Whenever we start to think of a new project inside our business it is important to weigh the costs and resources against the potential benefits and revenue to see if it is a good idea. The online course industry has seen rapid growth. COVID has played a part in many people starting to take online courses during lockdowns. Platforms such as Udemy, Teachable and Kajabi have become increasingly popular.
In this context, many small business owners have seen an opportunity to participate and add a passive income source to their assets. However, is it really a good idea to create an online course or is it just gonna waste your time and money and not bring the results you expect? This is what I want to talk to you about.
What is your business model now?
First things first. Every business is different, so there isn’t one single piece of advice that will apply to everyone. Let’s start by examining your business. If you are currently conducting one-on-one training with people that is duplicatable, then a course might save you time. If you are constantly having calls where you are just repeating the same information over and over again, you might consider recording it once and sell it as a course.
On the other hand, if your one-on-one work is highly customized it might not be beneficial to build and sell a course. Building a course takes time and if you don’t have the skill/resources to do it all on your own it will also take money. If what you do is highly customizable then your client’s needs most likely will not be met with a general course. Producing content that has no value is a waste of your money and valuable time.
Of course, life is not in black and white. It is possible that you have a hybrid situation where some of what you offer can be duplicatable and adding a course element might save you some time. You can build a course that teaches the basics and explains the items that are constant that you are repeating to all of your clients and still offer one-on-one support for the things that are specific to each person. This would reduce the number of points of contact which in turn frees your time to work on other projects, take on more clients or just do other things that aren’t work-related.
Reasons to build a course
There are plenty of reasons to build a course. If building a course fits with your business model and the goals you are tackling then there are many benefits. One of the first things that come to mind is the possibility of recurring passive income. Building sources of income other than direct clients allows you to create additional stable and reliable income.
An online course can also mean more value to exist clients. For example, your clients might want to purchase your course to use inside their business as a team training tool. For others, the extra support material can help supplement the content they have learned from their one-on-one time with you. It can also be a great cost-effective offer for clients who aren’t financially ready to invest in one-on-one customized programs.
Let’s revisit the idea of passive income. Online courses are a great way to build a business that is more “hands-off”. It allows you to be able to “walk away” from your business from time to time knowing that you will still have a stable and reliable source of income. This is even more true if you have multiple courses on the same subject. This allows your audience to purchase and progress to new levels.
Time needs to be spent
Now let’s talk about the resources that go into building a course. There is a lot of time that goes into the process of creating a course. The first thing you’ll have to do is decide what to teach. This is easier for some industries than others. Take time to research demand, competition and to brainstorm ideas of how you can innovate and provide value with your course.
Once you know what you are teaching and have gathered ideas it is time to create the course outline. This is where you will define the learning outcomes, break down the course and decide how many modules/classes will you build. Some people like to have many small classes while others like to have a few larger ones.
After creating the outline and preparing everything you’ll need to teach, you are ready to record the audio/video for your course. This might include creating graphics/slides or other support material. You might need to research and buy equipment. The next step is editing the audio/video. This is quite a time-consuming task, if you don’t want to do this yourself you can usually find good freelancers at websites like Fiverr at reasonable prices.
The next task on your list would be choosing the right system to host your course on. There are many platforms that provide different types of support. Some demand exclusivity of the content while others don’t. Some platforms have better search engines while others you need to rely more on your own marketing strategies. Make sure to do your research to find what works best for you. I like to use Membervault because it gives me the flexibility and I own all of my content.
When everything is set up it is time to launch! Though this is the last step, it is one of the most important ones. Without a good campaign, you might have an excellent product with NO visibility. If people don’t know that your course exists they can’t buy it!
It takes money to build a course
Besides the time, you will also have to spend some money. How much it will cost depends on how much you can do on your own and the complexity of the course you are wanting to produce. Remember even the most basic courses will require some equipment and a hosting system. Do you have the right equipment to create the videos and audios or do you need to buy a new camera or microphone? Think about those things beforehand so you don’t have any unpleasant surprises.
Most course hosting platforms will charge you to host your course with them. This is a cost you have to prepare for in the long term. If your course system of choice is “free forever” be careful to read the fine print, especially the part about who owns the content that you are placing on their system. Also, keep in mind that hosting your videos/audios will need to be done for a fee. Some systems include this in their pricing and for others, it needs to be hosted somewhere else entirely.
There will be options along the way for you to outsource some of the tasks you need to do to create your course. I had mentioned that you might want to outsource editing, but that’s not the only service available. You might outsource graphic creation. Instead of buying equipment, you could hire a specialist to record you. If you are not strong in marketing it might be a good idea to hire a company to do your launch or even get a sales specialist to join your team.
Will this be the right choice for your business?
Only you can decide if this idea is a good addition to your business. Let me ask you a few questions to help you decide.
Will the costs of time and money provide a return on investment (ROI) that is significant enough to justify the expense of time and money?
Will taking on this new project take time away from other things in your business that would hinder your business growth?
Is this something that was already in your yearly plan or are you adding it on now? If it was already in your plan then make sure you have enough time and resources available to execute in the time you want. You may need to adjust timelines to accommodate..
If this wasn’t in your yearly plan,but it is something you are seriously considering then I encourage you to go back to your yearly plan and see what you will have to put to the side in order to get this project started instead. You may find that this is something that you can’t get started this year, but you can put it into your next year’s plan.
Looking for support?
In the Rockstar Mastermind, I help small business owners to be the star of their own stage. I provide continuous support on how to use systems, plan your business and decide what steps to take next. I am a strong believer in giving my client what THEY need and not what I think they need. In the Rockstar you have space to speak up about topics such as what you want to learn about and troubles you are currently facing in your business. Click here to learn more.