Joel Libava
I love being an entrepreneur.
In addition, I also love the fact that I’m fairly web-savvy. It enables me to implement most of the ideas that randomly enter my brain.
3 years ago, one of those ideas got in. It was this:
Capitalize on the growing interest in online courses by creating a website that would be focused on educating prospective franchise owners via online courses. It totally made sense at the time, so I went about creating the site.
The first thing I had to do was come up with a theme. In this case, I decided that the site should have a higher-education feel to it, so I went with a “University” theme. An online university where “students” could register to take a free course on franchising, and if they liked it, buy a course or two.
Next, I had to create the free course and the paid one. It took me a couple of months to put the courses together, and I added them to the website when they were finished. (The website was Franchise Business University dot com) In later months I added a few other courses from outside vendors, and when everything was all said and done, I was offering 6 different online courses on franchising and business. But there was a problem. And this “problem” turned out to be the reason I closed Franchise Business University.
The Demographics Were Wrong
I should have done more research. And I should have taken a deeper dive into who my core* client was.
*My core client…the majority of the people who contact me are men, 42-55 years young.
And while some 40-year-old’s invested and took my main “How to Buy a Profitable Franchise” online course, I found that the closer people got to 50 years old, the less likely it was that they wanted to take an online course.
That said, there was-and is a lot of interest in getting educated on franchising. I was just going about it the wrong way. I was more interested in delivering “cutting-edge” education through the use of the latest technology, then educating in general. I was attracted to the “bell’s and whistles.” My friend, Chris Brogan puts it best:
“We have too much to do. We have too much to sort through. There are too many shiny objects, too many me-too experiences, too many situations where we’re doing something because we think that’s what we should be doing, and because that’s what other people seem to be doing.”
Survey Says…
Basically, I should have asked (surveyed) my readers and social media followers how they felt about taking online business courses. My bad. As a result, although my free course did pretty well, the paid one didn’t. I played around with prices, wrote a lot of articles that linked to the Franchise Business University website, but I never got enough traction.
Furthermore, even though I was used to running multiple websites (for a time, I had 6 franchise websites up and running at the same time), I was finding it harder and harder to maintain Franchise Business University and the website you’re on now. Plus there were annual hosting fees and I was paying someone to do updates and help me with the course* software.
*The software I was using for the online courses was horrible. It was way more complicated than it needed to be. It turned out to be worse than the original software I used when I launched the site.
What Happened To The Franchise Courses?
The good news is that I saved the courses. I’m converting them to digital guides (eBooks). One of them is available right now, and it’s free.
It’s titled, “A Proper Introduction to Franchising.” To get it, all you have to do is type your email address in below. And since it’s not a “course,” there are no tests etc. Just information. Useful information.
The other course I wrote is being formatted into a digital guide right now. It will be ready soon.
Note, If you purchased the “How to Buy a Profitable Franchise” course on the Franchise Business University website, drop me an email so I can send you the new, updated guide when it’s finished.
P.S. I created a brand-new digital guide. It’s “The Definitive Guide to Franchise Research,” and the reviews have been terrific.
Finally, I’ve created a new web page where the digital guides will be available. Here.
The bottom line?
I’m still focused on providing the best information and franchise purchasing tips available anywhere. That way, anyone who’s interested in investigating franchise opportunities can feel confident in whatever decision they make.
