The COVID-19 pandemic has affected learning in ways that mankind never saw possible. Your typical 8-4 school routine wasn’t the scenario anymore. You could tell your kids that you traveled through mountains, forests, deserts, and whatnot, but nothing would top the story they have now: online learning in the crux of adversity! Since then, the number of e-learning platforms has grown as more people become aware of the various opportunities they offer. E-learning platforms have also turned out to be the most profitable startups in 2022, and this is only a head start compared to what’s on the way for them in 2023. Creating an Ed-Tech startup from scratch may not be the easiest, but a few hacks would help you get an upper hand on it!

Identify the problem

Byju’s started out with workshops intended to help children with their mathematics. This gradually progressed to other subjects over time. Brainly, a startup from Poland, chose to take on the problem of clearing math doubts. You can simply take a picture of your problem or type it out, and Brainly searches for the solution. Brainly would either provide you with the exact solution or a similar question along with its solution! 

So, what problem does your startup hope to solve? What do you think is the need of the hour in the ed-tech sector? Identifying the problem is the first step in your ed-tech startup venture, as this will lay the foundation for your product. This will help you build your product. 

Find your target audience

Once you’ve identified the problem you’re going to solve, you need to check up on the market and industry competitors. The three questions you need to ask yourself are - 

  • How is your product going to solve the market’s problems? 

  • How are your industry competitors fixing the problem?

  • How could you be better at solving this particular problem than the others?

These questions will help you understand what to expect when you dive into the odds. Once you know what you're dealing with, you can figure out what marketing strategy to use and how to deal with sales. The odds will be in your favor! 

Create a unique product

While doing market research, you’ll be able to identify what you could be doing better when compared to your competitors. This is where you stand out from the rest by urging consumers to use your service. This procedure also assists you in determining which platforms are best suited to your app's design, support, performance, and revenue models. If your e-learning application offers a better solution compared to the competition out there and your customer is willing to pay for it, then it’s go time!

P.S - This will also help you write your unique value proposition (UVP)! Grammerly’s UVP is "Great Writing, Simplified." What could be yours? 

Get a strong team

Once you decide on what platform you want your venture in, it’s time to get your building blocks out! These are the people who stand by you and help you bring your vision to life. Diverse ideologies must be encouraged here, as it’s always great to see multiple ideologies and multiple scenarios play out. Make sure your cast has a villain! This will help you identify how different people will react to your product. 

You can hire a mobile or web application development company as well, depending on your needs, to take the weight off your shoulders!

Create a business strategy

Where do you see your venture in 5 years? What are the goals you aim to achieve by then? These are a few questions you’ll be able to answer once you formulate your business strategy. Creating a business strategy helps you track your progress and achieve goals simultaneously. 

Your initial round of testing may involve a user base of 100. Collecting their feedback will help you fine-tune your product before releasing it. Your business strategy will help you find the perfect time to launch and how to stay on track with your customers and your goals.

Secure Funding

Funding is key in an industry where competition is on the rise. There are many ways to find funding. This includes crowdfunding, grants, loans, investors, and bootstrapping. Crowdfunding is just what it sounds like. A large number of people put in small contributions to your business venture with the hope that they strike gold once your product takes off. Grants are provided by both governmental and non-governmental organizations to help you kick off your product. You could also get loans, which wouldn’t be recommended as much since the risk factor is high. Many investors are looking for ed-tech businesses to invest in as it's considered a sure-shot thanks to the major successes of many ventures. Here, the salesperson in you must be able to convince investors that your product is worth investing in! Bootstrapping means putting some of your own money into your venture. This would mean total control; however, the risk factor if the business fails is high here too. 

So many sources of funding, but what would suit your product best? It's all up to you!

Whatever floats your boat

An ed-tech product, if created and marketed in the right manner, has immense potential, thanks to the ever-accepting audience of today. Consistency and staying true to the ideology of your brand are keys to making your product viable for consumers out there. However, what makes your product unique can only be determined by your personal touches. So, what do you think could be your secret formula?