Case Study: Educational Unit Strategy
Executive Summary:
If you are a global investment company, with offices in Japan and US and a portfolio of some 20 companies, what are you missing? How can you project your name around the world faster, cheaper and with more impact? We were able to demonstrate that establishing an educational unit to focus especially on Entrepreneurship education will accomplish all of these goals and be self sustaining within one year of operation.
Project Statistics
Technologies Used
▪ Excel for Financial Model
▪ Liferay for Mockup
▪ Photoshop and YouTube
Team
▪ 1 Business Analyst
▪ 1 Education Program Designer
Duration
▪ 2 months
The Problem
A friend, working at a global investment company, mentioned that she wanted to create an educational program for entrepreneurs. This sounded like an intriguing idea in its own right but it needed a way to connect to the company's mission and vision as well as support its business model.
The Solution
Financial Model: Like any other enterprise Education needs to sustain itself. So we put together a financial projection based on a conservative customer acquisition and per student estimates. It turns out that even with revenue estimates 10 times less than industry average the business unit could produce six figure incomes within a year. The costs were minimal and using a lean approach we would test the market over a period of six months.
Lean Approach: We outlined a three-iteration approach to testing the market. Starting with an MVP and following by two larger iterations the platform would be enhanced with more content and several groups of students would be run through the program. Even though we had the interest of two schools in the area testing is still a core part of the company's approach.
Program Outline: We described a supportive entrepreneurial experience to include classes, mentoring and events for the students. The program would give each student access and support to the entrepreneurial platform for a fixed period of time and a potential certificate at the end of the program.
The Outcome
Under Consideration: Our client is still considering the solution and if it fits within its vision. However the team created a compelling value proposition and demonstrated how an educational unit could serve the client's accelerator program, investment arm and draw on world class content contributors from its other portfolio companies. Should the company decide to proceed forward we will be glad to help not only technically but also strategically.