Should I launch my business now?

[Jonathan Polley]

I am in a bit of a quandary, should I launch my business now or not?

My business is an online education programme. It is a science course. Great for homeschoolers, (has experiments adapted to be done at home with with everyday items) video lessons and resources to accompany every lesson.

However, there is a hell of a lot of work that goes into getting this already.

I imagine that there will be about 200+ lessons when I am "all done" (although I will keep adding more)

Each video takes about 10 hours or more of work to get ready.

I reckon I will have the biology section finished by the end of Easter.

And I think I could launch then. Offering different packages.. Biology only, or biology and presell the chemistry and physics.

Pros> Gets me customers and money

Cons> Will it turn people off with an incomplete product?
>Will I spend all my time dealing with clients rather than finishing off the course?

What would you guys do in this situation?

Thanks

 

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[Georgy]

I am in a bit of a quandary, should I launch my business now or not?

My business is an online education programme. It is a science course. Great for homeschoolers, (has experiments adapted to be done at home with with everyday items) video lessons and resources to accompany every lesson.

However, there is a hell of a lot of work that goes into getting this already.

I imagine that there will be about 200+ lessons when I am "all done" (although I will keep adding more)

Each video takes about 10 hours or more of work to get ready.

I reckon I will have the biology section finished by the end of Easter.

And I think I could launch then. Offering different packages.. Biology only, or biology and presell the chemistry and physics.

Pros> Gets me customers and money

Cons> Will it turn people off with an incomplete product?
>Will I spend all my time dealing with clients rather than finishing off the course?

What would you guys do in this situation?

Thanks

Hey Jonathan,

Do it now, 100%. The more you wait the longer it will take to start this business and the harder it will get. Things happen in life, and not everything is a smooth road. Like Art Williams preached, just do it. Because you'll have sh%t happen and disrupt your business plan, pushing your completion date even further.

Don't be like my cousin Bob (fake name) who talks about his business plan, lays out the foundation and still has a "Maintenance Mode" message on his site after 3 years. If you believe in your business you should be sleeping, eating and breathing it everyday. You'll see how things move fast when you're dedicated to your work day-in-day-out.

What you could even do with this course is offer it on udemy. I mean you built the whole curriculum already so it's basically plug n' play. Also not sure about your "cons" (turning people off on incomplete product). Are you saying that you want to put an incomplete product up right away to distribute?

Good luck with your decision!

 

[The-J]

To launch, you only need one course. If you have something that you can package together and sell (or offer for free), then you can and should launch.

Make sure to capture their e-mail address and Facebook like so that they stay updated on future courses.

How are you getting leads?

 

[Jonathan Polley]

Well, I am working on the business daily.

I already work full time, (hopefully not for much longer!) I am a teacher, hence designing a science curriculum.

To make sure I get everything done I:
Work through my lunch break and any free lessons I have
2 hours

When the kids are in bed I work until I go to bed (except on a Friday.... too much will mean burnout)
3 hours

Do five hours (at least on Saturday and Sunday)

So On top of a full time job I put 35 hours a week into this.
(During the school holidays I should be able to get this up to about 100 hours a week) So yes I am living, sleeping it and breathing it, by I need to work to survive and time with my kids is a non-negotiable, I am not sacrificing that.

My wife does all the video editing, audio editing and website design. SO she does about 40 hours a week on this too.

I do like UDEMY idea, but would have to look at their terms, can I offer the course elsewhere etc.

But yes, I would launch with only the biology part completed. Not the physics or the chemistry. So I could distribute 1 part of the business but not the other two.

 

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[Jonathan Polley]

Haven't really started generating leads yet, more intent on getting the content sorted.

We do have a facebook page (who doesn't)
And I will be posting some of the videos to youtube. Probably a few evolution videos. Which will have a slightly different voice track to the normal video, with encouragement to sign up etc.
Creating .pdfs where I look at common science misconceptions and how to address them
Collecting email addresses. Sending out free stuff

Then will be directing them to a funnel site offering discounts etc

However I do have a slight advantage on Facebook.. I admin for a very famous scientists foundation (well over a million likes and engagement in the multi millions every week) . Its a little naughty, but I will be posting as that page in comments and sending people to relevant clips on youtube.

The other thing I want to do, but will not do until everything is completed is direct marketing to schools. Especially English language schools around the world. Either offering the school a "site licence" or to offer the site to parents who may be interested.

 

[Georgy]

Dude, you're on track man. Love it. The fact that you have your wife is helping you out, doing the editing part for the videos which is a B*** is crucial as it takes so much stress off your back. Your schedule is hectic, brutal, tiresome, stressful to the point where you need a break or you will give up. But this is the boiling point. You stop now you'll never go back. Once a train starts moving it can't come to a complete stop. Keep the engines moving. You have the greater picture of things; you know how this course will be laid out so I can't comment much and say something like "wait till all three topics are completed". Build your site, make sure to have a blog section where you can make posts with tidbits of info on the topics at hand (biology, chemistry and physics) for seo purposes. I'll be honest and say I never engaged in this type of business before (providing educational courses). But if I did I'd want to make my courses available where there's any transactions that take place (ebay.com, amazon.com, udemy, youtube etc...).

I went to similarweb.com and typed udemy to get more information and found many similar sites that might even be better than udemy. Check it out here:

https://www.similarweb.com/website/udemy.com#alsoVisited

It should give you a good idea of where you can market your program. Good luck!

 

[Jonathan Polley]

Yeah, I agree. If I stop I find it hard to get back into it, which is kind of why I want to wait until all three courses are completed. As launching one would be a natural break point.

But at the same time it would be good to get money coming in, to be able to really start the marketing and possibly most valuable of all to have feedback on what works and what does not so that I can make changes for the other two courses.

And yeah, my wife is a great help, she was the one who had the idea, she was the one who got me to read the fastlane millionaire.

We split the work pretty evenly, I do all the content, she does all the technical stuff.

We will both do marketing when we get that far along.

 

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[Kung Fu Steve]

Way to take massive action, brother!

Best time to start a business is yesterday.

The second best time is now.

Go get 'em!