business plan of a training company

Corporate Training Business Plan [Sample Template]

By: Author Tony Martins Ajaero

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Do you want to start a corporate training business? If YES, here is a sample corporate training business plan template & FREE feasibility report. 

If you are a business coach or someone who has background in training, and you want to start a business, then you should consider starting your own corporate training firm. There are many corporate organizations, executives, entrepreneurs and even startups that will be more than willing to patronize your services.

Being a corporate trainer means that you will help your clients handle everything that has to do with training of their employees. That is, your goal as corporate trainer is to improve overall productivity. Starting a corporate training firm is not too expensive except for the money required to rent and furnish an office space.

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Running this type of business requires that you should be trained as a brand business coach and a peak performance specialist, and it is indeed a very lucrative business in the United states because every company wants to establish themselves as a world leader in their industry.

If you are truly convinced that starting a corporate training firm is the right business for you to do, then you need to write your own business plan. Below is a sample corporate training firm business plan template that will help you successfully write yours with little or no stress.

A Sample Corporate Training Business Plan Template

1. industry overview.

This industry includes companies that offer short duration courses and seminars for management and professional development.

Training is provided through public courses or through employers’ training programs, and the courses can be customized or modified. Instruction may be provided at the company’s training facilities or educational institutions, the workplace or the home and via television or the internet.

A close study of the Business Coaching industry shows that the industry is heavily reliant on demand from its largest market, the middle and senior management of US corporations. After rebounding from a period where businesses cut back on non-essential expenses, including employee business coaching programs, the industry is expected to flourish over the five years to 2017.

Although some companies will use internal resources for training, industry revenue is forecast to increase albeit at a slightly slower rate over the five years to 2022. In the future, the adoption of online training is expected to bolster the industry.

This alternative is a more affordable and flexible option for customers and offers lower operating costs for training providers.

The business coaching industry is in the mature phase of its life cycle and luckily for the industry, the advent of digital media has provided an opportunity for the industry to explore and experience vibrant growth. Of course, the industry is becoming more concentrated, as seen by a few large global firms dominating the market and gaining huge market share.

The Business Coaching industry is indeed a very large industry that is pretty much thriving in all parts of the world especially in developed countries such as United States of America, Canada, united kingdom, Germany, Australia, France and Italy et al.

Statistics have it that in the United States of America alone, there are about 51,532 licensed and registered business coaching cum corporate training firms responsible for employing about 88,222 employees and the industry rakes in a whooping sum of $11 billion annually with an annual growth rate projected at 3.5 percent.

It is important to state that no establishment has a lion share of the available market in this industry. A recent report published by IBISWorld shows that the rapid pace of technological change and overall shorter product life cycles have altered the skills required to be an effective manager.

To keep up with these changes and develop the skills of senior employees, many companies use business coaching seminars, such as the ones offered by the Business Coaching industry.

Large corporations have placed a greater value on seminars and workshops, resulting in higher industry demand. Courses related to new skills such as information technology and change management, have been growing areas for the industry.

As acceptance of the value of professional development and continuing education classes, the industry has benefited immensely because companies looking to host these courses often seek out industry operators.

As a corporate trainer, the key attributes needed to be able to make good success from the trade is patience, enthusiasm, passion about the specific subjects / skills to be tutored, and constant positivity. You are also expected to be highly proactive, be good at planning, preparation, and certain other organizational skills.

It is one thing to have a skill and it is another thing to know how to teach people the skills which is why you must constantly get feedback from your clients to be able to measure their progress and your performance.

2. Executive Summary

Jules Atkinson & Co® Corporate Training Firm, Inc. is a U.S based corporate training firm that will be located in Lake Street, Petoskey – Michigan. We have been able to secure a standard office facility in a central business district in Lake Street.

We are a corporate training firm that is set to compete in the highly competitive business coaching cum corporate training industry not only in the United States market, but also in the global market because our clientele base will not be restricted to just businesses and organizations in the United States but in the international market.

Jules Atkinson & Co® Corporate Training Firm, Inc. will offer robust corporate training to both corporate organization and individuals. Our core training areas will revolve around management development training, professional development training, quality assurance training and business coaching.

Our business goal is to become one of the leading corporate training firms in the United States of America with high profile corporate clients scattered all around the globe. Our workers are going to be selected from a pool of talented business coaches and corporate training experts in and around Petoskey – Michigan and also from any part of the world as the business grows.

We will make sure that we take all the members of our workforce through the required training that will position them to meet the expectation of the company and to compete with leading corporate training firms in the United States and of course throughout the globe.

At Jules Atkinson & Co® Corporate Training Firm, Inc. our client’s best interest will always come first, and everything we do will be guided by our values and professional ethics. We will ensure that we hold ourselves accountable to the highest standards by meeting our client’s business needs precisely and completely.

Jules Atkinson & Co® Corporate Training Firm, Inc. is founded by Jules Atkinson and she will run the business with other partners.

Jules Atkinson is a renowned business coach and corporate trainer. She has over 10 years of experience as a business coach and corporate trainer both in the United States of America and Canada. She has several business coaching and corporate training certifications and is a certified NPL practitioner.

3. Our Products and Services

Jules Atkinson & Co® Corporate Training Firm, Inc. is going to offer varieties of corporate training services within the scope of the corporate training and business coaching industry in the United States of America.

Our intention of starting our corporate training business is to help in developing our clients in any skills and knowledge of their choice as it relates to specific useful competencies; we want to help our clients develop their capability, capacity, productivity and performance and of course to also make profits from the corporate training industry and we will do all that is permitted by the law in the US to achieve our aim and business goal.

We will work hard to ensure that Jules Atkinson & Co® Corporate Training Firm, Inc. do not just work for clients in the United States of America, but also for clients in other parts of the world. Our service offerings are listed below;

• Providing management development training
• Providing professional development training
• Providing quality assurance training
• Providing business coaching
• Leadership skills
• customer services skills
• Financial management skills
• Management skills
• Interpersonal and Relationship management skills
• Online business Coaching Services

4. Our Mission and Vision Statement

• Our vision is to build a highly competitive and effective corporate training business that will become the number one choice for both individuals and corporate organizations in and around Petoskey – Michigan and the whole of the United States of America
• Our mission is to provide affordable and highly effective corporate training services to a wide range of clients that cuts across different divides. Our overall business goal is to position Jules Atkinson & Co® Corporate Training Firm, Inc. to become one of the leading corporate training brands in the industry in the whole of Petoskey – Michigan within the first 5 years of operation.

Our Business Structure

Jules Atkinson & Co® Corporate Training Firm, Inc. is a world class corporate training firm that intends starting small in Lake Street, Petoskey – Michigan, but hopes to grow big in order to compete favorably with leading corporate training firms in the United States and of course throughout the globe.

We are aware of the importance of building a solid business structure that can support the kind of world class business we want to own. This is why we are committed to only hiring the best hands within our area of operation.

At Jules Atkinson & Co® Corporate Training Firm, Inc. we will ensure that we hire people that are qualified, hardworking, and creative, result driven, customer centric and are ready to work to help us build a prosperous business that will benefit all the stakeholders.

As a matter of fact, profit-sharing arrangement will be made available to all our senior management staff and it will be based on their performance for a period of five years or more as agreed by the board of trustees of the company. In view of the above, Jules Atkinson & Co® Corporate Training Firm, Inc. have decided to hire qualified and competent hands to occupy the following positions;

• Chief Executive Officer
• Corporate Trainer cum Business Coaching Specialist

Human Resources and Admin Manager

• Sales and Marketing Executive

Client Service Executive

5. Job Roles and Responsibilities

Chief Executive Officer – CEO:

• Upsurges management’s effectiveness by recruiting, selecting, orienting, training, coaching, counseling, and disciplining managers; communicating values, strategies, and objectives; assigning accountabilities; planning, monitoring, and appraising job results; developing incentives; developing a climate for offering information and opinions; providing educational opportunities.
• Responsible for fixing prices and signing business deals
• Responsible for providing direction for the business
• Creates, communicates, and implements the organization’s vision, mission, and overall direction – i.e. leading the development and implementation of the overall organization’s strategy.
• Responsible for signing checks and documents on behalf of the company
• Evaluates the success of the organization

Corporate Trainer/Business Coaching Specialist

• Responsible for providing management development training
• Delivers professional development training
• Provides quality assurance training
• Affords business coaching
• Provides leadership skills training
• Provides customer services skills training
• Provides financial management skills training
• Provides interpersonal and relationship management skills training
• Provides Online business Coaching Services
• Handles other related corporate training, advisory and consulting services
• Responsible for overseeing the smooth running of HR and administrative tasks for the organization
• Defines job positions for recruitment and managing interviewing process
• Carries out induction for new team members
• Responsible for training, evaluation and assessment of employees
• Oversees the smooth running of the daily office

Sales and Marketing Manager

• Manages external research and coordinate all the internal sources of information to retain the organizations’ best customers and attract new ones
• Models demographic information and analyze the volumes of transactional data generated by customer
• Identifies development opportunities; follows up on development leads and contacts; participates in the structuring and financing of projects; assures the completion of development projects.
• Writes winning proposal documents, negotiate fees and rates in line with organizations’ policy
• Responsible for handling business research, market surveys and feasibility studies for clients
• Responsible for supervising implementation, advocate for the customer’s needs, and communicate with clients
• Develops, executes and evaluates new plans for expanding sales
• Creates new markets cum businesses for the organization
• Empowers and motivates the sales team to meet and surpass agreed targets

Accountant/Cashier:

• Responsible for preparing financial reports, budgets, and financial statements for the organization
• Provides managements with financial analyses, development budgets, and accounting reports; analyzes financial feasibility for the most complex proposed projects; conducts market research to forecast trends and business conditions.
• Responsible for financial forecasting and risks analysis.
• Performs cash management, general ledger accounting, and financial reporting for one or more properties.
• Responsible for developing and managing financial systems and policies
• Responsible for administering payrolls
• Ensures compliance with taxation legislation
• Handles all financial transactions for the organization
• Serves as internal auditor for the organization.
• Ensures that all contacts with clients (e-mail, walk-In center, SMS or phone) provides the client with a personalized customer service experience of the highest level
• Through interaction with clients on the phone, uses every opportunity to build client’s interest in the company’s products and services
• Manages administrative duties assigned by the manager in an effective and timely manner
• Consistently stays abreast of any new information on the company’s products, promotional campaigns etc. to ensure accurate and helpful information is supplied to clients when they make enquiries
• Receives Visitors / clients on behalf of the organization
• Receives parcels / documents for the company
• Handles enquiries via e-mail and phone calls for the organization
• Distributes mails in the organization

6. SWOT Analysis

Jules Atkinson & Co® Corporate Training Firm, Inc. engaged the services of a core professional in the area of business consulting and structuring to assist our organization in building a well – structured corporate training and coaching business that can favorably compete in the highly competitive corporate training industry in the United States and the world at large.

Part of what the consultant did was to work with the management of our organization in conducting a SWOT analysis for Jules Atkinson & Co® Corporate Training Firm, Inc.. Here is a summary from the result of the SWOT analysis that was conducted on behalf of Jules Atkinson & Co® Corporate Training Firm, Inc.;

Our core strength lies in the power of our workforce. We have a team of experts in the industry, a team with excellent qualifications and experience in corporate training and business coaching.

Aside from the synergy that exists in our carefully selected faculty members and our strong online presence, Jules Atkinson & Co® Corporate Training Firm, Inc. is well positioned in a community with the right demography and we know we will attract loads of clients from the first day we open our doors for business.

As a new corporate training and business coaching school in Petoskey – Michigan, it might take some time for our organization to break into the market and gain acceptance especially from top profile clients in the already saturated corporate training and business coaching industry; that is perhaps our major weakness.

• Opportunities:

The opportunities in the corporate training industry is massive considering the number of individuals and corporate organizations who would want to acquire business skills and new soft skill sets in order to perform excellently in their jobs and personal life. As a standard corporate training firm, we are ready to take advantage of any opportunity that comes our way.

Every business faces a threat or challenge at some part of its cycle. These threats can be external or internal. This shows the importance of a business plan, because most threats or challenges are to be anticipated and plans put in place to cushion what effect they might bring to the business.

Some of the threats that we are likely going to face as a corporate training firm operating in the United States of America are unfavorable government policies that might affect business such as ours, the arrival of a competitor within our location of operation and global economic downturn which usually affects spending / purchasing power.

There is hardly anything we can do as regards these threats other than to be optimistic that things will continue to work for our good.

