This guide will provide you all the necessary information on the various steps to creating an online school. For sure, there is plenty of information on the internet but still, many entrepreneurs or bloggers don’t know where to start. The world is moving towards online education and learning new skills from any part of the globe. The incredible popularity of MOOC and Udemy (with more than 10 million users) is just one example that traditional establishments are no longer the only possible option. Since more and more students are seeking new ways to continue their education from anywhere, universities also started enrolment to their online courses. Moreover, the online learning platform it’s a great idea for a startup or a way to scale your company since this business model is easy to capitalize and generate more profit anytime and anywhere. Evercode Lab has created an online platform for those who offer any kind of educational services. EverCourse platform fully operates online, allows to create an individual training schedule, and has an intuitive and simple interface. If you want to see how the platform works, contact us, and get access to the demo version.
The steps for creating an online school are the following:
1. Initial stage
Try to estimate the potential costs of starting an online school. You have chosen a niche in which you are an expert, and you will teach and create learning materials by yourself? Or you are planning to hire teachers from the beginning?
Firstly, you should select a niche, choose which business goals you want to achieve, conduct marketing research, so you can clearly understand your target audience. Then, describe the product, what and how you are planning to teach in your school. After that, it is necessary to determine where your classes will take place, choose a platform, or create your own website.
2. Select a business model
There are two types of online education business models:
- Standalone course model
- Comprehensive academy model
The first type is focused on one topic. This business model is profitable especially if you are an expert in one topic and want to promote it. But if you are willing to create multiple courses, then the comprehensive academy model is for you. In any case, students usually pay a monthly or yearly fee and are accompanied by tutors. Depending on your capabilities and business goals, you can select any of them that suits you best.
3. Select a learning management system (LMS)
Running an online school means managing multiple tasks such as creating content, audio and video galleries, schedules, documents, etc. LMS helps you keep track of everything, it minimizes the risk of human error, saves time and all the necessary data as well as the progress of your learners. Based on the KPIs, you can make improvements to your platform.
4. Build your website or platform
Usually, business owners hire a team of software developers, however, if you are good at programming, you can customize your own site/platform but also you will need to focus on promotion in social media, integration of the LMS, and building your brand identity. It’s extremely difficult to do everything by yourself, anyway, it’s easier to delegate tasks to a team of professionals (programmer, designer, project manager, SMM expert). Another important thing is adding eCommerce features like buying cources, different payment options, tracking purchases, etc.
5. Promotion
Create a strategy to promote your school to your audience. Use social media to make your online school more visible, start a blog, organize contests. At the initial stages, it’s worth promoting discounts and good subscription offers. Place advertisements on Facebook and Google. Also, integration of notifications (e-mail, subscription notifications, etc.) is usually well-perceived by the audience. For promotion you can use the course structure especially if you are proposing a professional development course. It can be essential to integrate several pedagogical approaches.
6. Analytics
Before launching your startup, make sure that everything works correctly, your website has multiple payment gateways. Check out what your competitors propose, identify new trends and keep tracking your progress.
Now you know all the necessary steps how to start an online school from scratch. These skills will help you to turn your online school into a long-term and profitable business. Contact us if you have any questions left.
