So you are trying to decide if your company or organization wants to get into the Learning and Development business. Lets explore the options and the benefits to you and your customers

1. Eric VanAuken

2. So we want to see if we can make Learning and
Development a business for our organization. Lets
look at the key offerings we might want to look
into
 Manage other organizations learning management systems.
 Host other organizations on your Learning Management system.
 Build out training for other organizations.
 Provide trainingtrainers for other organizations.
 Build out Training Catalogs on proprietary knowledgeskills
 Localize training material into other languages.
 Consult with organizations on how to build out and manage an L&D organization
and systems

4. What you need to be able to go down this road
 Broad knowledge of multiple learning management systems (LMS).
 Key relationships with LMS vendors in order to support the changes as they come
out of the vendor.
 Call center staff to handle issues as they come up from the clients.
 Administrators that can address complex issues quickly
 Knowledge of how the clients systems were built and ability to help them optimize
their systems

5. Benefits to clients:
 No need for full time in house staff. Usually reduces headcount by up to at least 3
people (Administrator, Training Coordinator, LMS IT support expert)
 One call to expert and do not have to deal with vendors directly.
 Useful for flexible cost structure
 Flexibility to change course rapidly by changing vendors
Downside for clients:
 Loss of control of system
 Response is not as rapid as owning this function in house
 Loss of knowledge of your their own systems and structure. May not fully
comprehend what they have and all the feature sets available to them

6. Benefits to you:
 Good revenue stream. Usually based on yearly commitment and thus steady
revenue not impacted by volume. Typically can be managed by 25% FTE of what
client has which is attractive to the client
 Can use same staff to manage multiple LMS systems thus provide appropriate
loading of staff.
 Allows you to gain entry and partner with a company which in turn opens doors
for additional business opportunities.
Downside for you:
 Need to have experienced staff which tends to be at a higher cost in order to
manage multiple systems from different vendors.
 Need to have a call center operation or thought ware to handle immediate needs.

7. Considerations to starting this business model:
 Not typically your first step into the L&D world. You need the expertise and
experience on staff to handle the many situations that you will run into.
 Need to have back up staff of same or similar experience. You do not want to put
all your eggs in one cart. If your lead person should leave you need to have
someone who can walk in and take over without missing a beat.
 How does this fit into all of your other businesses? Does this compliment them or
is this in a new direction?
 Can you use this to expand your other lines of business?
 Can you be price competitive in your local market place. What does the
competitive marketplace look like?
 Is there a need for this in your client base? How quickly can you turn this
business into a revenue generating business?

9. What you need to be able to go down this road
 Broad knowledge of your own learning management systems (LMS).
 Understanding of how to manage multiple learning centers under your own LMS
structure..
 A very structured naming convention and a way to segregate the training
information for each client.
 Knowledge of how to build out curriculum and learning plans.
 A detailed methodology to only expose the client to their own training
 Call center staff to handle issues as they come up from the clients.
 Administrators that can address complex issues quickly
 Knowledge of how the clients need their LMS instance built.

10. Benefits to clients:
 No need for full time in house staff. Usually reduces headcount by up to at least 3
people (Administrator, Training Coordinator, LMS IT support expert)
 No need to own or pay for an LMS. They can usually save significantly here
compared to owning their own.
 Professional reports and record keeping that keeps them in compliance with
regulating bodies
 Limited cost exposure longer term. Can change course rapidly as business dictates
Downside for clients:
 Loss of control of system
 Response is not as rapid as owning their own system
 Loss of knowledge of your their own systems and structure. May not fully
comprehend what they have and all the feature sets available to them

11. Benefits to you:
 Good revenue stream. Usually based on yearly commitment and thus steady revenue not
impacted by volume. Typically can be managed by 25% FTE of what client has which is
attractive to the client
 Can offset some of the ongoing costs for your own LMS by cost sharing it with the others
associated with it.
 Can use same staff to manage multiple clients on your own systems thus provide appropriate
loading of staff.
 Allows you to gain entry and partner with a company which in turn opens doors for additional
business opportunities.
Downside for you:
 Need to have experienced staff which tends to be at a higher cost in order to manage multiple
systems from different vendors.
 Need to plan and do appropriate license management. This will drive variable costs to your
organization based on usage.
 Need to have a call center operation or thought ware to handle immediate needs.

12. Considerations to starting this business model:
 This is a good first step into the world of L&D. You are already managing this for
your own organization and have already made the investment in the people and
the systems. It allows for better staff usage and helps defray some of your
overhead costs
 How does this fit into all of your other businesses? Does this compliment them or
is this in a new direction?
 Can you use this to expand your other lines of business?
 Can you be price competitive in your local market place. What does the
competitive marketplace look like?
 Is there a need for this in your client base? How quickly can you turn this
business into a revenue generating business?