7. MARKET ANALYSIS

• Market Trends

One thing is certain, the trend in the corporate training industry is such that if you want to be ahead of your competitors, you should be able to acquire as much certifications as possible and you should be able to have loads of testimonies from your clients.

The truth is that, if your clients experienced huge difference in their business as a result of contracting their corporate training and business coaching needs, then they will be compelled to help promote your organization.

Another notable trend in this industry is the influence of technology; the advent of technology is responsible for the increase in income generated by corporate trainers all over the world.

With technology, it is now easier for corporate trainers to train students that are thousands of kilometers away from them. Tools like video calling / Skype, YouTube, DVDs and Webcast et al are being used by corporate trainers to train students in different parts of the world.

8. Our Target Market

Jules Atkinson & Co® Corporate Training Firm, Inc. is specialized in empowering corporate executives with robust business skills that will help them improve their capacity, capability, efficiency and productivity at work and in their private life.

As a standard corporate training firm, Jules Atkinson & Co® Corporate Training Firm, Inc. offers a wide range of corporate trainings hence we are well trained and equipped to service a wide range of corporate clients. Our target market as a corporate training firm cuts across people of different classes and people from all walks of life.

We are coming into the corporate training industry with a business concept and company’s profile that will enable us work with clients at different learning stages and different status. Below is a list of the clients that we have specifically design our services for;

• Banks, Insurance Companies and other related Financial Institutions
• Blue Chips Companies
• Corporate Organizations
• Manufacturers and Distributors
• Real Estate Owners, Developers, and Contractors
• The Government (Public Sector)
• Celebrities, Politicians, Public Figures and Public Speakers
• Sport Organizations
• Religious Organizations
• Political Parties and Politicians
• Television Stations
• Printing Press (Publishing Houses) and Authors
• Aspiring celebrities
• Entrepreneurs and Startups

Our Competitive Advantage

The corporate training industry is indeed a very prolific and highly competitive industry. Clients will only hire your services if they know that you can successfully help them acquire a new skill set that will help them to be effective at work and in their organization.

It is the practice for corporate trainers and business coaches to acquire as much certifications as it relates to their area of specialization; it is part of what will make them stay competitive in the industry

We are quite aware that to be highly competitive in the corporate training and business coaching industry means that you should be able to deliver consistent quality service, your clients should be able to experience remarkable difference and improvement and you should be able to meet the expectations of your clients at all times.

Jules Atkinson & Co® Corporate Training Firm, Inc. might be new in Petoskey – Michigan, but our management team and the owner of the business are considered gurus in the industry.

They are licensed and highly qualified corporate trainers that can successfully build corporate skills in people with zero proficiency to an 8 or 10 on a scale of 10 within a short period of time. These are part of what will count as a competitive advantage for us.

Aside from our robust experience as corporate trainers, we have a very strong online presence that will enable us train clients in different parts of the world from our online portals.

Lastly, our employees will be well taken care of, and their welfare package will be among the best within our category in the industry. It will enable them to be more than willing to build the business with us and help deliver our set goals and achieve all our business aims and objectives.

9. SALES AND MARKETING STRATEGY

• Sources of Income

Jules Atkinson & Co® Corporate Training Firm, Inc. is established with the aim of maximizing profits in the corporate training industry and we are going to go all the way to ensure that we do all it takes to attract clients on a regular basis. Jules Atkinson & Co® Corporate Training Firm, Inc. will generate income by offering the following corporate training services;

• Online Business Coaching Services

10. Sales Forecast

One thing is certain, there would always be corporate organizations, government agencies, non – profits and individuals who would need the services of corporate training firms to help train their staff.

Jules Atkinson & Co® Corporate Training Firm, Inc. is well positioned to take on the available market in the corporate training and business coaching industry and we are quite optimistic that we will meet our set target of generating enough income from our first six months of operation and grow our firm to enviable heights.

We have been able to critically examine the corporate training marketing space, we have analyzed our chances in the industry and we have been able to come up with the following sales forecast.

Below are the sales projections for Jules Atkinson & Co® Corporate Training Firm, Inc., it is based on the location of our business and of course the wide range of our corporate trainings and business coaching we offer and our target market;

• First Fiscal Year: $200,000
• Second Fiscal Year: $500,000
• Third Fiscal Year: $750,000

N.B : This projection was done based on what is obtainable in the industry and with the assumption that there won’t be any major economic meltdown and there won’t be any major competitor offering same corporate training as we do within the same location. Please note that the above projection might be lower and at the same time it might be higher.

• Marketing Strategy and Sales Strategy

We are mindful of the fact that there are stiff competitions amongst corporate training firms in the United States of America; hence we have been able to hire some of the best marketing experts to handle our sales and marketing.

Our sales and marketing team will be recruited based on their vast experience in the industry and they will be trained on a regular basis so as to be well equipped to meet their targets and the overall goal of Jules Atkinson & Co® Corporate Training Firm, Inc.

We will also ensure that our clients’ becomes experts with the skills they acquire; we want to build a first – class corporate training firm that will leverage on word of mouth advertisement from our satisfied clients.

Our goal is to grow Jules Atkinson & Co® Corporate Training Firm, Inc. to become one of the top 10 corporate training firms in the United States of America which is why we have mapped out strategies that will help us take advantage of the available market and grow to become a major force to reckon with not only in Petoskey – Michigan but also in other cities in the United States of America.

Jules Atkinson & Co® Corporate Training Firm, Inc. is set to make use of the following marketing and sales strategies to attract clients;

• Introduce our corporate training and business coaching firm by sending introductory letters alongside our brochure to corporate organizations, government agencies, NGOs and key stake holders in and around Petoskey – Michigan.
• Print out fliers and business cards and strategically drop them in offices, libraries, public facilities and train stations et al.
• Use friends and family to spread word about our corporate training and business coaching firm
• Post information about our corporate training and business coaching firm on bulletin boards in places like schools, libraries, and local coffee shops.
• Place a small classified advertisement in the newspaper, or local publication about our firm
• Use referral networks such as agencies that will help match clients with our corporate training firm
• Advertise our firm in relevant educational magazines, newspapers, TV and radio station.
• Attend relevant educational expos, seminars, and business fairs et al
• Engage direct marketing approach
• Encourage word of mouth marketing from loyal and satisfied clients

11. Publicity and Advertising Strategy

We have been able to work with our in – house brand and publicity consultants to help us map out publicity and advertising strategies that will help us walk our way into the heart of our target market.

We are set to become the number one choice for both corporate clients and individual clients in the whole of the United States and beyond which is why we have made provisions for effective publicity and advertisement of our corporate training firm.

Below are the platforms we intend to leverage on to promote and advertise Jules Atkinson & Co® Corporate Training Firm, Inc.;

• Place adverts on both print (newspapers and magazines) and electronic media platforms
• Sponsor relevant community based events / programs
• Leverage on the internet and social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, twitter, YouTube, Google + et al to promote our services
• Install our billboards in strategic locations all around Lake City Petoskey – Michigan
• Engage in roadshows from time to time in targeted neighborhoods
• Distribute our fliers and handbills in target areas
• Contact corporate organizations, non – profits and government agencies by calling them up and informing them of Jules Atkinson & Co® Corporate Training Firm, Inc. and the services we offer
• List Jules Atkinson & Co® Corporate Training Firm, Inc. in local directories / yellow pages
• Advertise Jules Atkinson & Co® Corporate Training Firm, Inc. in our official website and employ strategies that will help us pull traffic to the site.
• Ensure that all our staff members wear our branded shirts and all our vehicles are well branded with our company logo.

12.  Our Pricing Strategy

At Jules Atkinson & Co® Corporate Training Firm, Inc. we will keep the prices of our services below the average market rate for all of our customers by keeping our overhead low and by collecting payment in advance from corporate organizations who would hire our services. In addition, we will also offer special discounted rates to all our customers at regular intervals.

We are aware that there are some one – off jobs or government contracts which are always lucrative, we will ensure that we abide by the pricing model that is expected from contractors or organizations that bid for such contracts.

So also, there are some clients that would need regular access to corporate training and business coaching consultancy and advisory services, we will offer flat rate for such services that will be tailored to take care of such clients’ needs.

• Payment Options

The payment policy adopted by Jules Atkinson & Co® Corporate Training Firm, Inc. is all inclusive because we are quite aware that different customers prefer different payment options as it suits them but at the same time, we will ensure that we abide by the financial rules and regulation of the United States of America.

Here are the payment options that Jules Atkinson & Co® Corporate Training Firm, Inc. will make available to her clients;

• Payment via bank transfer
• Payment with cash
• Payment via credit cards
• Payment via online bank transfer
• Payment via check
• Payment via mobile money transfer
• Payment via bank draft

In view of the above, we have chosen banking platforms that will enable our client make payment for our services without any stress on their part. Our bank account numbers will be made available on our website and promotional materials.

13. Startup Expenditure (Budget)

It is a known fact that in setting up any business, the amount or cost will depend on the approach and scale you want to undertake.

If you intend to go big by renting a place, then you would need a good amount of capital as you would need to ensure that your employees are well taken care of, and that your facility is conducive enough for workers to be creative and productive.

The materials and equipment that will be used are nearly the same cost everywhere, and any difference in prices would be minimal and can be overlooked. As for the detailed cost analysis for starting a standard corporate training and business coaching; it might differ in other countries due to the value of their money.

However, this is what it would cost us to setup Jules Atkinson & Co® Corporate Training Firm, Inc. in the United of America;

• Business incorporating fees in the United States of America will cost – $750.
• The budget for Liability insurance, permits and license will cost – $3,500
• Leasing / renting an office space in a good location in Lake Street Petoskey – Michigan that will accommodate the number of employees for at least 6 months (Re – Construction of the facility inclusive) will cost – $150,000.
• The cost for furnishing and equipping the office (computers, printers, projectors, markers, servers / internet facility, furniture, telephones, filing cabinets, and electronics) will cost – $30,000
• The amount required to purchase the needed software applications – $3,500
• Launching an official website will cost – $500
• The amount need to pay bills and staff members for at least 2 to 3 months – $70,000
• Additional Expenditure such as Business cards, Signage, Adverts and Promotions will cost – $5,000
• Miscellaneous – $5000

Going by the report from the market research and feasibility studies conducted, we will need about two hundred and fifty thousand ( 250,000 ) U.S. dollars to successfully set up a medium scale but standard corporate training and business coaching firm in the United States of America.

Generating Funding/Startup Capital for Shae’s Touch Studios Business

Jules Atkinson & Co® Corporate Training Firm, Inc. is a private registered business that will be owned, financed and managed by Jules Atkinson and other partners. They are the financiers of the business which is why they decided to restrict the sourcing of the startup capital for the business to just three major sources.

These are the areas we intend generating our startup capital;

• Generate part of the startup capital from personal savings and sale of his stocks
• Generate part of the startup capital from friends and other extended family members
• Generate a larger chunk of the startup capital from the bank

N.B: We have been able to generate about $100,000 ( Personal savings $85,000 and soft loan from family members $15,000 ) and we are at the final stages of obtaining a loan facility of $150,000 from our bank. All the papers and documents have been duly signed and submitted, the loan has been approved and any moment from now our account will be credited.

14. Sustainability and Expansion Strategy

It is an established fact that, the future of a business lies in the number of loyal customers they have, the capacity and competence of their employees, their investment strategy and the business structure. If all of these factors are missing from a business, then it won’t be too long before the business close shop.

One of our major goals of starting Jules Atkinson & Co® Corporate Training Firm, Inc. is to build a business that will survive off its own cash flow without the need for injecting finance from external sources once the business is officially running.

We know that one of the ways of gaining approval and winning customers over is to offer our services a little bit cheaper than what is obtainable in the market and we are well prepared to survive on lower profit margin for a while.

Jules Atkinson & Co® Corporate Training Firm, Inc. will make sure that the right foundation, structures and standard operating processes are put in place to ensure that our staff welfare are well taken of. Our company’s corporate culture is designed to drive our business to greater heights and training and retraining of our workforce is at the top burner of our business strategy.

As a matter of fact, profit-sharing arrangement will be made available to all our management staff and it will be based on their performance for a period of five years or more as determined by the board of the organization. We know that if that is put in place, we will be able to successfully hire and retain the best hands we can get in the industry; they will be more committed to help us build the business of our dreams.

