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From An Idea To A Money-Making EdTech Web-App

Full Guide: From an Idea to a Money-Making EdTech Web-App

March 19, 2018
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9 min read

EdTech companies pop up every day, though not all of them break even. Today we'll share our take on the main steps to get in on the EdTech action and go from an idea to an MVP to a money-making product.

Is it too late to get into EdTech?

The educational technology market has exploded over the last couple of years. According to EdTechXGlobal, by 2020, EdTech will turn into a $252 billion industry because of a 17% annual growth. Besides Google, Apple, and Microsoft, thousands of startups have joined the race to monetize educational software. To stand out and succeed new products have to address the unmet needs and provide answers to unsolved problems.

EdTech market overview

There are established leaders, but that should not deter ambitious startups from entering the market. Instead, let's learn from the best and surpass their achievements. We've collected five examples of successful projects that offer a variety of educational services and rely on different monetization strategies:

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6 things aspiring EdTech startups must remember

The education sector is unlike any other business niche. Before you get excited about building the next Udemy or Coursera, let us remind you of a few critical considerations you need to keep in mind to succeed in EdTech:

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Must-have EdTech app features for teachers and students

The feature set for an EdTech project depends on the target audience and its needs. While Coursera, Udemy, and edX may share many features, they would be useless for Kahoot. Still, there are several considerations all EdTech startups should keep in mind, especially when targeting traditional schools:

Assignment, assessment, and logbook features

To attract teachers, EdTech software must seamlessly slot into their daily workflow. They should be able to create new tasks for students, mark their progress, evaluate results, and keep track of grades. Secure cloud storage is essential for many of these needs.

Group mode and collaboration options

Besides an opportunity to view, share, and edit the same files at the same time, the EdTech app must acknowledge the lack of digital devices in many classrooms. Most schools still can't afford to provide every student with a screen. Your app should allow for two or more students to study simultaneously using one screen.

In-class and at home study features

These should be intuitive and user-friendly to ensure both students and their parents can continue the study process without constant teacher supervision. Clean UX and UI design and logical flow are a priority if you want your app to transform all aspects of the educational journey.

Cross-platform compatibility

In line with the previous point, apps should be easy to access in class and outside. Besides school tablets or laptops, students should be able to log into their accounts on their smartphones or personal laptops to go over the material learned, complete homework assignments, and prepare for tests and finals.

Simple authentication procedures

To keep the school data secure, encourage best cybersecurity practices. This includes hard passwords that are difficult to remember, but you can provide teachers and students with a Facebook or Google sign-up to save time and avoid the need for another password.

Seamless integration with other EdTech apps

Teacher's dashboard should connect to the learning management system (LMS) and school information system (SIS). Integration makes the teacher's job easier and speeds up everyday processes. Some EdTech startups offer their products for free, but charge schools for integration options. If you want more monetization options, check out our earlier post.

Digital space communication and interaction features

Besides collaborative efforts and group work, children should learn how to navigate life as digital citizens. They must develop respect for each other's rights and limitations and have a direct line of communication with classmates and teachers. Instant messaging, forum boards, video or audio-conference tools are among viable options.

This is not an exhaustive list of features necessary across all EdTech business models, however, the more of these you include to your product, the easier it will be for teachers and students to get on board with the app.

How do you turn education startup ideas into reality?

It's not enough to join the fray and create your app; you need to have a step-by-step plan for your application development. You can't ignore these four milestones:

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How to go from zero to an EdTech MVP?

Once you have found your web development company, start working on an MVP. You will need to go through four main stages:

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An MVP is not a crippled version of the future project. Instead, it is a finished product with enough customer value and vision to attract the first adopters. You can seek them through any available means, like posting guest articles in popular blogs, such as Hackernoon.com, creating an account at Product hunt and other platforms or directing beta-users to a landing page.

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You will need customer feedback to help you decide. Collecting real user reviews and feedback will guide the project's evolution.

An MVP is not a finished product even if users enjoy it. While early adopters are ready to deal with glitches and faulty features, your EdTech product should be bug-free and fully functional before you market it. Think of an MVP development as an iterative process of implementing incremental improvements that will ultimately lead to the finished product. Using the MVP, you will reach this goal much sooner and with fewer expenses.

How to get from an MVP to a money-making product?

After the MVP provides you with enough feedback and user data, engage the web development services of your team to go from the proof of concept to a finished product. Use customer reviews and behavior analysis to improve the project, and make it easier to use, add the features your customers found lacking. Follow the MVP modernization plan step-by-step until your beta-users are satisfied with the product.

New education web-apps face a lot of opposition and challenges, so plan the launch carefully to increase the chance of success. Outline the marketing strategy before you bring the product to the market and focus on the right promotion channels for your target audience. Instagram may boast billions of users, but not all teachers have accounts and are willing to adopt social media.

There is still time to cash in on EdTech. Check out outstanding EdTech cases in Freshcode portfolio, such as Educadio, and learn what our clients say about the quality of our work. Though education startup development can be a slow and painful process, the potential revenue is well worth it. Model the best strategies of successful EdTech startups, employ the software development services of a trustworthy company, and enjoy the success of your project!

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