14. What you need to be able to go down this road
 Broad knowledge of course design and course development tools.
 Understanding of adult learning structure and how to build out Training module
and packages.
 Know when to build out complex solutions vs. that of simple training solutions.
 Understanding of how to build a curriculum based training solution.
 Appropriate staffing to address the needs of the clients.
 Broad based knowledge of various training topics
 Consultative skills to pull out the material from the client and build to their needs.
 Appropriate systems and tools.

15. Benefits to clients:
 Most companies do not have the knowledge or capability to build out training
packages in a way that is anything more than a power point presentation. Thus
this gives them the ability to take their knowledge and place it in a training
 Limited time to build out training. You leave it to the professionals and they come
back with a package for you.
 More professional looking training
 Can put SOP's and other work aids into training and track who has taken them by
having a vendor make them into courses
 No need to have staff to do this for them. They just have their experts talk to the
training developer
Downside for clients:
 Cost of not doing this in house

16. Benefits to you:
 Good revenue stream. Project related and can be a full time job for a few individuals.
 Can work with partners and potentially provide deals to use their expertise and training for
other clients by providing a discount on build out of training. You might own the IP.
 Extension of the L&D business. Can start to fill out L&D portfolio.
 Allows you to gain entry and partner with a company which in turn opens doors for additional
business opportunities.
Downside for you:
 Need to have experienced staff in the area of Instructional design.
 This is project related work and has peeks and valleys.
 Depending on demand you may need to have per diam staff to support the peeks and valleys..

17. Considerations to starting this business model:
 This is a good second step into the world of L&D. You typically have been doing
this for your own business for a while and as such this is a natural extension.
 How does this fit into all of your other businesses? Does this compliment them or
is this in a new direction?
 Can you use this to expand your other lines of business?
 Can you be price competitive in your local market place. What does the
competitive marketplace look like?
 Is there a need for this in your client base? How quickly can you turn this
business into a revenue generating business?

19. What you need to be able to go down this road
 Broad knowledge of the material that the client needs to be delivered
 Understanding of adult learning.
 Have people who are instructors and know how to engage the students
 Have staff that can adapt to the needs and styles of various clients.
 Broad based knowledge of various training topics
 Consultative skills to pull out the material from the client and build to their needs.
 Appropriate systems and tools.

20. Benefits to clients:
 This gives them a hands off approach to allow them to focus in on their key
business functions. This is best for an agency that has to do training but it is not
their primary focus o business.
 Gives them the ability to have a more variable cost model.
Downside for clients:
 Lose touch with direct feedback from clients. They tend not to see or internalize
things when it does not come directly from their customers to them

21. Benefits to you:
 This can be a very good revenue stream. Instructor led training tends to be in the $800 - $2000
a day range per person depending on the course and materials
 Yet another extension of the L&D business. Can continue to fill out your L&D portfolio.
Downside for you:
 Need to have experienced Instructors.
 Typically can only provide this in a space where you have expertise. You might have to hire
to gain that expertise.
 This is project related work and has peeks and valleys.
 Depending on demand you may need to have per diam staff to support the peeks and valleys..

22. Considerations to starting this business model:
 This is a good third step into the world of L&D. You typically have been doing this
for your own business for a while and as such this is a natural extension.
 How does this fit into all of your other businesses? Does this compliment them or
is this in a new direction?
 Can you use this to expand your other lines of business?
 Can you be price competitive in your local market place. What does the
competitive marketplace look like?
 Is there a need for this in your client base? How quickly can you turn this
business into a revenue generating business?

24. What you need to be able to go down this road
 You need to have developed many niche courses that have limited competition in
the industry.
 You will have to be recognized as an expert in the field where you are building
your catalog.
 You need to have well respected experts in the field who are recognized as such.
 You will have had to be playing in the L&D market for a significant amount of
time.
 You will need to have business acumen to understand the trends in training.
 You will have had to done market research to identify the opportunities and ability
to take market share.

25. Benefits to clients:
 They can purchase a full array of courses that fit the needs of their industry and
place them into their LMS or have you host it on your LMS
Downside for clients:
 Cost per student per year is significant to purchase a catalog of courses

26. Benefits to you:
 Once developed this becomes a great source or relatively passive income. Super revenue and
margins.
 Yet another extension of the L&D business. Can continue to fill out your L&D portfolio.
Downside for you:
 Cost to develop the catalog is not low.
 You need to have a full blown Instructional design team on staff to really do this correctly.
 Typically can only provide this in a space where you have expertise. You might have to hire
to gain that expertise.