Check List/Milestone

• Business Name Availability Check: Completed
• Business Incorporation: Completed
• Opening of Corporate Bank Accounts various banks in the United States: Completed
• Opening Online Payment Platforms: Completed
• Application and Obtaining Tax Payer’s ID: In Progress
• Securing a standard office facility in a good location in Lake Street, Petoskey – Michigan: Completed
• Application for business license and permit: Completed
• Purchase of Insurance for the Business: Completed
• Conducting Feasibility Studies: Completed
• Generating part of the startup capital from the founders: Completed
• Writing of Business Plan: Completed
• Drafting of Employee’s Handbook: Completed
• Drafting of Contract Documents: In Progress
• Design of Logo for the business: Completed
• Secure trademark for our products: In Progress
• Printing of Promotional Materials: Completed
• Recruitment of employees: In Progress
• Purchase of the needed furniture, office equipment, software applications, electronic appliances and facility facelift: In progress
• Creating Official Website for the business: In Progress
• Creating Awareness for the business: In Progress
• Health and Safety and Fire Safety Arrangement: In Progress
• Establishing business relationship with vendors and key players in various industries: In Progress

How to Start a Training Business in 2024 (& Succeed at It)

Today, the United States dominates the corporate training market, accounting for over 30% of the global share in 2020. This presents a fantastic opportunity for anyone considering ltarting their own training business.

But let's be real, starting an online training business can be daunting if you're not an entrepreneur at heart. To do it successfully, you need to take an organized approach, develop an effective marketing strategy, and intimately understand your target audience. 

This article is for anyone interested in starting their own training company, sharing some stats andproviding a step-by-step guide on how to start a training company. So keep reading if you want to turn your passion for teaching into a profitable career.

What is a Training Company?

A training company is a company that offers courses and programs for personal and professional growth.

Education can range from purely technical to managerial.Organizations providing instruction can be for-profit or non-profit enterprises and need not be exclusively virtual to exist.

Businesses in the training industry come in many forms. Still, they all commit to empowering their clients with the knowledge and experience to achieve personal growth and professional success. That’s why a business can grow into a training institute or academy, or remain a small business.

There, the purpose of any instructor is to positively affect their students, whether they are learning how to use a new piece of software or become better leaders.

You can positively impact people's lives while also making money by starting a training business. A tutor with experience working with students who have learning disabilities, for instance, could start their own training business to meet the specific needs of these students and their families.

Thus, a training business is a great way to make a difference and make a good living at the same time. A training business could be perfect if you enjoy seeing others develop and grow

Why Start A Training Company?

Successful professionals and businesses rely heavily on training companies to help them develop the necessary expertise. 

But first, let’s resort to some stats telling us why starting a corporate training business can be good idea.

Did you know that the global corporate training market is expected to reach $370.3 billion by 2027?

It's expected to reach $370.3 billion by 2027 and will even exceed $493.32 billion by 2028! Small businesses are investing big bucks in employee training too, with an average spend of almost $1,400 per learner in 2022.

With remote work becoming more prevalent and the need for continuous professional development on the rise, the demand for training services is at an all-time high. 

That way, training firms can be real force, known for tailoring courses to meet the specific needs of their clients to boost employee and business productivity.

How Much Does it Cost to Launch a Business Program?

Before all, it is important to know the cost of starting a business training program and how to start a training business, as this will determine the scope and type of program you can offer. 

In particular, you can get the training in various formats, from virtual classes to in-person seminars. Private coaching services come with an associated time and material cost. Launching a more extensive program with in-person and virtual components will require more funding. 

The following factors can help you estimate the price of launching your business training program:

• If you have a client or student base, how much time do you anticipate spending with them?
• What kind of materials do you need, and how much of it?
• Does your company already have any necessary infrastructure (like an office, necessary tools, or an online learning management system)?
• Is a minimum amount of advertising and promotion required to bring in customers or enrollees?
• Do you have other operating expenses (such as insurance or permits)? 

You can better understand the initial investment required for your business training program if you answer these questions. If you want your online training business to succeed, you need to put in the necessary resources, but you must also be careful to spend your resources wisely.

Overall , an effective business training program does not have to break the bank with careful preparation and execution.

Benefits Of Starting An Online Training Business

As reported by the Census Bureau's Business Formation Statistics, the number of businesses formed increased by 55% from January to November of 2021. Launching a training company can bring about a wide variety of positive outcomes. Five of the most notable are listed below.

• You can set your hours and be your boss by starting a training company. You'll have complete control over your work schedule, who you serve, and your company's direction.
• Second, you have the power to make a difference . Clients of training companies can benefit from your services in meaningful ways. You can make a difference in people's lives by assisting them in developing their abilities and knowledge.
• The potential for financial success. If your training business is profitable, you can make a comfortable living. The business world can provide a comfortable living for those who are dedicated to their work and skilled at it.
• You get to set your hours if you own a training company. Your working hours can be arranged as needed to accommodate personal or professional obligations.
• You'll have plenty of business. Training companies are in high demand, particularly in fields that place a premium on lifelong learning. That's great news for anyone hoping to launch a thriving business and find a steady stream of customers. 

Note . businesses' training needs will increase as the economy transitions to a knowledge-based model.

How to Create Your Own Training Company: 10 Steps to Success

Starting your own training business can be a lucrative and fulfilling profession if you have a knack for teaching and a motivation to see others succeed. Below, we take a look at how to start a training business. You need to take several important steps to ensure your business is successful.

#1. Identify Your Niche

One must first determine their target market to launch a successful training company. Can you name some concrete abilities or areas of expertise you can impart to others? This could refer to any skill set, from writing code to promoting an event to giving speeches. Pick a market segment that interests you and has a lot of potential customers.

Think about your passion and how you like to spend your free time. In what ways can your professional and personal experiences serve as a source of insight for others? There is a high demand for training in some areas, so it's a good idea to look into market trends and employer demands to find those niches.

#2. Conduct Market Research

The success of your training business will depend on your ability to conduct market research after you have settled on a specific niche. It is essential to know your market, your audience, and their wants, needs, and problems. Google Trends, market research, and social media are just some online resources you can use to learn more about your target audience and the market.

To get accurate results from market research, one must be thorough and impartial. Assess the areas where your rivals excel and where you can set yourself apart. Find out what drives your intended trainees and how your training can help them succeed.

#3. Develop a Business Plan

Business plans are like road maps for your training company; they detail the company's intended direction, purpose, and objectives. A market analysis, financial forecasts, and promotional plans should also be incorporated. When starting and expanding your business, having a well-thought-out business plan will help you maintain focus and make educated choices.

There are a few things to keep in mind when writing a business plan:

• A synopsis of your company and its aims, or executive summary.
• Market analysis, which is an examination of your target market and its other players.
• Your products and services should include an explanation of the training programs you offer and how they cater to the specific needs of your customer base.
• Strategy for promoting and selling your training to a specific demographic
• Cost and revenue forecasts for a given time frame are what we call "financial projections."#

#4. Decide on Your Pricing Model

Determine who you're trying to reach and what kind of training you provide, as these factors will inform your pricing strategy. You can set your hourly rates per session or unit of study. Providing bundles or discounts for multiple purchases or referrals is another option. Establishing reasonable rates that compensate for your education and experience is crucial.

When settling on a pricing strategy, it's important to think about the following:

• How much are they willing to spend for those who will benefit most from your training?
• Where can I find pricing information for similar classes offered by your competitors?
• How much are you investing in the development and presentation of your training?
• What sets you apart as a trainer, and why should someone invest in your course?

#5. Create your training materials

The training materials you create should be adapted to the specific demographic and needs of the people using them. This could be in the form of video lectures, readings, assignments, and tests. Tools and platforms like Udemy and Teachable for online courses and video conferencing programs like Zoom are just a few examples of what you can use to design and deliver your training.

Keep these guidelines in mind as you develop your training materials:

• Maintain a minimum level of complexity: Pay attention to the most important ideas and techniques your target audience must grasp.
• Include visuals, audio, and user interaction to pique interest in your content.
• Offer evaluations and suggestions for improvement to aid your audience in learning.
• Keep abreast of the latest developments: Incorporate student feedback and adapt to industry shifts by updating your materials frequently.

#6. Build Your Online Presence

In today's digital age, it is essential for any business, including training businesses, to have a robust online presence. Get the word out about your training through various online channels such as social media, your website, and others.

Here are a few suggestions for enhancing your web profile:

• Build a website to advertise your training services and inform potential clients. Sites like Wix and Squarespace make it possible to build a functional website with a polished design and no knowledge of HTML or CSS.
• Use social media to spread the word about your training and connect with potential clients. Sites like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook are perfect for this. 
• Using these channels, you can distribute training materials, engage with your target audience, and gain followers.
• Use email marketing because it's cheap and easy to promote your training and stay in touch with your audience. 
• Mailchimp and Constant Contact are two examples of email marketing platforms that can be used to create and send emails to your subscribers, including newsletters, promotions, and more.

#7. Utilize Technology

The use of technology in education can improve the quality of training and save time. The following are examples of useful resources:

• Using a learning management system (LMS) such as Moodle or Canvas, you can easily organize and distribute your training materials to your students, monitor their development over time, and offer them constructive criticism.
• Technology like Zoom or Skype video conferencing features make it easy to hold real-time training sessions and engage with students.
• Course, authoring tools like Articulate Storyline and Adobe Captivate allow instructors to make lessons beyond simple text to engage students in a more active learning experience.
• Tools for evaluating students' knowledge can be found online, and sites like Kahoot and Quizlet are examples of such platforms.

#8. Launch Your Training

You can now begin offering training after creating your training materials, establishing your pricing structure, and establishing your online presence. You can provide initial sessions at no or low cost to get the ball rolling and get people talking. Additionally, you can inquire within your social circle for recommendations and feedback.

As you roll out your training, be flexible and open to change in response to student feedback. This will aid you in maintaining your dedication to offering first-rate instruction tailored to your specific audience's needs.

#9. Provide Ongoing Support and Resources

Giving students access to resources and support after they've completed their training is essential. This can keep them interested and enthusiastic about the training and reinforce its value.

Some examples of ongoing assistance and material support are:

• Social media groups, forums, and chat rooms can foster a sense of community among your students, allowing them to connect and share their experiences and knowledge.
• If you want your students to continue learning after your training ends, you can provide additional training materials, reading lists, and other resources.
• To ensure that your students can apply the skills and knowledge they acquire in your training to their unique situations, consider offering coaching or mentoring services on an ongoing basis.

#10. Measure and Improve Your Training

Last but not least, ensuring your training is constantly evaluated and enhanced is crucial to the success of your training business. Tools like surveys, feedback forms, and analytics can help you measure the success of your training and make adjustments based on student feedback.

For better training results, you can track and enhance the following areas:

• How happy are your trainees with their training? Do you know what you could do to make them happier?
• Is there evidence that your trainees have retained and can use the information and skills you've taught them? What can you do to improve their educational outcomes?
• Are you getting a good return on investment (ROI) from your training for your company and your employees? Is there a way to maximize the return on investment for your training?

4 Core Tools to Help You Start a Training Business

#1 educateme.

EducateMe's an intuitive learning management system that is a great resource for anyone considering launching an online training enterprise. 

It provides flexible course creation backed by seamless integrations, collaboration tools and powerful management tools. It allows you can create live sessions, schedule assignments and events, manage learning cohorts or groups and easily share materials.

Whether it's live video instruction, a training bootcamp course, or full-fledged courses, this platform has you covered with fully automated features that maximize learning development. With it, educators have simple access to real-time lesson monitoring and rich analytic data in every training session, while email and automated feedback features make exchanging information easy for students and instructors.

Lastly, thanks to branding options and intuitive design, users of this platform can also customize spaces and access it on any device.

This platform creates a unique approach to learning called “brain science-backed gamification”. Axionify is a cloud-based microlearning platform with gamification features. 

This system caters instruction to learners' preferences and strengths through bite-sized learning modules. 

The Axionify platform has many features to increase employee participation, such as leaderboards, badges, and other gamified elements that promote healthy competition and socialization among workers. Companies can monitor employee development and pinpoint areas where they may need additional training, thanks to the analytics features of the platform.

With its innovative approach to education, intuitive interface, and cutting-edge analytics features, Axionify is an invaluable tool for any business that wants to foster a culture of lifelong learning and development.

#3 Path LMS

Path LMS is a product of Blue Sky eLearn, and serves as an online learning management system. Organizations can use it to facilitate online educational content development, distribution, and administration. The Path LMS is an all-encompassing platform for designing and delivering interactive online courses, tracking the development of individual students, and analyzing the results of training initiatives.

The Path Learning Management System's features and capabilities include the following:

• Course creation using multiple media types like video, audio, text, and images.
• Content management.
• Learner management.
• Reporting and analytics.
• Integrations with a wide range of third-party applications like Zoom.

