Increasingly, there are reports of the emergence of a startup in the field of education, and many of them are achieving considerable success. Investors willingly invest their money in them, since they have no doubt in the demand for such socially useful projects. However, many new beginnings in this area are in no way connected with the Internet and at the same time are no less promising. Further we will consider some of them.
So, if you are a teacher with extensive experience, a psychologist, a specialist in any field of the humanities or exact sciences, or maybe you just have successful achievements that you created specifically for your children and tried them, it’s worth considering that if you do not create a business in this area, then at least turn your experience and knowledge into an additional source of income. First you need to decide what exactly is the result of your intellectual work. There are many options here. First of all, it can be a whole author’s course with methodological and educational materials, individual manuals in various disciplines, educational board games, cards (for example, for teaching children according to the Doman method or for learning foreign languages), etc.
At the next stage, decide on the target audience - for children of what age your project is intended. According to opinion polls, most parents invest money and time in the education of preschool children. Someone is guided by theories of early development, where the principle “the sooner the better” is proclaimed, someone intensively prepares the child for school and first grade, someone just sitting at home with the baby tries to give him everything free time with maximum benefit. Moreover, after a child enters school, the views of parents on their additional education often change. They delegate most of the responsibilities for educating children to school teachers, limiting themselves to helping with homework. Many still continue to take their children to additional classes in foreign languages and / or to sports sections, but practically stop doing something with their child at home that is not part of the current school curriculum. This situation persists in high school. Only for graduation classes parents hire tutors to prepare their children for passing the exam and entering universities.
Thus, if your product is intended for children of primary and secondary school age, consider the need for large investments in its promotion in advance. Equally important is the form of training. It is likely that the student’s parents will buy him a game or a book that will help him develop certain skills and gain new knowledge in school subjects. But if this manual is boring and looks like school books, you should not count on positive reviews and repeat purchases.
Suppose you already have some ideas, and perhaps even a carefully thought-out concept of a future manual or game. What to do next? And then you will need to make a "prototype" and test it on your target audience. Prepare an example version of a game or manual, print it on a printer and test it on your children and children of acquaintances, listen to all the reviews and tips, and then think about whether it is possible and necessary to change and supplement something in your “prototype”. If your project has received universal approval, the children were delighted with the classes, and adults are lining up to buy your training materials, begin to consider options for implementation. The choice depends on several factors. Of great importance is whether your game or manual is a “finished” option or on its basis you can prepare a series of equally interesting materials (and preferably on various topics).
Prepare a description of your project, consider what you need to launch it in production. For example, if we are talking about a board game, then you may need cards, a playing field, chips, a cube, etc. Now think about how you can ... simplify and, therefore, reduce the cost of the kit. Currently, in our country there are several publishers that produce children's educational board games (mathematical, logical, didactic, speech therapy, philological, etc.). The average retail price of one game (usually a card with or without a playing field) is 400-500 p. Publishing more expensive children's games (as opposed to games intended for adult players) is irrational. Parents do not want to spend more than 500 p. for the game, even if it’s useful. At the same time, the quality of your materials should be high, otherwise they will not withstand even a few games.
Finding a trade-off between quality and price is not easy. This is best done by simplifying the composition of the game as much as possible. Thick cards with high-quality printing in a cardboard box will cost half to two times cheaper than playing with small elements (chips, tokens, transparent windows, etc.). Well, if you yourself know how to draw, or you have a friend artist who agrees to draw pictures for you for a small fee. In any case, the images should match the content of your manual or game. If it claims to be scientific and is intended for older children, it is unlikely that cartoon-style pictures are suitable as illustrations. Conversely, a game for primary school children with realistic images or photographs may seem too boring (of course, in this case there are some exceptions).
Ideally, your manual should not only be as simple and inexpensive to produce as possible. First of all, it should be convenient to use. If we are talking about the game, take care of the availability of a convenient box for storing all components, consider the size of the cards (they should be convenient for a child’s hand, have rounded corners, not glare in the light, etc.). The same requirement applies to ordinary books. For example, if you are going to publish now popular children's prescriptions, coloring books, creative albums for drawing, you should not do them by gluing, even if it will cost less than the usual binding. The glued book does not unfold completely (or unfold, but with loss of pages), and it will be inconvenient for the child to work with it and in it. Such, at first glance, little things can ruin the whole impression of your product.
