All marketing activities produce an outcome. Some result in increased profits, others resulting losses. Pretty straight-forward really. Profits are good, losses are bad; however, profits are not the only measure of success. Losses in one context can be justified if they result in acceptable levels of benefit elsewhere in the business. But often that benefit is either not measured, or the data (if inconvenient) ignored, which makes the value of many “investment” type activities dubious at best.

With this in mind, it is important to always be aware of the full range of benefits that could flow from a commercial activity so that they can be effectively “costed” in the business plan. Here are some of the arguments that can be used to justify involvement in the business of eLearning services.

Leverage existing intellectual property
Knowledge is the most easily repurposed asset we own and eLearning tools allow resources used in one context to be unlocked. One of the problems, however, is often in the way they are developed, because many eLearning products have been developed using proprietary products, making it hard to repurpose the materials. Leveraging requires a different approach to managing your organisation’s intellectual property (IP), to planning how it will be designed and the platforms on which it will be used.

Foster innovation
Developing solutions relevant to new markets stimulates creativity and encourages a rethink of existing processes. Managed effectively, innovative activities produce a wide range of side benefits for the organisation.

New alliances
In many cases, moving into new markets means connecting with people and agencies that have access to information and/or resources that will help reduce your risk profile. These networks can in turn generate new networks and opportunities.

Bridgehead for other products and services
A business plan that takes a strategic view of a training organisation's product strategy will allow investment in one market venture to be leveraged for others. One of the dilemmas for larger RTOs is that coordination across areas is often hard to maintain. There is a tradition of independent operations in many workgroups/departments. This sometimes extends to a reluctance to even share client data that could enrich business relationships with value-added products and services.

Maintain skills and networks
New ventures, especially those involving new products or markets are a great catalyst for helping teams reenergise and develop additional skills sets. This is especially true with programs involving the use of new technologies.

Cash-flow
Cash-flow is a poor substitute for genuine profits, and can often mask fundamental problems in a business venture. That notwithstanding, a financially neutral venture can be justified if it enables a service to maintain a critical mass of operation – particularly in situations where traditional markets are in transition.

Increase profits
Working in international markets is an expensive and risky business. This means that in order to justify that level of risk, you need to be reasonably confident that you will be able to generate at least 4 contracts worth an average of $250,000. If you are not going to generate business worth $1,000,000 in an international venture, then the other benefits need to be clearly worth any shortfall – and you need to be able to honestly cost those benefits. Risk management strategies also need to be much more sophisticated because you are operating in someone else's back yard with often complicated commercial and legal issues to address.

Organisational enhancement
There is ample evidence from the business world that expenditure on research and innovation provides tangible flow-on benefits to other areas of the organisation’s operations. Sound marketing planning processes also benefit all aspects of the business. In addition to the internal impact an active presence in the marketplace projects a positive image to existing and potential clients.

Moving into new markets offers an exciting range of possibilities. With a simple but smart business plan, an enterprise can utilise the marketing process to energise the business, and create the conditions for new opportunities to emerge.

The down-side
New markets, new products or a combination of those have the capacity to stretch an organisation’s resources. And distract from core business activities. Financial risks are also an ever-present issue in the marketing equation. Without an adequate risk analysis framework, it is impossible to manage the down-side of any venture.

Market potential for eLearning
Research indicates that there is no generalised market for online training. There are examples of opportunities for niche operators to offer online services where the market is widely dispersed. On the whole, individual clients of vocational training programs are not clamouring for online services but there are sectors where demand is starting to emerge. Areas such as compliance training and some corporate and government enterprises offer possibliites, but success is going to depend on a lot more than just building it and hoping someone will buy it. Most success stories are built on some other relationship with the client, or evidence of quality service in some other form of the product.

Customers want high quality, cost-effective solutions to training problems.  An eLearning option allows training organisations to offer clients a wider range of strategies for addressing their training needs. If you ask most people whether they want to study online, many would say no, or at best be ambivalent about the option. If, on the other hand, you offer them efficient, accessible training solutions in which eLearning strategies play a role, they are more likely to consider the option favourably. A client’s primary relationship with you is aimed at enhancing skills, not using computers or other technologies.

So one strategy might involve offering a more traditional training solution, progressively adding innovative options appropriate to the context and audience. Another might be to offer someone with an established training market, using traditional delivery mode, access to your eLearning capabilities as a value-added service. But none of this can happen without a leadership culture that supports experimentation or innovation (another chapter in itself); so before moving into this area, you need to consider the demands it will place on the educational and management mind-sets. Do you have the reserves of organisational energy? It’s a long but rewarding process. The key is to focus on the outcomes rather than the delivery medium.