Docebo is a cloud-based LMS that facilitates the development and distribution of educational content for online users. In addition to tools for making courses, the platform includes a catalog of available courses, a way to enroll students, monitor their progress, generate reports, and connect with third-party programs.

Because of its flexible design and extensive customization options, Docebo can be easily adapted to meet the needs of any business and reflect its brand image. In addition, it supports mobile use so that it can be accessed from anywhere and used for learning.

In conclusion, it can take time to grasp the essentials on how to start a training business. You can start a profitable and satisfying training business if you dedicate time and energy to defining your target audience, researching the market, writing a business plan, settling on a pricing structure, developing training materials, establishing your online presence, and releasing your training.

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Updated on: 10 Dec 2020 , 9 mins to read

How to start a training business: 6 steps to success

The eLearning market is growing — fast. So fast, that from the $200 billion in 2019, it’s now expected to grow over $375 billion by 2026. And as people are warming up to the idea that eLearning is just as effective as traditional training, there’s never been a better time to think about how to start a training business.

Before you jump headfirst into starting a training business of your own, you’ll want to slow down and make sure you have everything in place. Do you know what will make your business successful?

Here’s our six-step plan on how to start a training company .

How to start a training business in 6 steps (and make it a success)

Starting a training company isn’t much different from setting up any other company. You’ll still need to think about all the essential aspects of business 101: Who’s your client base ? How will you persuade them to choose you? How will you beat the competition ?

Let’s look at how you can set your eLearning business up for success.

• Know your audience
• Use the right technology and tools
• Think about the content
• Partner with the right people
• Run it like a business

Curious to learn more? Let’s dive in!

1. Know your audience

Before starting your own training business, you need to decide who you’ll target with your business.

Enter market research.  The best way is to hire a market research company that can assess the viability of the training business you’re considering. A more affordable option is to talk to people, run an informal survey, or put up a simple “sign up for updates” form on your Facebook or landing page to gauge people’s interest.

Ultimately, the goal is to land on a specific target audience for your services before you start a training business. Who are they? What do they need to learn? What do they want to learn? The next step is to determine how large this audience is . This way you’ll be able to estimate your company’s profitability.

Sustainability and profitability are two elements you should look at before you commit your time and money to start an online training business. Of course, you’ll only be able to tell with real certainty after your business opens doors, but this will definitely help you rule out some impossible markets.

Another factor you need to consider regarding your audience is whether  you’re targeting your local market (which, in countries like the US or China can be more than big enough) or an international one. This will affect a great many things, such as your content (depending on who you want to reach you might need to offer localized courses), the way of delivery (to easily target an international audience you’ll need a full-featured eLearning platform), even your payment methods.

Another consideration is whether you are targeting the general market (that is, J. Random User on the web) or businesses.

Don’t rule out enterprise training. Offering enterprise training as an outside contractor is a wholly viable business option. Not all enterprises have internal enterprise training programs, and even those that do, don’t cover all their training needs with them. That’s where you, as an independent training contractor could come in and offer a complete training program saving them from the hassle of deploying and maintaining it.

2. Use the right technology and tools

To run a successful eLearning business, it’s important to pick the right technology. After all, eLearning is 50% content and 50% delivery. Delivery refers to speed, UI, ease of use, intuitiveness, features ,  and more. And that is all technology.

Modern technology, high-speed internet, and the emergence of turn-key, full-featured LMS platforms like TalentLMS , have leveled the playing field. With the right tools in place, even a small, two-person company can compete with a big, established training provider — if not in breadth of content, then surely in quality and presentation.

Besides, don’t forget that the technology you choose will affect your scalability options further down the road — i.e. how big your business can eventually get.

You probably want your eLearning business to be infinitely scalable from day one, but that’s not easy (or affordable) to achieve, especially if you’re considering building the learning platform yourself. It’s also something that’s not necessary to address when you first start a training business.

In this case, cloud-based LMS is the best solution , as essentially you offload the scalability problem to your cloud provider, and you’re free to increase your plan (and reach) whenever the need arises.

This flexibility will usually come at a small per-user fee, paid to your Cloud vendor. But, unless you’re at Google scale, it’s still better than paying a huge amount upfront for building your own server farm, plus the salaries to maintain your own IT team.

Build your online training courses in minutes with TalentLMS. The learning management system that’s easy to set up, easy to use, and easy to customize.

3. Think about the content

When we’re thinking about how to start a training business, one of the first things that comes up is content. Because content is indeed the core of your business.

Whether you’re offering Arabian flute lessons to all consumers or Economics 101 to enterprise audiences, your content needs to be top-notch, because this is what will make your eLearning business stand out.

Think polished, professional-looking content , with a high enough production value. No sloppy writing, no boring PowerPoints, no boring videos of talking heads.

Take the time to do it right yourself. Or hire a talented writer, and learn about all the trade tricks that can increase the perceived — and actual — quality of your content (e.g., consistent typography).

The most important decision, though, is the kind of content you’ll invest in. While you might be passionate about Latin, it doesn’t mean others are too — especially not a large enough audience to help you sustain an online training business.

You should also be cautious of uber-trendy subjects, as they may be unsustainable for any significant period of time. Cryptocurrency might be trendy now, but not in the next two years, and the last thing you’d want is to have invested loads of money on content that won’t pay off.

4. Partner with the right people

You might be tempted to wear every single hat in your new business. That’s fair. When you’re starting a training business, chances are you can’t afford to hire a dedicated department for marketing or sales. But, doing it all yourself is not a viable option, either.

Instead, find the right freelancers and partner with them. For example, you can outsource plenty of business administration tasks to a virtual assistant. You can hire freelancers to cover your marketing tasks, and even get instructional designers and subject matter experts to design your courses.

Be honest about your weaknesses and your strengths. And then hire the right people who complement those.

5. Market it

If you have your business license at hand, your content polished and loaded, and your LMS ready to welcome your learners, you might think you’re all set.

But that’s just the first part of starting a training business. The really hard part will be to market your training offering so that enough people sign up.

This all depends on your marketing budget and your ingenuity. At the very least, you should give your website and service a professional and memorable look based on your corporate branding .

Your target audience will also determine how you will market your eLearning offerings. For example, if you target a niche industry (e.g., music production courses), then it would be a good idea to advertise in trade magazines and websites. If you’re competing for enterprise training contracts, you should target websites like LinkedIn, talk to enterprise executives directly, etc.

Of course, if your eLearning business idea is unique and your content well thought out, it might market itself through word of mouth and favorable online reviews. But don’t depend on that  — to paraphrase Glengarry Glen Ross, you should “always be marketing”.

6. Run it like a business

This goes without saying, but if you want to start your own online training business, you would need to treat it like a business, too.

First, you’ll need a quick starter course in economics to learn about revenue, taxes, and  pricing . Don’t assume that you know these things and that running a business is intuitive. Some economic concepts are common knowledge. But most will come as a surprise, or maybe a revelation. A lack of understanding of notions like sunk cost, opportunity cost, and price curves has hurt far too many businesses to mention.

Grasping economic concepts is just the start; equally vital is establishing an LLC business bank account to separate personal and business finances, ensuring legal and financial clarity.

You’ll also need to keep up with the bureaucracy (the IRS doesn’t joke around), keep an eye on your competitors, and be on the lookout for new business opportunities and partnerships.

If what you have in mind is the cliche image of a boss who doesn’t do anything but collect profits each month, you better forget it. Running a business is a 24/7 job.

How to start a training company 101: From theory to practice

Now you know how to start a training business. And even though it’s hard work, there’s never been a better time to dive in. The online training industry is booming and will continue to grow.

Are you considering starting your own training and development company? What’s stopping you? Already a proud eLearning business owner? What lessons did you learn when you started your training business?

Let us know in the comments!

Save time, frustration and money with TalentLMS, the most-affordable and user-friendly learning management system on the market. Try it for free for as long as you want and discover why our customers consistently give us 4.5 stars (out of 5!)

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Originally published on: 13 Jul 2018

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How to Write a Martial Arts Business Plan With Examples

School Business Plan

Language School Business Plan

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Summer Camp Business Plan

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After-School Program Business Plan

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Did you find what you are looking for.

Thinking of starting a school or a coaching business? Or is it about vocational school?

Well, no matter what’s your business segment in the education and training sector—you need a solid business plan to turn it into a long-term success.

This library of education and training business plan samples here can inspire and guide you as you begin to plan your business. So, don’t worry; we got you covered on that part.

Let’s learn more about these sample training and education plans, starting with their benefits.

Benefits of using an industry-specific business plan example

Believe it or not, using an industry-specific business plan example is the best and probably the quickest way of writing a business plan.

Doubt it? Hold, this may change your perception; an extended list of the benefits of using an industry-specific business plan template.

• Inspiration : Reading a business-specific template can be incredibly helpful in getting content inspiration. Furthermore, it helps you gain insights into how to present your business idea, products, vision, and mission.
• Risk-free method : You are taking a reference from a real-life, let’s say, After-school program business plan—so you know this plan has worked in the past or uses a method subscribed by experts.
• Deep market understanding : Analyzing and reading such examples can provide clarity and develop a deeper market understanding of complex industry trends and issues you may not know but relate directly to the realities of your business landscape.
• Increased credibility : A business plan developed using an example follows a standard business plan format, wisely presents your business, and provides invaluable insights into your business. There’s no question it establishes you as a credible business owner, demonstrating your deep business and market understanding.
• Realistic financial projections : Financial forecasting being a critical aspect of your plan, this real-life example can help you better understand how they project their financials—ultimately helping you set realistic projections for your business.

These were the benefits; let’s briefly discuss choosing an education or training business plan template that best suits your business niche.

Choosing an Education or Training Business Plan

This category has business plan templates for various education or tutoring businesses. With many similar business types and templates, you may not find the most suitable one through manual scrolling.

Here are the steps to consider while choosing the most suitable business plan template.

Identify your business type

Are you going to be an online coaching platform? Or a traditional school? Or a general daycare center?

Asking yourself these questions will help you identify your business type, which will help in choosing a niche-specific business plan template.

Once you identify your business type, you can choose between templates for different business segments.

Search for the template

We have an in-built search feature, so you can easily search for a business-specific template using your business name as a key term(e.g., summer camp business plan). Once you have the search results, choose the most suitable one. Simple as that.

Review the example

Look closely at the content of the sample business plan you are considering. Analyze its sections and components to identify relevant as well as unnecessary areas.

Since all the Upmetrics templates are tailored to specific business needs, there won’t be many fundamental customizations. However, a hybrid business model targeting multiple customer segments may require adjustments.

No big deal—you can view and copy sections from other business plan examples or write using AI while customizing a template.

That’s how you find and select the most suitable business plan for educational services. Still haven’t found the perfect business plan example? Here’s the next step for you.

Explore 400+ business plan examples

Discover Upmetrics’ library of 400+ sample business plans to help you write your business plan. Upmetrics is a modern and intuitive business planning app that streamlines business planning with its free templates and AI-powered features. So what are you waiting for? Download your example and draft a perfect business plan.

From simple template to full finished business plan

Business Plan Template for Training And Development

• Great for beginners
• Ready-to-use, fully customizable Subcategory
• Get started in seconds

Are you ready to take your training and development program to the next level? Look no further than ClickUp's Business Plan Template for Training and Development. This template is a game-changer for companies and entrepreneurs looking to establish or expand their training initiatives.

With ClickUp's Business Plan Template, you can:

• Clearly outline your goals, objectives, and strategies to attract investors and secure funding
• Create a comprehensive financial plan to effectively manage your training program's budget
• Streamline your planning process and collaborate with your team in one centralized location

Don't miss out on the opportunity to make your training and development program a success. Get started with ClickUp's Business Plan Template today!

Business Plan Template for Training And Development Benefits

A Business Plan Template for Training and Development can provide numerous benefits to companies and entrepreneurs:

• Clearly define training and development goals and objectives
• Develop a comprehensive strategy for implementing training programs
• Identify and allocate resources effectively to support the training initiatives
• Create a roadmap for measuring the success and impact of the training programs
• Attract investors and secure funding by showcasing a well-thought-out business plan
• Ensure alignment between training and development initiatives and overall business objectives
• Enable effective management and monitoring of training programs
• Provide a framework for continuous improvement and adaptation of training strategies
• Facilitate collaboration and communication among stakeholders involved in training and development efforts

Main Elements of Training And Development Business Plan Template

ClickUp's Business Plan Template for Training and Development is the perfect tool to help you create a comprehensive plan for your training initiatives. Here are the main elements of this template:

• Custom Statuses: Track the progress of each section of your business plan with statuses such as Complete, In Progress, Needs Revision, and To Do.
• Custom Fields: Add important details to your plan using custom fields like Reference, Approved, and Section, allowing you to categorize and organize your information.
• Custom Views: Utilize different views to gain insights into your plan, including the Topics view to focus on specific areas, the Status view to track progress, the Timeline view to visualize deadlines, the Business Plan view for an overview of all sections, and the Getting Started Guide view to easily navigate the template.