Carefully study the experience of other manufacturers of similar materials in our country and abroad, but not in order to copy or borrow, but to understand the preferences of buyers of similar products. Among the Russian companies that produce educational board games for children, one can name the ANO TSOTR Rebus, Simple Rules, and A Gang of Wise Men. There are book publishers, in the assortment of which there are games (though usually of poor quality) and other educational materials (sets of cards, posters, etc.). Competition in this segment of “tricks” is still small, which does not mean at all that there is no demand for such goods.
At the next stage, you need to decide whether you will publish your manuals yourself or choose the option of cooperation with existing publishers. It all depends on whether you have start-up capital for publishing materials at your own expense, their implementation and promotion. If so far you have only one more or less clear idea about what you can offer people, there are no available funds and, most importantly, no experience in publishing and selling printed materials, it is best to contact your publisher with your own ideas. And most likely, not one dozen publishers. Prepare a relatively detailed description (if you are talking about a game) or content (if you are working on a book) and send them to publishers. It will be easier to interest publishers with a game than a book, especially if you have a prototype and all the necessary material, including illustrations.
Many authors are concerned about the issue of preserving copyrights to their product, so they prefer to contact only major publishers. Unfortunately, the size of the publisher and its favorable reputation are not a guarantee that your game will not be published by him in a sufficiently modified form so that it is not possible to accuse them of theft. As you know, the mechanics and idea of a board game is not subject to copyright. And pictures and text in most cases can be changed without loss of meaning. If you are lucky, your game or manuals, teaching materials or the whole course will be published and promoted and distributed through the largest retail chains. You will receive some reward for your invention, get acquainted with some aspects of publishing and, most importantly, get a name. Among the owners of Russian companies that publish their manuals or games, there are many that started with cooperation with book or specialized publishers, and then separated from them, starting to independently publish and sell their developments.
If from the very beginning you consider your ideas as the basis for your own business, collect start-up capital or look for investors. According to the most conservative estimates, printing and selling one set of such materials (a game or training game manuals) will require at least 250-300 thousand rubles. Finding partners for the sale of finished products will also be difficult. Large stores (network and regular) are extremely reluctant to take the products of small publishers and, especially, enthusiastic authors. Therefore, at first you will have to spend a lot of effort, time and money participating in various exhibitions, sending out your materials to receive feedback (do not forget to post these reviews on your website), looking for partners in the regions, offering benefits directly through kindergartens and schools. One small publishing house, which began its existence with a capital of 100 thousand rubles, reached the level of self-sufficiency in the very first month of work, offering its materials (mainly educational games) to parent committees in kindergartens and schools for various holidays. However, on your own with this format of work you can’t do it; you will have to look for reliable partners in the regions who will agree with educational institutions on the presentation of your materials for a certain percentage. In addition, many consider this promotion method not ethical enough (for example, if the heads, educators and teachers of educational institutions are interested in the implementation of benefits, having their own percentage).
As one of the most effective methods for promoting and increasing the recognition of such educational games, the developers call ... blogs and specialized sites devoted to board games, child education, home education and other topics that are relevant to your projects. By the way, it is on the Internet (including blogs in the LiveJournal) that publishers are looking for new authors. You should not lay out all your ideas in a detailed presentation, but high-quality photographs, examples of individual pages or elements, a description of the work on them and practical experience working with them will attract a lot of attention of people interested in buying. Take part in toy stores, apply for cooperation with development centers (they can not only conduct classes using your materials, but also sell them to interested parents), agree on the delivery of allowances to specialized stores for developing goods for children.
What profit can be expected? When organizing your own company, be prepared for the fact that it will begin to bring its first profit no sooner than after 1-1.5 years of work. Throughout the first year (and often more) all the money earned from the sale of your benefits, you will invest in further development. Indeed, in this case, one and only game will not be limited. This is a difficult job, but creative, very interesting and, most importantly, useful. With a competent approach, good ideas and good marketing, profits can range from 200 thousand rubles a month (assuming work for the whole country, and not for one region).
Sysoeva Lilia
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