Currently, in the Russian Federation, the sphere of education is gradually developing. The state finally began to some extent support entrepreneurs who provide educational services, and although there is no need to talk about real freedom of enterprise, positive trends can already be noted. In parallel with this, new technologies are being developed, according to which training takes place, and today the format of distance learning is becoming more widespread. It is believed that this is ineffective, but statistics suggest the opposite, and now even higher educational institutions often offer their students the opportunity to study remotely with a teacher. Of course, not only higher education can be obtained in this way, many courses of professional and not only training allow you to master new knowledge. In this regard, we can talk about the emergence of a relatively new, but already recognized type of entrepreneurship - distance education courses. In the case of proper business organization, this direction has very good prospects for its development.
In the market today it is easy to find educational programs in very large areas. This includes absolutely no official courses, such as culinary or similar disciplines, and serious courses aimed at transferring knowledge of professional education. In fact, you can offer anything you want, the main thing is that there is a demand for it.
A novice entrepreneur is forced to compete with absolutely all the players on the market, because it is possible to conduct training in this form from anywhere in the world, covering customers from different countries. Of course, most of the work is carried out domestically, but if, based on the results of the courses, it is not intended to issue any official diplomas or certificates, then citizens of other countries, especially the post-Soviet space, can also pass them. If the courses are taught in English, then the possibilities are greatly expanded. In general, it is still relatively simple to find a niche, but only in certain areas of education there is already a steady demand, and in other areas this demand will have to be formed. A novice entrepreneur should immediately determine the list of services, choose the direction of his activity, evaluate the work of competitors, and after that it is advisable to take up only one or a few areas of education. The most difficult thing is to start work in the field of higher, additional professional education and the like.
To get started, you need to register as a business entity. However, commercial activity is only suitable if the company is engaged in vocational training, preschool education, additional general education and to implement additional professional educational programs. That is, you can’t open your own school, for example, on the basis of a commercial enterprise - only NPOs. But to conduct training in any discipline is quite possible. It is best to choose a form of limited liability company. Individual entrepreneurs have the right to engage in commercial educational activities only if they directly engage in it, without involving other teachers. In other words, you can take shape as an IP by law only if the entrepreneur himself wants to become a tutor. It should be noted that until recently, businessmen were even deprived of these opportunities, all educational activity was possible only on the basis of a non-profit organization.
The activity itself falls under the definition of (OKPD 2) 85.31 Vocational training services or one of the group encodings (OKPD 2) 85 Educational services. In general, the state has precisely defined the list of licensed activities, and if the entrepreneur is engaged in other educational activities, then he will not have to obtain any licenses. This list:
1. Implementation of the basic general educational program of preschool education.
2. Implementation of the basic general education program of primary general education.
3. Implementation of the basic general education program of basic general education.
4. Implementation of the basic general education program of secondary general education.
5. Implementation of the main vocational educational program of secondary vocational education - the training program for skilled workers and employees.
6. Implementation of the main vocational educational program of secondary vocational education - the training program for mid-level specialists.
7. Implementation of the basic professional educational program of higher education - undergraduate program.
8. Implementation of the basic professional educational program of higher education - specialty programs.
9. The implementation of the basic professional educational program of higher education - the master's program.
10. The implementation of the basic professional educational program of higher education - the program for the training of scientific and pedagogical personnel in graduate school (adjunct).
11. Implementation of the basic professional educational program of higher education - residency program.
12. The implementation of the basic professional educational program of higher education - the program of assistant-internship.
13. Implementation of the main vocational training program - vocational training programs for the professions of workers, positions of employees.
14. Implementation of the main vocational training program - retraining programs for workers and employees.
15. Implementation of the main vocational training program - advanced training programs for workers and employees.
16. Implementation of additional general educational programs - additional general developmental programs.
17. Implementation of additional general educational programs - additional pre-professional programs.
18. Implementation of additional professional continuing education programs.
19. Implementation of additional professional vocational retraining programs.
It is by focusing on this list that you can determine your next steps. If your activity does not fall under the definition of a list, you can immediately proceed to the stage of organizing a business. If it is in this list, then you need to get a license. To begin with, the educational council draws up an educational program plan that must be transferred to the Ministry of Education. The plan should take into account absolutely everything - from the direct indication of the taught knowledge to the technical side of the issue, that is, how the training will be conducted.
Again, thanks to the adopted Resolution of October 28, 2013 No. 966, distance education has now received legal status, because previously there was not a single wording that would allow working remotely with students. The fee for obtaining a license is 6 thousand rubles, however, in case of uncertainty, you can contact special companies that are involved in assistance in obtaining licenses. They will help to draw up and collect documents correctly, but their services cost on average no less than 50 thousand rubles, and sometimes they can cost 2-3 times more expensive.