With ClickUp's Business Plan Template for Training and Development, you'll have all the tools you need to create a successful plan that will propel your training initiatives forward.

How To Use Business Plan Template for Training And Development

If you're looking to create a comprehensive business plan for training and development, the Business Plan Template in ClickUp can be a valuable tool. Follow these six steps to make the most of this template and ensure that your training and development initiatives are well-planned and successful.

1. Define your objectives

Start by clearly defining the objectives of your training and development program. Are you looking to improve employee skills, enhance leadership capabilities, or onboard new hires effectively? Identifying your objectives will help you tailor your plan to meet specific goals.

Use custom fields in ClickUp to outline and track your training and development objectives.

2. Assess your current situation

Evaluate your current training and development practices and identify areas for improvement. Look for gaps in skills, knowledge, or resources that need to be addressed. This will help you determine the specific training programs and initiatives required.

Utilize the Gantt chart in ClickUp to visualize your current situation and plan for necessary changes.

3. Identify target audience and training needs

Identify the specific audience or employees who will benefit from the training and development program. Conduct a needs analysis to determine the skills and knowledge gaps that need to be addressed for each target group. This will help you tailor your training programs to meet their specific needs.

Create tasks in ClickUp to assign training needs analysis to team members and track progress.

4. Develop a training plan

Based on the identified training needs, develop a comprehensive training plan. Outline the specific training programs, workshops, or courses that will be provided. Include details such as content, delivery methods, and timelines. Consider incorporating a mix of internal and external training resources.

Use Board view in ClickUp to create a visual representation of your training plan and track the progress of each training program.

5. Allocate resources and budget

Determine the resources and budget required to implement your training and development plan. This includes identifying trainers or facilitators, training materials, technology platforms, and any other necessary resources. Allocate a budget that covers all aspects of the training program.

Utilize custom fields in ClickUp to track resource allocation and budget for each training program.

6. Implement, evaluate, and adjust

Implement your training and development initiatives according to the plan. Monitor the progress, evaluate the effectiveness of each program, and gather feedback from participants. Use this feedback to make necessary adjustments and improvements to your training and development plan.

Set up Automations in ClickUp to schedule regular evaluations and collect feedback from participants. Use this data to continuously improve your training and development initiatives.

By following these six steps and utilizing the Business Plan Template in ClickUp, you'll be able to create a well-structured and effective plan for training and development in your organization.

Get Started with ClickUp’s Business Plan Template for Training And Development

Companies or entrepreneurs who are looking to establish or expand their training and development programs can use the ClickUp Business Plan Template for Training And Development to streamline the process and ensure all aspects are covered.

To get started, hit “Add Template” to sign up for ClickUp and add the template to your Workspace. Make sure you designate which Space or location in your Workspace you’d like this template applied.

Next, invite relevant members or guests to your Workspace to start collaborating.

Now you can take advantage of the full potential of this template to create a comprehensive business plan:

• Use the Topics View to break down your business plan into different sections and topics
• The Status View will help you track the progress of each section and topic, with statuses such as Complete, In Progress, Needs Revision, To Do
• The Timeline View will provide a visual representation of your training and development milestones and deadlines
• The Business Plan View will give you an overview of your entire plan, allowing you to easily navigate and make updates
• The Getting Started Guide View will provide step-by-step instructions and guidance on how to use the template effectively
• Utilize the custom fields Reference, Approved, and Section to add additional information, track approvals, and categorize different sections
• Collaborate with team members to brainstorm ideas, set goals, and develop strategies
• Monitor and analyze the progress of your business plan to ensure it aligns with your training and development objectives.
• Business Plan Template for Gym Owners
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How To Start A Training Business in 2024? Step-by-Step Guide

Rahul Mehta

Thinking about diving into the world of education in 2024? Well, buckle up because it's an exciting ride! In a workforce that's always changing, the need for skills and learning never takes a backseat.

Whether you're an expert in your field itching to share your wisdom or an entrepreneurial spirit hungry for a fresh challenge, starting a training business is your golden ticket to making a real impact.

Our step-by-step guide is like your friendly GPS, helping you navigate the ins and outs of launching and thriving in the training scene.

We'll cover everything from finding your groove and creating killer content to rocking the digital platforms and building your fan base.

Get ready for an adventure as we spill the beans on how to kickstart your journey in the world of training and development in 2024!

Why is 2024 A Great Time To Start A Training Business?

2024 appears to be a promising time to venture into the business training for several compelling reasons:

Growing Demand for Continuous Learning

The accelerating pace of technological advancements and the dynamic nature of the professional landscape have fueled an increasing demand for continuous learning.

Individuals and businesses are actively seeking opportunities to upskill and reskill to stay competitive in the job market. This growing demand creates a favorable environment for training providers to offer relevant and sought-after training solutions.

Remote Work and Flexible Learning on the Rise

The surge in remote work and the prevalence of flexible learning arrangements have opened up new avenues for delivering training.

Through the utilization of on-demand training materials, blended learning methodologies, and online courses , training providers now have the ability to reach a broader audience. The enhanced flexibility and accessibility of training make it more appealing to a diverse group of learners.

Increased Investment in Human Capital

With the adoption of online courses, blended learning approaches, and on-demand training resources, training providers can cater to a wider audience. The heightened flexibility and accessibility of training make it an attractive option for a broader range of learners.

Integration of Emerging Technologies and Innovations

Advancements in technology present opportunities for innovative and engaging training delivery methods.

Technologies like virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and artificial intelligence (AI) can be effectively employed to optimize training sessions and enhance overall learning outcomes.

Successful training providers will be those who adeptly integrate these technologies into their programs.

Steps To Start A Training Business In 2024

Identify your niche.

Identifying your niche is a crucial step in launching a successful training business. Begin by thoroughly researching market trends and demands to understand the evolving needs of potential clients.

Analyze emerging industries and identify gaps in existing training offerings. Simultaneously, assess your own skills and expertise, recognizing the areas where you excel and can deliver significant value.

Choosing a niche that aligns with market needs is imperative for long-term success. This strategic alignment ensures that your training services meet a genuine demand, enhancing the likelihood of attracting and retaining clients.

By combining a thorough understanding of market dynamics with a realistic evaluation of your capabilities, you can carve out a specialized and competitive position in the training industry, setting the stage for a thriving business venture.

Conduct a Market Analysis

To effectively conduct a comprehensive market analysis, it is imperative to delve into demographics and understand the specific needs, preferences, and characteristics of potential clients.

This involves considering factors such as age, educational background, and professional aspirations. Simultaneously, a thorough examination of competitors within the training industry is essential.

Analyzing their strengths, weaknesses, and unique offerings enables the formulation of a distinctive value proposition. Recognizing potential challenges and opportunities is equally vital.

Anticipating obstacles, such as evolving technological trends or changing market demands, allows for strategic planning. Conversely, identifying opportunities, such as gaps in existing training programs or emerging niche markets, empowers the business to stay agile and innovative.

A well-executed market analysis lays the groundwork for a successful online training business, providing valuable insights to shape a robust business strategy.

Develop a Business Plan

To successfully launch a training business in 2024, developing a comprehensive business plan is crucial.

Here’s how you can do it:

• Begin by setting clear business goals and objectives that align with your vision for the training venture. Define the niche or industry you aim to serve, specify the training programs you intend to offer and articulate the unique value proposition that sets your business apart.
• Next, create a detailed financial plan to establish a solid foundation for sustainable growth. This includes estimating startup costs, projecting revenue streams, and outlining a realistic budget. Clearly identifying your target market and competition will contribute to the effectiveness of your marketing and sales strategies. Exploring funding options such as merchant cash advances can provide the necessary capital to fuel your growth initiatives.
• Craft a marketing plan that leverages digital platforms, social media, and other relevant channels to reach your audience. Implement sales strategies that highlight the benefits of your training programs and offer compelling incentives for prospective clients.

A well-thought-out business plan not only serves as a roadmap but also provides a strategic framework for the successful establishment and growth of your online training business in today’s competitive landscape.

Legal and Regulatory Considerations

In establishing a training business, meticulous attention to legal and regulatory considerations is paramount. The first crucial step involves registering your training business with the appropriate authorities.

This process not only legitimizes your venture but also provides a formal framework for its operations. Understanding local regulations and compliance requirements is equally vital, as adherence to these standards ensures the smooth and lawful functioning of your business.

Different regions may have specific guidelines governing the provision of training services, making it imperative to conduct thorough research and stay informed about any updates or changes.

Additionally, obtaining the necessary licenses and certifications is non-negotiable. These credentials not only bolster the credibility of your training programs but also demonstrate a commitment to quality and professionalism, instilling confidence in both clients and participants.

By proactively addressing legal and regulatory considerations, you pave the way for a solid foundation and sustainable success in the competitive landscape of the training industry.

Build Your Brand

Building your brand is another critical step in successfully launching your training business. For this, begin by carefully selecting a memorable business name and designing a distinctive logo that resonates with your target audience.

Your brand's visual elements should not only be eye-catching but also convey the essence of your training services. A professional online presence is essential in this digital age, so take the time to build a website that is easy to use and showcases your offerings, experience, and clientele.

Use social media to interact with prospective customers and promote your training methodology. Furthermore, concentrate on creating a unified brand identity that showcases your USPs and guiding principles.

A strong brand presence lays the groundwork for a long-lasting and prosperous training business by improving your credibility and leaving a lasting impact on your clientele.

Create Your Training Materials

To kickstart a thriving training business , a pivotal step involves the creation of top-notch training materials designed to captivate your target audience. Begin by crafting a meticulously structured curriculum that aligns with the specific needs and objectives of your potential clients.

Your content should be both informative and pertinent, fostering an environment conducive to effective learning. Cater to diverse learning styles by tailoring your materials to accommodate varied preferences. Moreover, carefully select the format of your training materials, whether it be written guides, video tutorials, interactive presentations, or a hybrid approach.

The chosen format should prioritize accessibility and convenience to maximize audience engagement. Elevate the learning experience by incorporating interactive elements such as quizzes, discussions, and hands-on activities.

These features not only reinforce key concepts but also ensure participants remain actively involved, contributing to a dynamic and enjoyable training atmosphere.

By placing emphasis on the creation of compelling and well-crafted training materials, you establish a solid foundation for success in the dynamic landscape of 2024.

Set Up Your Infrastructure

Building a strong infrastructure is essential, and you should carefully consider where to locate it or use an online platform, making sure that it fits your target market and business strategy.

In the digital transformation , pick an online platform that appeals to a worldwide audience. If choosing a physical location, think about things like accessibility and facilities. To ensure that your training is provided to the highest standards whether it is in-person or digitally, invest in cutting-edge equipment and technology.

Also, for a seamless user experience, prioritize developing an intuitive registration and payment system concurrently. This enhances customer satisfaction while also streamlining your company's operations as a whole.

Marketing and Promotion

To establish a training business, creating a strong marketing and promotion plan is a crucial first step. Start by creating a thorough marketing strategy that includes your target market, USPs, and main messaging.

Make the most of online advertising channels and social media to expand your reach and establish a powerful online presence. Engage prospective customers with articles that are interactive, eye-catching material, and niche-specific, well-planned advertisements.

Furthermore, think about forming alliances and working together with other companies in the sector to increase the awareness of your brand.

Creating partnerships with like-minded businesses, opinion leaders, or complimentary service suppliers will increase your visibility and authority.

A key component of starting a profitable training company in 2024 is choosing the appropriate pricing plan. To start, start by studying the dynamics of the market, consumer expectations, and price strategies of competitors by doing in-depth pricing research within your specialty.

What potential customers are willing to pay for your training services will be revealed by this analysis, which will be quite insightful. Equipped with this knowledge, concentrate on ascertaining your distinctive selling point, or what makes your training company stand out from competitors.

Give a clear explanation of the advantages and benefits that your programs will bring to clients. Determine profitable and competitive prices that accurately represent the caliber and distinctiveness of your offerings by thoroughly understanding your value proposition.

Keeping your training firm profitable while maintaining competition will guarantee that it does more than just draw clients.

