3 Replies
Rick Blunt

Hi Rachel,

I just joined a new company and they are looking to me to bring some leadership into their learning services offerings. Right now they are focused exclusively on the US Federal market. Although it's a small company, I believe it a good idea to look at the private sector market as well. I think we should be looking at corporate, NGO/Non-Profit, and K-12 as well.

I believe showing them the opportunities, as far as dollar$ goes, might get their interest.


Rachel Barnum

Are they doing well enough in the Government market?

I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing (if anything it can be a good thing) to serve niche markets. By being primarily government, clients trust you to speak the language and to already know the ins and outs of federal requirements.

And it's not bad to move into new markets either, but more than assessing how much money is spent by corporate et al, you should assess what the need is in those markets and whether or not you are prepared to cater to them. Another way to approach it is to start in fields that are already related to what you are doing. Rather than saying "corporate," perhaps aim specifically at government contractors. They're still corporations, but similar enough that you likely already have contacts. It's also likely that your company would still feel like it falls within their mission and would be more willing to branch out.

Start reaching out to your contacts and ask for their interest in e-learning courses, or see what they already use, then bring the results back to your company. 

K-12 is an interesting throw in. Any reason for K-12?

Edit: I should add that I formerly worked for a company that served 4 markets, and now I'm working for a company that only serves 1.

The company that served 4 markets was different than the average client facing agency (they provided their own LMS with prebuilt training rather than making customized courses), and they had around 200 employees.

The company I work for now has around 10 employees with a dozen or so contractors and creates customized e-learning for clients. Serving more markets does require scaling and strategy.