eLearning is one of the quickest growing industries globally, not to mention its spike in popularity after the COVID-19 pandemic. The worldwide school closure and social distancing opened up lucrative opportunities for edTech businesses. With the massive demand for eLearning, there is no better time than now for startups to invest in the online education sector.

Even after the effects of the pandemic subside, the demand and opportunities for eLearning would still be the same. This is because learners have become aware and accustomed to the convenience and flexibility associated with education on the go. 

Popular eLearning business models

An eLearning business model is a framework that serves as a guide for your eLearning business to make money. It defines the long term goals of your business and the value it offers to the audience. 

We have put together two successful business models for you:

The night school model

This classic business model is inspired by night classes at local community colleges. Back in the day, people used to visit night colleges to learn new skills and pay for the classes individually. The night school model is a flexible business model that suits businesses of all sizes and shapes. However, the model is best for the following type of eLearning businesses:

New online tutoring brands

If you are rolling out trial classes or online courses to get feedback from your target learners, the night school model can be a great fit. You can receive learners’ reactions and make money at the same time.

Large enterprises

If you are a large business looking to sell online course programs of high price, implementing this business model can be great to make money. 

For example, if your online courses are priced at $2000+, selling a few courses can bring in a good amount of revenue.

eLearning brands running online courses

Businesses running online courses alone can benefit from the night school model.

Advantages

  • Create and sell a broad range of eLearning products at a high price.
  • Easier to create online courses in inexpensive formats like PDFs.
  • Online courses are evergreen as once uploaded on the course platform, they keep on generating revenue. 

Disadvantages

  • No recurring visits and payments as no subscription fee is attached.
  • Creating multiple courses is time-intensive and takes a lot of effort.
  • To make great sales, you will constantly have to launch and relaunch self-paced courses.

Academy business model

The academy business model works like a comprehensive online school where learners can access all the essential skills they need to reach specific goals. Online schools running on this business model host various videos, courses, and learning resources. Students receive other perks like interactive learning, discussion forums, support groups, and one-to-one private sessions with teachers. 

This business model is subscription-based, where learners have to pay recurring fees monthly or yearly to access the virtual online school. If you plan to power your eLearning business with the academy model, look for the best online tutoring marketplace software solution that can accommodate different eLearning products. 

Academy model suits the following businesses: 

Niche businesses

Educational businesses that focus on a particular niche. 

Creative educators

Tutors who want to teach different creative practices can rely on this business model. 

Enterprise trainers

Tutors who offer training to large enterprises. 

Advantages

  • Simple to implement.
  • Better customer retention.
  • It is easy to grow your eLearning business due to the variety of products and services. 
  • Better pricing strategies.
  • Brings in recurring revenue.

Disadvantages

  • It might take some time to generate a good amount of revenue as the number of subscribers should be more. 
  • You must provide something new every time to keep your users interested. 

Revenue generation methods of an eLearning platform

The most important aspect of starting an eLearning business is revenue and profits. Edupreneurs launch a business to serve their audience and make a profit out of it simultaneously. Now, let’s look at different ways by which you make money from an eLearning platform. 

Freemium 

This revenue generation method is great to maximize sales, especially when you are starting out. You can offer a few features of your courses for free and the premium version of your offerings for a price. But, when you implement the freemium model, make sure the paid content you offer must be of great quality and provide the worth for the amount spent. 

Subscriptions

One of the best revenue generation methods followed by online learning businesses is subscriptions or memberships. It allows learners to access the eLearning content by paying a recurring fee that is paid either monthly or yearly. The beauty of running a subscription plan is that you just need a few pieces of content to get started. The content provided to learners doesn’t have to be ready fully as soon as they subscribe. You can make the initial sales with one relevant and valuable content and then take time to provide more valuable content.

Sponsorships

Another interesting revenue model in eLearning is where corporates or sponsors pay for product placement in your eLearning platform. 

Corporate eLearning model

Corporate model works like this- You charge an organization to train their employees and offer special packages with several perks. For example, Udemy has an exclusive service called Udemy Business, where it offers exclusive services to corporates. 

Best solution to launch eLearning website

Gone are the days when edupreneurs had to shell out a lot of money to build an online learning website from scratch. However, now as the technology has advanced, there are numerous white label solutions available in the market, which allows edTech businesses to launch their online tutoring marketplace quickly. A readymade and fully customizable clone script like Pinlearn can be an ideal choice. Pinlearn comes with important features like live streaming, whiteboard, text chat, screen sharing, code editor, payment process, user management, and a lot more.

Conclusion

As more learners turn to the eLearning platform to seek education and knowledge, the scope of the eLearning business gets bigger every year. Now that you know the main online learning business models, it becomes easy to choose the one that suits your edTech business.