Embarking on the training business in 2024 opens up a realm of opportunities for those passionate about sharing knowledge. Establishing a successful training empire boils down to following the guidelines we've laid out.

Craft compelling content, pinpoint your specialization, and fully embrace the digital transformation. Flexibility is key in this venture—keep abreast of technological advancements, stay informed about current events, and consistently prioritize the needs of your students.

Also, if you're a creator looking for the ideal platform to kickstart your training business, your search ends with FreshLearn.

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Grow Your Business

8 steps to building an online course business (+ business plan template), share this article.

There has never been a better time to build a business selling online courses . By 2027, the global e-learning market is estimated to reach an enormous $521.8 billion ( Research and Markets ), signalling an enormous potential.  Millions of people are purchasing online courses, inside and outside of the traditional education system, in order to upgrade their knowledge and skills.

Skip ahead:

Step 1: Decide what to teach

Step 2: create a business plan for your online training business, step 3: validate market demand, step 4: create a compelling and unique brand, step 5: build your audience, step 6: create an online course, step 7: focus on customer success, step 8: scale your business.

It comes as no surprise that in response to this demand, entrepreneurs and subject matter experts from all over the world have started creating and selling online courses to share their knowledge with others.

At Thinkific, we’ve felt the effects of this demand first hand as thousands of individuals and organizations have started using our platform to create online courses .

Creating an online course is just one part of building an online course business. Building a business is the other part.

But let’s be real here. If you ask ANY type of business owner if it was easy for them to build their business, they will tell you that it wasn’t.

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither is an online course business

At the beginning of 2017, I watched a close friend of mine open his own barbershop. It took him 3 months of renovations and tens of thousands of dollars just to get his barbershop ready for him to welcome his first customer through the front door. (I was his second customer, by the way. Someone else beat me to the grand opening by about 5 minutes!)

For my friend, those 3 months of preparation work was just the beginning. During the next 6 months after his grand opening, he worked 7 days per week to build up his clientele and recoup his startup costs before he started hiring more barbers. Why did he do this? Because that’s what it took to start his own barbershop. 

What does this have to do with building an online course business?

The point of this story is that it takes a lot of work upfront to build a business . It doesn’t happen overnight and building an online course business is no exception. There is a lot of work you will have to do, both before and after you create your course, in order to be successful.

Unfortunately, most course creators give up on their business before putting in the work required to ensure they will be successful. They stop digging for gold before they experience the big payoff that makes all the hard work worth it.

Even though it takes a lot of work to build a successful online course business, there are plenty of other people that have done it before (check out our customer stories to see some examples). 

With that in mind, we reached out to more than 40 successful entrepreneurs and online course creators. These people have literally built their careers by sharing their knowledge with others, many of them selling millions of dollars worth of training programs and online courses throughout their careers.

After reviewing all of the valuable insights these online course creation experts and entrepreneurs shared with us, we managed to distill the process of building a successful online course business into 8 specific steps (well, more like phases, since each one of these phases has several steps involved).

In this guide to building an online course business, we’ll be sharing these 8 steps with you.

8 Steps to Building a Successful Online Course Business

Before we jump into Step 1, there is something very important that you need to understand:

By itself, an online course is NOT a business

Without an online course to sell, you can’t exactly build an online course business. But creating your online course is just one part of building your business . Your online course is your product. It’s not your entire business.

As you can see from the graphic below, a typical online course business has many other parts as well:

This may surprise you, but creating an online course isn’t even the first step in the process of building an online course business. Out of the 8 steps we’re about to go through, creating a course is Step #6.

You’re welcome to skip steps 1-5 if you want to, but I would advise against it and here’s why:

If you jump straight to creating a course without strategically choosing a topic to teach (Step 1), creating a business model (Step 2), and validating demand for that topic (Step 3), you could end up creating a course that no one wants to sign up for.

Secondly, if you don’t build your brand (Step 4) and audience (Step 5) before you launch your course, you won’t have a way to stand out among your competition or have an audience to promote your course to.

Even if you have the “perfect” course created today, without a compelling brand and an audience to promote it to, it will be very difficult to generate sales. No sales = no business.

So to save yourself many hours of effort and (potentially) thousands of dollars in course creation and marketing costs, don’t skip these steps.

Okay, let’s dive in…

The first step in building an online course business is deciding what you will teach. What topic do you want to become known for? What topic are you expert enough to teach to others?

To be an expert at something, you just have to know more about your topic than the person you are teaching. That’s it. To that person, you’re an expert. Don’t overthink this.

Choose your course topic

Between the combination of your life experience and your professional experience, there are likely several topics that you know enough about to create a course on.

To help narrow down a specific course topic , we recommend completing the following exercise:

On a piece of paper, draw 2 vertical lines to create 3 columns. Label the first column Passions & Interests . Label the second column Skills . Label the third column Experience & Achievements .

Next, start adding as many things as you can think of to each column (aim for at least 20 per column).

Once you’ve done this, identify the top 2-3 topics where your passions/interests, your skills, and your experience/achievements intersect.

For example, if you like science fiction ( passion/interest ), you’re a great writer ( skill ), and you’ve written several science fiction novels ( experience/achievement ), then “how to write a science fiction novel” is a viable topic to consider teaching to others.

“You’ve been given a talent, you’ve been given a gift, you’ve been given experiences in your life that are here to serve others.” – Alexi Panos

Identify a specific target audience

Once you’ve identified a specific topic to teach, the next step is to identify a specific target audience (aka a target market) that is interested in that topic.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that your topic (and therefore your course) will appeal to everyone. If you try to create a course that appeals to everyone, it will likely appeal to no one. I know it’s counter-intuitive, but trust me on this.

To give you an example, one of our customers ( Lizzie Lasater ) is a yoga practitioner and instructor. When she decided to create online courses , naturally, she decided to start teaching yoga online  

Instead of creating courses to teach people how to practice yoga (a very broad and highly competitive topic) she decided to narrow her target audience to other yoga instructors (more specific). With other yoga instructors as her target audience, she created courses that are specifically about how to become a better yoga teacher.

Once you have decided on what to teach and have sufficient clarity about your course topic, it is time to get your business plan ready. 

A business plan or business model is a formal blueprint describing how you will structure, manage and market your online course business. It is important to create one as it helps to ensure that your online course business will remain competitive and financially successful in the long term. 

You can choose one of the many software tools to create a standard business plan or use a regular spreadsheet or word processing software.

Now, as every business is different, their business models can vary drastically. However, certain aspects remain common to most companies. 

Here, we have laid out what you must include in your business plan:

Describe your business

A business description is needed to clearly state the purpose of your business, your target audience, and how you plan to deliver your products and services. 

When drafting it, you must be as objective and concise as possible regarding the nature of your online course and how it intends to help the target audience. 

Make sure to highlight if you will deliver your courses only online or offline. It also helps to state if your courses will be instructor-led or delivered through other e-learning methods. 

Identify your marketing strategy

Once you describe the nature of your business, the next step is to put together a marketing and sales strategy. 

Describe the strategies you will use to market your online course and how you plan to implement your email marketing, social media marketing, and other organic methods. 

In addition, you need to plan to allocate a budget for your paid advertisements and online marketing if you decide to opt for pay-per-click ad programs. 

Hiring and team management

While many online course creators choose to run their own shows, many opt to hire virtual assistants or full-time employees for help. Others choose to delegate tasks to freelancers or third-party vendors. 

Make sure to describe how you plan to delegate the tasks you cannot do. It is always a good idea to outsource tasks that do not require your intervention to save time for those that require your expertise.

Business operations

This section of the b-plan states how your day-to-day business activities will be structured and managed. 

You can include your course content, operational hours, telecom and IT-related necessities, insurance, etc. The more concise your operations section, the better ground it makes for you to validate your plan later. 

Every business requires money to run, and online businesses are no exception. In addition to the marketing and advertising expenses mentioned above, you will also need to factor in infrastructure, technology, hiring, etc. Remember to also describe what you plan to sell and how you plan to monetize your business. 

With this, make sure to have a detailed budget plan and allocate your resources to different expenses fairly. However, be careful to ensure that your budget is within what you can commit to and it does not make you feel overstretched. 

Please note that in addition to your online business course, you may also add other income streams such as selling ebooks, offering paid talks, etc. 

Two financial calculations you should consider initially are:

Gross Profit Margin: This is the number of courses you sell minus the cost of running your online course. It can be represented as a percentage. 

Gross Profit Margin = (Net course sale revenues – cost of running your online course) / net course sales x 100

Selling, General and Administrative (SG&A) Ratio : This figure tells you the percentage of your online course sales revenue used to cover your operational expenses. 

SGA = [Selling + General + Operational (Administrative) expenses] / Net online course sales revenue

While we have described the essential aspects of a business plan, it also helps to follow the structure of a formal Business Model Canvas .  This concept was popularized by Alexander Osterwalder in 2005 and consisted of nine building blocks. These include key partners, activities, resources, cost structure, revenue streams, value propositions, customer relationships, channels, and customer segments.

Once you’ve identified a specific topic to teach and have your basic business plan blueprint in place, the next step is to validate the demand for that topic.

As a course creator it sucks to spend several weeks, maybe even months (or years?!), creating an online course about a topic that you find out there is no demand for.

It’s a lot more efficient to validate demand for your course upfront before you invest time, effort and money creating a course.

Here are 2 ways you can validate the demand for your course topic:

Research your competition

See if you can find other people or companies that are selling courses and other forms of training about your topic (or a similar one), or who serve your target audience.

• Bestselling books on Amazon
• Other online courses
• Popular blogs and forums
• Top podcasts on iTunes
• In-person seminars, conferences, workshops
• Online events (virtual summits, webinars )
• Networking groups on Meetup
• Coaches and consultants

If you can’t find anyone that is profitably teaching your topic to others, that is a red flag that there isn’t enough market demand for that topic to justify creating an online course (or building a business). Competition is usually a proof of market demand.

What if there is no competition?!

On the rare occasion that you can’t find any competing products or services about your topic, that could mean one of two things:

• There is demand, but no one is serving that market yet (rare), or
• There is no demand, and you should pick a different topic

Either way, there are still two more steps you should take before you pull the trigger and decide to create (or not create) your course.

A great way to gauge demand for your topic is to use Google’s Keyword Planner to see how many people are searching for your topic per month. The higher the search volume, the higher the demand.

“Do not be afraid of competition. Their very existence validates that there is demand for the problem you’re trying to solve or for a solution to it.” – Greg Smith, CEO of Thinkific

Ask your target audience what they want to learn

If you have access to your target audience, whether online or offline, the best way to find out what they want to learn (and would be willing to pay to learn) is to ask them directly!

Here are a few ways you can ask your audience what they want to learn:

• Ask your list of email subscribers
• Ask your fans/followers on social media
• Ask your past and/or existing clients

With each of these options, you can send people a link to a survey, ask them open-ended questions directly, or ask them to have a quick call with you.

Another way is direct outreach (aka cold calling) to your target audience by phone, email or social media. Do this in a polite, non-spammy way of course.

See how many people are searching for your course idea on google

Engaging in keyword research is a great way to identify a course topic that can possibly sell like hotcakes, without directly asking your audience., keyword research essentially helps you to understand what people are looking for online by keying in terms on google or other search engines. , to conduct keyword research on topics that may interest your audience, you can use specialised tools such as semrush or ahrefs . , irrespective of the tool you choose to use, here is the basic framework to engage in keyword research:, identify your seed term, which would be an umbrella term for your course topic. , type in “course” + your seed term., get specific and find a niche area that has not been covered by other course creators but has a high search volume. check out this tool to identify search volume, continue to search and eliminate topics that are not feasible or interesting. , for example, if you wish to start an online course on gardening, type “gardening course” in the keyword search tool. you will see multiple results with different search volumes. these results will help you get more specific. for example, you may find that “gardening courses in semi-arid regions” is a possible course topic with a decent search volume. , alternatively, you can also use our search volume too l to discover popular course topic ideas. .

Remember: If you can’t find anyone that wants to learn the topic that you’re thinking of teaching, you should probably move on to another topic.

If you can’t find buyers before you create your course, you probably won’t find any after either!

The ideal scenario is you choose a topic that there is obviously a demand for (proven by competing products and services about that topic), but nothing that is for your specific target audience.

Facebook marketing , for example, is a broad topic with strong market demand (proven by all of the blogs, books, courses, consultants, seminars, etc. about this topic).