When the license is obtained, you can proceed to the next step. However, there is such a thing as accreditation, through which you can issue diplomas and state certificates. Actually, its passage is primarily for universities and schools, but if an entrepreneur just wants to open courses that are aimed exclusively at training, and not at issuing "crusts", then he will not need accreditation. In fact, it is students who need accreditation, because without it, an entrepreneur can, but cannot, issue state-standard documents at the same time. He actually doesn’t care, but a person who has completed training may need such a document. In general, accreditation is needed only for universities that offer distance learning, including for schools, and they can get it only when the first graduation of students occurs. That is, the first groups of students in any case will graduate from an unaccredited institution.
When all the formalities are settled, you can start organizing your business. Currently, distance learning takes place in most cases on the basis of a distance learning system, which includes a huge number of factors. First of all, this is special software that allows students to negotiate with the teacher via the Internet (in other words, organize webinars). It will have to allocate a lot of money and hire a whole staff of programmers, because you can’t get by with just the site and installing the Skype program. The cost of implementing a distance learning system varies depending on a large number of factors, this includes not only support for negotiations, but also the placement of materials, providing access to testing, storing databases, catalogs, and much more. The price is also affected by the number of students, the more they are, the more expensive, but more profitable when converted to one person.
The minimum cost of using the distance learning system is about two and a half million rubles a year, you can find more advantageous offers, but then there may be problems with the quality of the services offered. Of course, not every company can afford to pay for such a system, some decide to develop their own, but in this case it will be necessary to keep a large staff of programmers who create the system and then provide its support. In the long run, this is much more profitable, because the developed LMS can subsequently be put on the market, which will become a source of additional income, and monthly maintenance will be generally cheaper.
If you don’t have the money either for your programmers and the development of your SDO, or for service in a third-party organization, then you can do it a little easier - just work through your website and via Skype. But is it worth saying then that no one will seriously take such an office, and it will remain at the level of inexpensive tutoring?
It may also be necessary to take care of your representation, especially for educational institutions that issue certificates, diplomas and other letters. Still, the client should be able to personally visit the office of the company in which he is studying, regardless of what they teach him: higher school of economics or the basics of sewing lambs. Many companies even combine distance learning with the standard, conducting lectures and seminars in their representative offices, but at the same time working remotely with people from other cities.
Depending on the format of work and the room is selected, it can be a small office, or a whole building with many blocks. Just do not forget that in the process of obtaining an educational license you need to transfer information about the available capacities, and at the same time all this is taken into account and directly affects the possibility of obtaining a license. For example: if students will visit the office for the sake of training, then they should be provided with all the conditions for a comfortable pastime. Therefore, it is often easiest to work just like an office, which, if in contact with clients live, is only for administrative and organizational matters.
An important point is the selection of your team. If the courses will be a full-fledged training with the issuance of certificates, then you need to find people who have the appropriate knowledge and qualifications. That is, it should be professors or people who are engaged in full-fledged scientific and pedagogical activities. For courses in simpler disciplines, it is enough to find only masters of their craft who are able to share their experience and knowledge with people. We must not forget that the training format is somewhat non-standard, so not even every specialist in his field will be able to conduct the learning process and find an approach to each student remotely. It is advisable to find people who already have experience in similar work. The entrepreneur himself, if he is a teacher himself, can take not only a leadership position, but also take part in the learning process. It will also require people for administrative positions. All business processes that are not related to profit-making by an organization can be outsourced.
To find your customers, you will have to spend a lot of effort, time and money on conducting an advertising campaign. To work, in any case, you will have to create your own website, so it makes sense to order not only its development, but also promotion. To do this, you will have to allocate several tens of thousands of rubles (up to hundreds), but in the end the site will be one of the first when searching through search engines, which will positively affect the business. Further, information about yourself needs to be posted on all thematic portals, on social networks, to pay for promotion there, actively seek and work with clients yourself, if necessary, contact companies that are looking for “warm clients” (the so-called lead management).
We must not forget about the correct development of the concept, today the client has a good choice, so he should be attracted with something special, something that the competitors do not have or are poorly developed. For higher education - this is the notorious accreditation, interesting specialties, good teaching staff, additional programs and bonuses; for simple courses - this is a fascinating learning process, non-standard techniques and methods in work, the possibility of practical application of the acquired knowledge in life. To offer people something completely new, you must first conduct a marketing research in order to know how relevant the proposal is.
In general, the risks associated with an innovative product are an order of magnitude higher, but if successful, you can occupy an empty niche and be the first in the market to, especially at the first time of work, pick up all the possible customers. Today, training can be carried out in absolutely any direction, from learning Farsi to courses on making papier-mâché crafts. You can find your consumer for everything, the main thing is to convey to him the opportunity to learn.
Such a business has enough prospects to deal with it, but the direction of distance learning is constantly evolving, and today it is necessary to invest a lot of money in offering a competitive product to consumers. In this regard, the amount of start-up capital is usually several million rubles, although small courses, when the teacher really communicates with students through simple programs, can be opened for relatively little money. Only now the client is becoming more and more finicky. This type of entrepreneurship can also be the development of an existing one, based on the provision of educational services. For all this, such a thing is quite interesting and exciting for the businessman himself.
Matthias Laudanum
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08/18/2019