Boom of startups is running right now, in every possible domain. Education too is not behind in this tough fight. Education startups, products, websites are no doubt seeking the attention of the student fraternity, but, concerning point is that they are not sustaining. Owning a business with own rules and team does sound fascinating, especially for those who are at the edge of the college. Same has happened to an undergraduate student Saurabh Singh.
He with his friend planned for an education startup and started the journey to become an entrepreneur. Initially it was all going well, he started reading books, learned to build a website and tiny knowledge for startup. Suarabh had an idea to make a product which he named as ‘ScholarNet’ serving the students for their favorite courses.
Beginning of the website in April 2013 to officially shut it down in June 2015, the two had to learn some very important morals and Suarabh Singh has mentioned to take a note from them in education startups.
Lessons that can help in building right Education Product
Do Market Research
Have an idea?? Do research over it!!
Yes, this is the basic step to come to know startups similar to your ideas, their do’s and Don’ts. Also, if there is already an existing product same as yours, then you need to think again with a twisted mind else drop it.
Planning
Startups are not as easy as to thinking about an idea, successful implementation of that idea is what can be considered as tough. So proper planning should do enough good to gear up the startup. It will take time, so thinking over the idea and making ways to get through it should be pre planned. Who will be the consumers, the stakeholders, the real problem in education system you can relate to, its outline, how it will go etc. Education is really a vast area, before going into it, understanding of every aspect is recommended.
Improvement
To sustain in the market, flexibility is needed so as to make dynamic changes. We can think of education as a nuance because everyone has a different opinion. One person can not decide the product, many people are associated with it. To ensure its seamless working, it should involve every important person, including consumers to find the alterations required at early stage perhaps, this can save the startup product. After all, everyone who invests in the product will get affected by its success or failure.
Grit is must to Sustain
Patience is a must!! Without it you cannot achieve the peak. Well, education is a field where one will not get recognized in one night. Lack of patience will yield in “not so good” product which is not acceptable in startup competition. It has to be unique to survive. In education domain don’t start to get revenues, start only if you wish to make a visible change.
End users should be happy
Most of the startups fail because instead of getting the product checked by real consumers, it is checked by the other involved people. The very noticeable point here is, to take care of the needs of the end users, which is the students. Ultimately they are the one who are going to view it, use it, the source of success of education startups. Giving priority to their need should be the fundamental idea. Get compliments and remarks from your end user after all they are going to pay for you.
Involve all
The product should be beneficial to first and foremost the consumers, then, the stakeholders. As you don’t want to see their invested money being drowned. Investors consider education as a quality product where consumers consider it as a cost product. Both cannot be denied, so the product should be fulfilling possible views of all.
Wait for Revenues
Education has a lot of opportunities, quick growth cannot be seen. Every startup has different field, different mode of money, different investment and different story of success. In the education field, it takes time to mark your presence, far more than other startups. Khan Academy is one of the names doing well, but they are a NGO. 15 – 20 years are required to build something meaningful. People will get to know you if you serve real value.
The Bottom Line
Startups should keep contributing to the society with their unique ideas . All that is needed, is proper knowledge and rigid implementation. Learning from these lessons one will get to know the basics as well as the important phase of startup community especially in the education field.