Having accumulated a wealth of knowledge in an organization, managers are looking for ways to make it available to employees in a meaningful way. We see a plethora of eLearning organizations springing up to respond to these needs.
It’s a lucrative, but a competitive eLearning market out there! Without the right eLearning business model, your eLearning venture may sink before it launches!
In this article, we will share with you some best practices in developing the right eLearning business model for your eLearning organization.
So, you have finally decided to test the eLearning business waters. You have researched the market trends of eLearning offering organizations and you feel you can offer better eLearning products to the market. Congratulations on this noble idea!
Let’s help you make it a successful reality. If you don’t have a business model, then it’s never too late. Simply apply our strategy to your eLearning venture.
If you already have an eLearning business model, then compare yours with ours. Share any additions you made in the comments section, or any new points you can share. Sharing is caring!
Before you begin working on your new eLearning business organization, determine a list of knowledge, learning needs and wants of a typical organization. What has been frustrating people in the presence or absence of an eLearning program? What are the gaps in eLearning offerings? What kind of eLearning programs are more in demand?
Also, make a note of the groups of learners you would be serving. Are they large in size, geographically distributed and/or what is their level of expertise? Are there any culture and language considerations required for your learners? Get to know your learners well in order to study your target market.
Once you have defined the target market and its segments for your eLearning organization, begin developing your business model. Your goal is to determine what makes you unique and stand-out in comparison to your competitors.
The journal MERLOT (Journal of Online Learning and Teaching) is rife with research findings that suggest core strategies to develop an eLearning business model.
Here are the latest on an eLearning business model development. Answer these questions to define your eLearning program offering:
- Define your target market and its segments. What is your relationship with your customers (learners within the target market):
- Will you be serving all the members of the target market or a subset?
- What makes you unique: in what situations will your target market turn to you for their eLearning needs?
- How competitive is your selling strategy? What factors will drive your customers to your business?
- Are your courses all about purchase-and-download-eLearning-programs? Or, do you have eLearning facilitators that will interact directly with course participants?
- Define the scope of your eLearning courses:
- What content area will you be focusing on?
- What content would be beyond your scope?
- Who are your competitors?
- What is the frame of reference used in your courses? For example, which country and economics are your courses based on?
- What is the deciding factor that makes your customers/learners choose your eLearning organization?
- Define the value you will provide your learners. A value not present in the market.
- What values are you NOT providing?
- What existing eLearning frustrations are you addressing?
- How will the learners be affected from your eLearning offerings?
- What is your secret success factor? Something that will be hard for the competitors to copy.
- What are the distinguishing factors that set you apart in the market?
- Why can’t these factors be copied?
- Define the factors of your eLearning development and implementation process that bring profits.
- Define effective methods to develop eLearning programs.
- Effective methods to market your eLearning program.
- How will you keep your courses current – content and technology included?
- Define strategies to learn about current learner needs.
Developing an eLearning business model early in your organizational development process is crucial to its success. Simply define these parameters orf your eLearning business and you can be on your way to sell online courses.
And do consider creating a web presence for your new eLearning venture.
No matter how good your organization is in terms of skills and experience to develop the right eLearning courses, without an insightful eLearning business model, you cannot go too far.
A strong business model will enable you to focus on the desired target market and improve your eLearning offerings to satisfy them. Apply these five questions to your model to get started or to steer your business in the right direction.
Good luck!