28. What you need to be able to go down this road
 This is an entirely unique business and is here as many L&D efforts need language
translations. Most L&D companies except the largest do not have this expertise in
house. Typically it is farmed out to a localization company.
 You would have to have local language speakers in every language you support.
Typically on a world wide basis that is over 36 different languages.
 In each language you support you would have to understand local terms for all
business sectors.
 This is a very large undertaking.

29. Benefits to clients:
 They can have their courses localized into the various languages and not have to
have someone on staff who knows the local languages.
Downside for clients:
 Cost, However the cost to do so is not that expensive through the appropriate
partners.

30. Benefits to you:
 It rounds out your L&D offerings to your clients.
Downside for you:
 Cost to staff this is not insignificant

32. What you need to be able to go down this road
 This is an entirely unique business. Typically this falls under n HR consultant role.
Most organizations that provide L&D support do not have this unless they are a
consultation business. .
 You would need to have people that are experts in their field and have played the
role of L&D lead in multiple organizations.

33. Benefits to clients:
 This helps the clients to find the right solution for their needs
 Typically they get better pricing when a consultant negotiates for them
 They typically save more than they spend with the consultant
 The systems are usually set up in a forward thinking way and it reduces rework
later
 They gain experience from learning from someone who has done this all before.
Downside for clients:
 Cost, However the cost to do so is not that expensive.

34. Benefits to you:
 It rounds out your L&D offerings to your clients.
 Your organization is seen as having the expertise in the field. It sets you apart from other
organizations.
 Better marketing material as it rounds out the offerings that you can provide your clients.
 Brings you into new markets and clients you may not have looked at before.
 It is a door opener to other business.
Downside for you:
 Cost to staff a senior role

35. Considerations to starting this business model:
 This is a huge step in the L&D world. Usually this only is done by a separate line
of business or a full industry on their own.
 How does this fit into all of your other businesses? Does this compliment them or
is this in a new direction?
 Can you use this to expand your other lines of business?
 Can you be price competitive in your local market place. What does the
competitive marketplace look like?
 Is there a need for this in your client base? How quickly can you turn this
business into a revenue generating business?

36. Start out with
Managing your own
LMS
Host other
organizations on
your Learning
Management system.
Expand to managing
other organizations
LMS Systems.
Build out training for
other organizations.
Provide
Training/Trainers
for other
Organizations
Build out Course
Catalogs
Provide Localization
Services
Provide L&D
Consultative Services

37. Start out with
Managing your own
LMS
Host other
organizations on
your Learning
Management system.
Expand to managing
other organizations
LMS Systems.
Build out training for
other organizations.
Provide
Training/Trainers
for other
Organizations
Build out Course
Catalogs
Provide Localization
Services
Provide L&D
Consultative Services
Identify
Organization Short
Mid and Long term
and Build Talent
Management System
Support Talent
Management with
Appropriate Staff
Development
Training
Internal Efforts
Business Development Opportunities
• Focus immediately in on
Green areas.
• Mid term move the focus to
Light green areas.
• Move longer term into Yellow
areas.
• Stay away from Red areas.

39.  Look at your path forward and see if you have the right
staffing to make this happen.
 Review your staffs capability and see if you have the right
staff to make this happen.
 Identify opportunities to enhance your staff when there are
gaps.
 Look at your in house expertise and determine if you have
the right support. If not either add them in or look to
training partners to provide the support or training courses.
 Share findings with staff and share the path forward with
the team. Allow for feedback to gain buy in.

40.  Adult Learners:
 Start with a self paced training prior to doing an instructor lead training. This preps them
for the hands on or practical work
 Have a face to face Instructor led training. Focus in on applicable activities to the task at
hand.
 Follow up with short and specific periodic refresher training in one of the following
methods. Face to face with trainer or supervisor, Webinar, or Self paced training with
quizzes
 Service Staff: These folks tend to like clean crisp training that has no frills and is to the point.
Focus in on hands on and detailed type of material
 Sales Staff: This group tends to do best with a softer approach to training. Spend more time
in face to face and role play. Any online training should be something that they can use as
job aids after the fact.
 R&D Staff: Like the service staff keep the training crisp and no frills but aim the material on
the theory more and less hands on.
 General Staff: Make the training shorter and to the point. Focus the training on how it helps
or impacts their day to day job. Do not overload with trying to fit a one size training fits all.
This will just discourage the individuals.
 Leadership: These type of training need to be more visual and higher level. Also the
training should be focused on general scenarios as they can and should apply them to the
specifics that they need. Remember this is leadership training and not coaching.