The convergence of more people online has opened up remarkable business opportunities in online learning. I have cited ‘online courses’ several times in the past few weeks. That is a clear indication of the growing importance and widespread uptake of online learning. I bet you that many of you have pursued at least one online course in the past 2 years. There are numerous areas to talk about when it comes to online learning. Today I will specifically delve into online courses. We are unpacking online courses business ideas you can execute in Zimbabwe.

Content Transformation Into Online Courses

You would be amazed at how many people have never thought of this. I was stunned when someone suggested this to me last year. The total number of business and finance articles I have written to date exceed 1500. There was someone who then approached and pitched an idea. Let me quote exactly what they said, “Keep adding value to us. Entrepreneurship is one area that has potential to change the way we see any situation. Please develop your articles into courses that my university can accredit”.

I honestly had never thought of that but it made absolute sense. Anyone who has a huge collection of content on a particular subject area can transform them into online courses. You can be running a blog, a Facebook page, a YouTube channel, or any digital content creation platform. If the content you put out aligns with areas that people seek to learn from, then online courses are possible. Starting this year I have been working on this and so can you.

Create Online Courses For In-Demand Areas – Sell And Or Teach

This applies to someone who has the knowledge, skills, and or experience in a particular area. I am mainly referring to areas that are highly sought after. Some quick examples I can give you are Digital Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Virtual Assistance, Data Analytics, Social Media Management, Social Media Marketing, Graphic Design, Web Development, Brand Management, and many more.

The first scenario is that you are certified in any of these areas – you can develop an online course. The second scenario is that you can research and just develop an online course. Once you have developed the online course you can just sell it (i.e. license it). I would recommend that you do both; sell (license) and teach.

A cardinal point to make here is the importance of getting accredited. I appreciate that you can create online courses, sell them and even teach without accreditation. I also appreciate that accreditation can be hectic and even costly. However, endeavour to get accredited so that your courses are widely recognized. When people do online courses they want legit certificates at the end. More importantly, they want online courses that are recognized out there.

Start An Online Learning Institution

Instead of just focusing on one area you can start a whole online learning institution. The possibility of operating without the need for physical offices and learning infrastructure makes this possible. One quick example of an online learning institution is Online Development Academy. They offer internationally accredited online courses that can be completed in as little as 2 months. Their courses cost at least US$100 per course. So you can start by focusing on one area and then scale to an online learning institution later.

I am myself am a product of several online courses. Online courses now hold a vital space in career, business, and personal development in this age. I encourage you to consider starting a business or startup centred on online courses. Zimbabwe needs this more and more. The beauty of it is that you get to operate wholly online. Imagine how easy it has become to get to start and own a school – an online school. The other beauty lies in that overhead costs are low so you can price competitively. This enables many people to afford which pushes volumes. You also have the flexibility of making the online courses run for reasonably short periods. Online courses can be as short as 3 days long of intensive learning. Get to share your knowledge, experience, and impart your skills whilst making money out of it.