Now, assuming we want to create a course about Facebook marketing, let’s see what topics we come up with as we hone in on a specific target audience:

• Topic 1: Facebook marketing 101 (very broad)
• Topic 2: Facebook marketing for business owners (more specific, still pretty broad)
• Topic 3: Facebook marketing for local businesses (not bad)
• Topic 4: Facebook marketing for real estate agents (very specific)
• Topic 5: Facebook marketing strategies to get more listings (ding ding ding, we have a winner!)

If you are a real estate agent and you want to learn how to use Facebook to get more listings, which course topic is going to appeal to you the most? Which topic would you pay the most money for? Probably #5, because it is the most specific. It is exactly what you want to learn.

“The easiest way to know what to do is listen to what people are asking for and then give that to them.” – JJ Virgin , Celebrity Nutritionist & Fitness Expert

Once you’ve decided on a specific topic to teach, it’s time to start building your brand.

Don’t jump straight to getting your logo, website, and business cards designed. Those things do play a role in representing your brand, but they are not the starting point.

The starting point to creating a compelling and unique brand is making a conscious decision about how you want to be positioned in your industry. Branding is about positioning .

Your brand should position you as the go-to expert on your topic. Unless you’re positioned as an expert and a trusted authority on your topic, it will be hard to convince someone to buy a course (or any product or service) from you.

Even though we’re told not to, we do judge a book by its cover. Think of your brand as the “book cover” for your business.

Be strategic with your positioning

The biggest mistake that people (and organizations) make with their branding is trying to appeal to everyone. Don’t do that. Be strategic with your positioning.

Build a brand that appeals to your specific target audience. Don’t try to appeal to everyone, because everyone is not your ideal customer/client.

Here are some questions to consider as you create your brand:

How do you want to be positioned and perceived in your marketplace? What do you want people to think of when they think of you? Who do you want to attract? Who do you NOT want to attract? What do you stand for? What do you stand against? Why do you do what you do?

When your target audience is searching for information about your topic, you want them to find you and immediately feel like they’ve come to the right place. They should feel like they’ve found the exact person (or company) that can help them overcome a specific problem or achieve a specific outcome.

“A great brand starts with understanding who you are, what you stand for, understanding your marketplace and understanding your positioning.” – Re Perez, CEO of Branding For The People

Identify your Unique Value Proposition

An exercise that we recommend all course creators complete is creating a Unique Value Proposition (UVP). Your UVP is what will help you differentiate yourself from your competition.

To create your UVP, answer these questions:

• Who do you help?
• What do you help them do?
• Why is that beneficial for them?

Once you have the answers to these questions, tie them together in a single sentence.

To give you an example, one of our customers Ellie Diop aka Ellie Talks Money , is a business coach with a proven track record that helps you scale your business and have financial success. Pretty good UVP right?

Here is a screenshot of her website’s homepage:

As you can see, anyone who visits her website will be able to instantly figure out who she is, what she does, and who her target audience is. She has a clear and compelling personal brand . If you’re someone who wants to improve your business and reach financial success, it’s obvious you’ve come to the right place. 

Good branding makes your target audience feel like they’ve come to the right place.

Once you’ve decided how you want to be positioned in your market, it’s time to start building your audience.

Your audience is the sum total of all the people that you have the ability to communicate with through various distribution channels (your blog, social media, email list , personal network, etc.).

Why is it important to build an audience?

Without an audience that knows, likes, and trusts you, it will be very difficult to sell your course for the simple reason that you don’t have anyone to sell it to!

So the sooner you start building your audience, the better.

“Online courses are the wave of the future. They can help expand my content and message into places and countries that I have yet to physically visit. Online courses have boosted my income and helped me share my message with a much larger audience.” – Andrea Beaman , Health Educator & Author

Related: How to Create Epic Content Your Customers Will Love

How to define your target audience

It helps if you follow a systematic framework to define your target audience . Some useful steps to that end include: 

• Ask your current customers
• Get details on demographics like age, gender, location, etc.
•  Understand their needs and pain points
• Analyze the solution they’re hoping for
• Create a customer avatar

Download our detailed step-by-step guide for audience research

Size is important (but not the most important)

The size of your audience is important, but not as important as you might think. The obvious benefit of having a large audience is the ability to reach more people. If you have 10,000 fans on Facebook, for example, your posts will probably be seen by more people than if you had 1,000 fans (all else being equal).

But the size of your audience is not as important as the relationship you build with your audience.

It’s more valuable to have 100 people on your email list that open and read every email you send them than it is to have 1,000 followers on Twitter who rarely see your Tweets or engage with you in any way.

When it comes to building an audience, loyalty and engagement are the most important.

Here are some of the most common ways that online course creators are building their audience:

• Social media

Set up profiles and/or pages on the social network networks that your target audience spends time on. You don’t need a presence on every social media network. Choose the top 2-3 that make the most sense for you and focus your efforts there. Share your content, join relevant groups, start your own Facebook group , and engage in conversations. The goal here is to build real relationships with other people that are interested in your course topic.

Read More: Social Media Marketing Guide: Uncracking the Code for Course Creators

• Content marketing

Publish free content about your course topic as often as you can. Free content helps you build trust and authority in your industry. Common types of content that you can create are articles, videos, podcast episodes, images, and infographics. All of these help to increase traffic to your website and exposure for your business.

The more content you publish on your website and other platforms (like YouTube ), the more likely your target audience will find you as they are searching for information about your topic.

• How To Generate Leads With Content Marketing (6 Simple Steps)
• The Complete Content Marketing Guide: Organic Growth Toolkit
• Publicity & PR

One of the quickest ways to build your audience is to get in front of existing audiences. Writing articles for popular publications in your industry, getting interviewed on podcasts , and getting featured in traditional media (TV, radio, newspapers, print magazines, etc.) are all great ways to increase your exposure and build authority in your industry.

• Networking & joint ventures

Build relationships with other experts and influencers in your industry. It doesn’t happen overnight, but building mutually beneficial relationships with others can lead to a number of opportunities including guest blogging, interviews, joint ventures , partnerships, and customer referrals.

• Public speaking

Reach out to event hosts and organizers of conferences and seminars that your target audience attends. Offer to give a presentation on your topic. Some events will even let you sell your course directly to their audience, in exchange for a percentage of your sales. A major advantage of public speaking is you have the undivided attention of everyone in the room during your presentation, and that can be very hard to get online.

• Email marketing

When it comes to marketing your online course (or any product or service online for that matter), email marketing is hands down the most effective way to generate sales. An email list of people that have expressed interest in your course topic and have given you permission to communicate with them will likely be your most valuable asset as an online course creator.

Start building your email list as soon as possible. Stay in touch with your subscribers by sending them helpful emails and links to your content on a regular basis. This is a great way to earn their trust before you ask them to buy from you.

• Paid advertising

Even with a modest budget, paid advertising can be a great way to grow your audience. By utilizing advertising platforms such as Facebook, Google, YouTube, Twitter, and LinkedIn, you can target people based on specific criteria including demographics, interests, search terms, job titles, and more. In fact, many of Thinkific’s most successful customers have been using Facebook ads to grow their audience and generate consistent leads and sales for their online courses.

“Consistency is what did it for us. Doing something every week, at least once a week, helped us get better really, really fast because we were putting in the time and putting in the practice.”

– Jordan Harbinger , Author & Podcast Host

Creating an online course is definitely one of the more exciting steps in this entire process, but it can also be the most time consuming one if you’re not careful.

Most people spend several weeks (or months, depending on the course) creating their online course. Other, more experienced course creators have perfected this process and can create an entire online course in one weekend .

But regardless of how long it takes you to create your course, the process that you go through will most likely look a lot like this:

• Choose your course title and subtitle. 
• Ensure that your topic has high demand in the market
• Ensure that the learning outcomes are stellar
• Gather material for your online course content
• Create a lesson plan (aka course outline) and choose your lesson types (audio, video, text, etc.)
• Identify the best ways to deliver each of your course modules
• Film, record, and edit your online course
• Set up your online course, including a website
• Choose a price for your course
• Create a sales page and focus on marketing your course

Instead of going through each of these steps in more detail right here in this article (which would make it way longer than it already is!), I’m going to share a few of the most important lessons we’ve learned about course creation from the experts we interviewed.

Want to create an online course business, but unsure of where to start? Use Thinkific for free and get free training !

Or sign up for our free mini series that will teach you how to profitably create and sell an online course in just a week.

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Create a “Minimum Viable Course”

A concept that has been popularized by American writer and entrepreneur Eric Ries in his book Lean Startup is the concept of a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) .

An MVP is a development technique used by organizations (especially startups) in which a new product is developed with sufficient features to satisfy early adopters. The final, complete set of features is only designed and developed after considering feedback from the product’s initial users.

Applying this concept to creating online courses, that means that you should not try to create the perfect course the first time. Instead, create a Minimum Viable Course (MVC).

Here’s why…

The problem with trying to create the “perfect” course before you show it or sell it to anyone is that “perfect” is a very subjective term. What you think is perfect is probably not the same as what your customers/students think is perfect. Even if it is, your course does not have to be perfect in order to be valuable .

Perfectionism has stopped more people from creating and launching their online courses than anything else. Don’t let this happen to you. If your course (imperfect as it may be) is good enough to help someone, then it is good enough to publish. Done is better than perfect.

Create your MVC as quickly as possible so you can publish it and get real feedback from real students. Based on their feedback and other important data (such as course completion and engagement rates ) you can remove training, add training, and make revisions to your course to make it better.

“Don’t be a perfectionist because the world can’t wait for perfect. Get it done, get it out and get it sold. It’s not a book so you can always revisit it periodically but your number one priority is creating a transformation in your clients, so keep your focus there.” – Shazzie Love , Business Strategist

Course length ≠ course value

Read More: How to decide on the ideal course length ?

Another big mistake to avoid is trying to teach everything that you know about your topic in a single course. Doing this will most likely result in a super long course that your students won’t complete and that takes a ridiculous amount of time to create in the first place. Wrong approach!!

Your online course is the shortcut

The purpose of your course is to teach your student how to get from Point A to Point B as quickly and as efficiently as possible. It’s the shortcut.

Your online course is the shortcut. Help your students get from A to B as quickly as possible.

You absolutely should not overwhelm your students by brain-dumping everything that you know about your topic into your course. Your course should be as short as possible without sacrificing the key concepts in your training.

Don’t create 8 hours of training if you can teach your students what they need to know with 3 hours of training. As long as they learn what you promised to teach them, they won’t complain that your course was “too short”. Instead, they’ll probably thank you for not wasting their time with fluff or filler content.

Launch to a small test group first

Another important lesson we learned from the experts we interviewed is not to launch the first version of your course (your MVC!) to your entire audience.

Instead, you should promote your course to a small segment of your audience at a lower price than what you eventually want to charge for your course. If you do promote your course to your entire audience, consider imposing a limit on the number of students that can enroll in it. Once you hit your goal, you temporarily close enrollment for your course.

This strategy is often called a beta launch (similar to pre-selling ). The goal of this type of launch is to get your course into the hands of a small number of students who will “test” your course. In exchange for accessing your course at a reduced price, you ask your students to provide you with feedback to help you improve the course and testimonials to use in your future marketing.

Based on the feedback from your students, you can make changes to improve your course. When you have a revised version of your course that is better than the first and positive student testimonials to use in your marketing, you re-open enrollment for your course and sell it a higher price.

If you’re ready to start marketing your course, check out these 55 online course marketing ideas here .

Okay, let’s pretend that you’ve already completed Steps 1 to 5.

• You’ve decided what topic you’re going to teach. It’s not too broad, and it appeals to a specific target audience.
• You’ve validated market demand for your topic. Thousands of people around the world are interested in it, and they’re already spending money to learn it.
• You’ve crafted a compelling brand. You are known in your industry as an expert on your topic. When your target audience finds you, they trust that you can help them.
• You’ve built an audience. You have followers on social media. You have people on your email list. You have relationships with other experts in your industry. You’ve been featured in other publications, podcasts, and media outlets.
• You’ve created an online course. And after promoting your course to your audience, you are proud to say that you have customers. Your business is generating revenue.

Even though it is a HUGE accomplishment to get this far (and yes, you deserve to celebrate at this point!), there is still work to be done.

Acquiring customers is just the beginning. Now your job is to deliver on the promise you made to your customers.

Think of any local business you are a customer of. A restaurant. A nail salon. A coffee shop. A convenience store.

These businesses don’t stay in business because they are constantly attracting new customers. They stay in business because their existing customers come back more than once, often bringing their friends and family with them. This same rule applies to your online course business.

