforms bring the learning to the comfort of your home and enable you to learn in the most optimized way. Entrepreneurs who start such platforms risk a lot of factors that go into making such a platform the best there is out there. The situation is better because of some Govt. of India campaigns.
Basic things you need to know before starting an online educational platform
There are so many pros, and cons of such start-ups and not every one of them will make it to the successful side. A few things you need to know before you plan to start such an online educational platform is given in the following quick guide:
Basic decisions
- Niche: Find your niche. When you become the owner or the employer, you need to start taking many decisions in the form of budget, profit, income and employee salary. Making all these decisions is crucial to the success of your start-up.
- Idea: The idea of the platform also is a huge contributor to your success. Find out what the people around you need. If your state has multiple platforms for IIT-JEE teaching and next to zero platforms for IES coaching, then you’d obviously be better off teaching IES to students than the former.
- Your Choice: There are so many competitive exams like in the above example. You must even decide which one suits your start-up idea. If you go for IAS coaching, then you need to make decisions about what kind of students to accept as it is a very tough exam to crack and by taking up mediocre students or those who are not interested in it but are being forced by their parents, you will be at blame in the end. IAS is a competitive exam conducted by the UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) by which you can enter a civil service post.
Financial decisions
- Budget: Not only the idea, but you must also see your own In the example above, IIT coaching is not sensible. But, when we extend the above example as multiple platforms for IIT-JEE coaching which will cost you the same amount as you have for your budget and CAT coaching, which are available only few, whose investment will be twice the amount of your budget, then you need to make stronger and more complicated choices.
- The budget issue is the deal breaker. In this case, you might choose to take upon IIT coaching and try to become the best there is. Because budget should never be compromised with.
- If you instead start a CAT coaching, then you might be in debt or loan from the very start of your start-up, which is a highly risky business. However, this can be a marketing strategy if you can pay back the loans within no time because of the huge success of your platform.
- Scrutinise the source of your budget- If it is a bank that is funding you then make sure the bank has a good return policy and the lowest interest rates. If it is a known loaner, then make sure you take the best options to benefit you in the end.
Management decisions
- By deciding the size and budget of your start-up, you will understand how many and what kind of employees you need in it. You need website developers, and depending on the size of your website, customer care support which the customers can call if there are any doubts about the platform.
- You need to make decisions about cybersecurity, best assistance given to the customers and if you need, field agents that can go to the customers and explain their process and clear any doubts they face.
- When you go ahead and find yourself the teachers that are willing to make online video tutorials or if it is a one-on-one student-teacher platform, accordingly; then you must know how the teachers expect their salaries. Usually, such online teachers want to be paid on an hourly basis. Make sure you please the teachers as well as take care of your budget.
Marketing decisions
- Firstly, when you start the start-up, advertising is all that matters. Don’t stick to one form of advertising and use the tried and tested methods. Be unique and think of ideas that stand out from the rest and make you noticeable among people. This is what will earn you more customers at the end of the day. You could also look into GK & Partners to help with your marketing and PR.
- Give starting discounts for the first 30, 50 or x number of applicants. Advertise these discounts; give bonuses and all sorts of attractive marketing policies for your customers to like you.
- Don’t put anything that the parents may not like on your pamphlet. If you are dealing with 11th or 12th standard kids who are just going to choose their future with their choices, then don’t paint a vast picture of career choices within your advertising. This will confuse the students more and be scoffed at by parents. Only propel your course forward by making it sound like the best and popular choice among students.
- There are also many free courses available online which can be a huge competition for you. In this case, it matters how you present yourself and what that extra thing you are giving the customers that will benefit them in the future.
With the above-mentioned points in mind, embark on your journey to success with an idea of your choice.
