14/01/2022
10. Online courses and workshops
Business type: Product based
Effort: High
Leverage: High
Startup costs (out of 5 💸): 💸
Earning potential (out of 5 💰): 💰💰💰💰
Creating a truly great online course is tough. You need to know the ins and outs of a specific subject and then have the skill (and dedication) to codify that knowledge and either write or record your best advice for customers. And, of course, you need to successfully market the course once it’s made—often the most difficult part of all.
There’s a reason online courses have a pretty broad appeal, though. Once a course is created, it accrues all of the benefits of any digital product: the costs to deliver the product to more customers is essentially zero, with the exception of hosting. Compare that to the need to maintain inventory that all physical product businesses face and you’ll find yourself dealing with fewer product-related headaches as you scale.
The appetite for digital courses and continuing education is there, too. That’s why sites like Udemy and Skillshare are thriving. Your biggest hurdle is actually the web itself, where there are thousands of wonderful resources available for free. And content on every topic is getting better by the day.
