Every Educator Needs To Know These Two Business Types

Entrepreneur

Aug 24

You’re sitting in the break room of your school building with only 10 minutes before you have to get back to work. You’ve tried to ignore it for a while, but the years of inconsistency in the education system are weighing on you and now, as much as you love your students, there’s something that used to be in the back of your mind as a whisper that’s now more like a loud banging drum in your ears saying, “It’s time for something different.”

Starting An Online Business

As an educator, you already have all the skills you need to be a successful entrepreneur. In fact, educators make the best entrepreneurs.But right now you’re under district contract and you want to build a solid plan to exit gracefully, so you’ve got to start doing some research to learn more about starting an online business. First, you need to know there are two main categories of online businesses: service-based and product-based. Let’s break down each type.

What Is A Service-Based Online Businesses?

Picture this: sharing your wealth of knowledge, honed over years of educating bright minds, as a service that can impact lives far beyond the classroom. That, my teacher friends, is the essence of a service-based online business. It's about harnessing your expertise to offer services that transform lives. From personalized coaching to tailored consulting, this path lets you forge intimate connections with those you serve. You become the catalyst for change, delivering your skills with the power to uplift and inspire. And the best part? It doesn’t have to be what you were teaching in the classroom. You’ve got plenty of other things you enjoy talking about and ways you like to help others, so once you get clear on what you’re most passionate about, you can decide what you’d like to focus on for your service-based business.

What Is A Product-Based Online Businesses?

Now, imagine another dimension of entrepreneurship – product-based online businesses. This is where your creativity can shine. Here you are sharing with the world something tangible and physical.

But here's the great thing about having an online business. Now you can create digital products (i.e. e-books, workbooks, etc.) that people can download. This allows you to save on upfront cost, share your creation more quickly, and get sales instantly without having to worry about shipping.

Key Differences Between Service And Product-Based Businesses

Service-based businesses require direct interaction with your customer, which means you’ll have to consider ways you’d want to build a connection with your potential customers so they feel like you have the solution to their problem. This is not always the case with a product-based business because people are less focused on who made the product and more focused directly on whether or not the product solves their problem.

Another key difference is the amount of time it takes to start your business. When you are at the center of your business and selling your expertise and knowledge about a specific topic, the upfront cost to starting your business is much lower. If you decide to sell a product, you have to consider expenses like: design and cost of container for your product, materials to make the product, materials to ship the product, and a system for what to do if someone wants to return your product.

Leveraging Educator Expertise In A Service-Based Business

Every skill you possess and use as an educator becomes powerful tools of empowerment when you start a business. You can provide coaching, consulting or tutoring to your specific audience using the knowledge you already have about a topic of your choosing. You can choose to work with a group of people, similar to a classroom set up, or provide one-on-one support for your clients. Either way, the fact that you’ve already had years of experience standing in front of an audience and breaking down hard to understand concepts puts you far ahead of most people who have never been an educator and are trying to start a business.

Factors to Consider When Choosing Your Business Type

When trying to decide which type of business to choose, consider your strengths, passions, and how you want to spend your time. With a service-based business, you can grow, or scale it, to reach your desired financial outcome, but it’s likely you’ll always be deeply connected to the business because people are coming to you for your expertise and knowledge. If you go the product route, you can focus on one product and sale to thousands of people, but it will cost you money upfront to get everything set up.

Whether you choose a service or product based business, you will be spending your time exactly how you want and be doing something you enjoy. Transitioning from educator to entrepreneur opens the door to dreaming up new ways to enjoy your life more fully.

Are you looking for support to start building your online business? Click here to schedule your free discovery call to learn about my exclusive online program, Breaking Free: From Educator To Entrepreneur.

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