“We’re not in this business just to get people to buy our stuff. We want them to see the change and the impact and create the success stories.” – Nick Unsworth, CEO of Life on Fire

It’s a lot cheaper to keep a customer than acquire a new one

If you are constantly investing in marketing and promotion to attract new customers, but you’re doing nothing to ensure the success of those customers, it will be very difficult (and expensive!) for you to build a profitable and sustainable business.

When a customer purchases your online course, this should not be the end of your relationship with them. This should be the beginning.

Your customers should be so thrilled with the training and overall experience that you provide to them that they purchase additional courses from you in the future, and they tell others about your courses too.

Related: The Top Customer Success Strategies Used By Successful Companies

Here are a few ways you can increase your student engagement and retention rates:

• Gamify the learning experience

Create incentives and offer rewards to your students for achieving specific milestones in your course.

Related: Gamification in Training: The Complete Guide to E-Learning Gamification [2022]

• Help your students be accountable

Pair them up with an accountability partner, offer 1-on-1 or group coaching calls with your students, or create a private group or discussion board for them to interact with each other.

• Appeal to different learning styles

Don’t create training that appeals to just one learning style. Utilize different media types to deliver your content (text, video, audio, worksheets, quizzes, etc.).

• Create small, bite-sized lessons

Shorter lessons are more likely to be completed by students than longer ones. If it takes you a while to teach a specific concept, try breaking up the concept into several shorter lessons.

• Bite Sized Learning: A New Strategy For Teaching (How It Works & Tips)
• What Is Microlearning? The Case For Shorter, Bite Sized Learning
• Send reminder emails to your students

If you notice that a student isn’t accessing or completing the training in your course, send them a polite reminder email to re-engage them. Show them that you care.

The final step in building a successful online course business is to scale your business by creating systems and/or hiring people to ensure that it continues to grow.

According to Greg Smith, CEO of Thinkific , you should only scale something that works.

The 76 steps that came before this one are your chance to do just that. To prove that your online course business works. Once you have a business that works, it’s time to shift from spending the majority of your time working in your business to working on it.

This is accomplished by creating systems and hiring people to handle the repetitive, day-to-day tasks involved in running your business. The goal is to free yourself up to focus the majority of your time on activities that move your business forward, such as:

• Building your audience
• Building your network
• Creating sales funnels to acquire new customers
• Creating additional courses and/or services to sell to your customers

Here are a few of the key lessons we learned about scaling an online course business from the expert we interviewed:

1. Automate repetitive tasks

Identify the tasks in your business that are highly repetitive and not the best use of your time as an entrepreneur. Document the process for those tasks and delegate them to someone else, or use technology/software to automate that task for you. Every repetitive task that you automate today buys you more time to focus on other activities tomorrow.

“The way you multiply time is by spending time on things today that give you more time tomorrow.” – Rory Vaden, Southwestern Consulting

2. Build a team as early as possible

To grow an online course business to 6 or even 7 figures in annual revenue and beyond, you’re going to need some help. Very few entrepreneurs are able to build successful and sustainable businesses without a team of people to help them make it happen. There is simply too much to learn and do, and not enough hours in the day for one person to do it all.

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” – African Proverb

Hiring a virtual assistant or a personal assistant is a great starting point. From there, consider hiring help for other areas of your business including content creation and editing, marketing and advertising, branding, accounting, etc. These do not have to be full-time employees. Many course creators have teams that consist of freelancers and independent contractors from around the world.

Related: How to Hire a Virtual Assistant (An Entrepreneur’s Guide To Outsourcing)

3. Tie your business to a greater purpose

Sharing your knowledge by creating online courses is a great way to empower others through education and move humanity forward. But creating online courses is certainly not the only way to make a positive impact in the world.

There are countless organizations that are doing incredible things to make the world a better place. By partnering with other organizations and tying your business to a greater purpose, you ensure that as your business grows, so does the impact you make in the world.

“Whether you’re in the non-profit structure or the for-profit structure, you have a tremendous opportunity to use business as a force for good.” – Adam Braun, Founder of Pencils of Promise

This article was originally published May 2018, and refreshed with new information in February, 2024. 

As the Content Marketing Manager at Thinkific (2016-2019), Tyler Basu helped to create, publish, and promote content to help thousands of entrepreneurs learn how to create and sell online courses . Today, he works directly with entrepreneurs to help them create content that attracts and converts their ideal clients.

• 10 Steps To Creating A Wildly Successful Online Course
• How to Price Your Online Course (Complete Guide to Course Pricing)
• The Ultimate Online Course Launch Checklist (Free Guide + Templates)
• Best Equipment & Software For Creating Online Courses
• The Best Online Course Platforms in 2024

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How to Create a Business Plan for a Training Center

by Ruth Mayhew

Published on 21 Nov 2018

The key to convincing investors, such as banks, to invest in your business, is to construct a business plan that demonstrates you have business acumen and that you know the industry. Constructing a solid business plan isn't difficult, but it does require deep expertise about the type of business or industry and knowledge of how businesses start, operate and grow. To launch a training center, create a business plan that proves you are qualified, experienced and have a passion for the training industry.

Training-Specific Qualifications

Creating a business plan for a training center requires that you have expertise or experience in operating one. Perhaps you have been the operations manager for a successful training center and you're ready to take the leap into starting your own center. Otherwise, you will need a team of colleagues whose collective experiences compel investors to want to share in your future success. According to Training Industry magazine, several critical steps to starting a training business include acquiring the credentials necessary to prove that your industry knowledge and credibility is sound. Training credentials can range from certifications or licenses in specific areas, such as IT security networks, to advanced degrees in adult education. If you don't personally have these credentials, you must have a team that does. That said, if you have training credentials, your business plan will carry more weight because you are spearheading an endeavor based on your industry-specific knowledge, which can be far more credible than simply hiring people with this expertise.

Food For Thought and Paper

Before you put pen to paper to create a business plan, your self-assessment will determine whether you actually are prepared to operate and own a training center. Questions such as, "If I cannot get investors' commitments, am I prepared to fund this endeavor from business loans or my personal savings?" and "What are the specific types of services that my training center will provide, and is there an opportunity for this training center in my area?" and "If the market is currently flooded with other training centers, what niche can I create, based on my own expertise and differentiation of services?"

Business Plan Components

Constructing a business plan isn't something you complete in an afternoon or even a day. Your research and analysis alone will take time to compile, and while you might be well-connected to the training community, if this is your first foray into the training industry or owning a business, you might need expert guidance in one or both areas. According to Forbes, basic components of a business plan include analyses of the future company, the industry and the competition. In addition, your business plan should include an analysis of your potential customers and the type of marketing your research shows will be most effective. Traditional business concepts, such as who is managing this effort, how you plan to operate the business and how you're going to fund it, are critical points to address in your business plan. When you complete the draft business plan for your training center, write an executive summary that answers this question: "Why do you believe your training center is different from all the others?"

Focus on the Specificity

You will find a plethora of business plan templates on the internet. Ensure that yours specifically says why your training center business concept will succeed when others have not, to maintain your investors' interest. For example, projections about your future training center should focus on what's presently available and accessible, therefore, your analysis should address physical space necessary. Is there even room in your geographic area to support another training center? Determine whether you are offering on-site training, remote training broadcast from one location or a hybrid model that combines classroom training and computer-based training, or CBT. That will determine the physical space you need to launch another training center in the area.

Describe your market, such as how many training centers are currently in existence, how many participants – according to job-specific areas – are in the market. For example, if your training center is dedicated to serving allied health care professionals such as nuclear-medicine technologists, dietitians or respiratory therapists, how many training centers are in the market? The rate at which they are producing graduates and if there are prospective students who do not have access to training is critical data that are particularly useful to your business plan. Your research could include the acceptance and graduation rates of existing training centers in the area versus the numbers of applicants or prospective students. Perhaps the demand is greater than what the existing training centers can accommodate. That is just the first part of the equation because the second and equally important factor is this: If the demand is great, do you have the ability to source and recruit qualified instructors to provide the training your center offers?

Let's Talk Money

A business plan is sorely lacking without a detailed analysis and discussion about funding. Entrepreneur Magazine says that a business plan should project costs for three-to-five years and include start-up costs, operating expenses and projections so that investors can see where their money will be spent, and what their return on investment will be. Your business plan should include projections in a balance-sheet-like format, which also demonstrates that you understand basic business concepts. If finance isn't in your wheelhouse, collaborate with an expert to present the financial picture for your training center.

The Proof Is in the Details 

Like other business reports, your business plan should include an appendix. The appendix includes documents that support every section of your plan, and, if appropriate, include your market research data. For example, if you have identified key personnel for your training center such as a training director, an operations director or a financial management professional, include their resumes and credentials in your business plan. In addition, state whether your business requires petitioning for jurisdictional business-or-land-use permits.

The final step is your executive summary, which you should write only after you have completed the final business plan. Many investors will take the time to read just a one-to-two-page executive summary, so it must include enough information to compel them to read the entire business plan or to make a decision based on a well-thought-out and well-written business concept. Your executive summary should answer the question, "Why do you believe your training center is different from all the others?"

Personal Training Business Plan Template

Written by Dave Lavinsky

Personal Training Business Plan

Over the past 20+ years, we have helped over 1,000 entrepreneurs and business owners create business plans to start and grow their personal training companies. We have the experience, resources, and knowledge to help you create a great business plan.

In this article, you will learn some background information on why business planning is important. Then, you will learn how to write a personal training business plan step-by-step so you can create your plan today.

Download our Ultimate Business Plan Template here >

What is a Personal Training Business Plan?

A business plan provides a snapshot of your personal training business as it stands today, and lays out your growth plan for the next five years. It explains your business goals and your strategies for reaching them. It also includes market research to support your plans.

Why You Need a Business Plan for a Personal Training Business

If you’re looking to start a personal training business or grow your existing personal training company, you need a business plan. A business plan will help you raise funding, if needed, and plan out the growth of your personal training business to improve your chances of success. Your personal trainer business plan is a living document that should be updated annually as your company grows and changes.

Sources of Funding for Personal Training Businesses

With regards to funding, the main sources of funding for a personal training business are personal savings, credit cards, bank loans, and angel investors. When it comes to bank loans, banks will want to review your business plan and gain confidence that you will be able to repay your loan and interest. To acquire this confidence, the loan officer will not only want to ensure that your financials are reasonable, but they will also want to see a professional plan. Such a plan will give them the confidence that you can successfully and professionally operate a business. Personal savings and bank loans are the most common funding paths for personal training companies.

Finish Your Business Plan Today!

How to write a business plan for a personal training business.

If you want to start a personal training business or expand your current one, you need a business plan. The business plan outline below details the necessary information for how to write each essential component of your personal training business plan.

Executive Summary

Your executive summary provides an introduction to your business plan, but it is normally the last section you write because it provides a summary of each key section of your plan.

The goal of your executive summary is to quickly engage the reader. Explain to them the kind of personal training business you are running and the status. For example, are you a startup, do you have a personal training business that you would like to grow, or are you operating a chain of personal training businesses?

Next, provide an overview of each of the subsequent sections of your plan.

• Give a brief overview of the personal training industry.
• Discuss the type of personal training business you are operating.
• Detail your direct competitors. Give an overview of your target customers.
• Provide a snapshot of your marketing strategy. Identify the key members of your team.
• Offer an overview of your financial plan.

Company Overview

In your company overview, you will detail the type of personal training business you are operating.

For example, you might specialize in one of the following types of personal training businesses:

• Mobile personal trainer: This type of business involves traveling to the client’s home, a park, or another location that is convenient for the client to provide personal training sessions.
• In-home personal trainer: This type of business is operated out of the trainer’s own home. This type of business may be great for trainers that have their own equipment.
• Online personal trainer: This type of business involves providing training one-on-one or group sessions online live or via pre-recorded webinars.
• Gym trainer: This type of personal training business operates out of a gym that allows the trainer to work with their own clients at the gym.

In addition to explaining the type of personal training business you will operate, the company overview needs to provide background on the business.

Include answers to questions such as:

• When and why did you start the business?
• What milestones have you achieved to date? Milestones could include the number of clients served, the number of sessions provided with positive outcomes, reaching $X amount in revenue, etc.
• Your legal business Are you incorporated as an S-Corp? An LLC? A sole proprietorship? Explain your legal structure here.

Industry Analysis

In your industry or market analysis, you need to provide an overview of the personal training industry.

While this may seem unnecessary, it serves multiple purposes.

First, researching the personal training industry educates you. It helps you understand the market in which you are operating.

Secondly, market research can improve your marketing strategy, particularly if your analysis identifies market trends.

The third reason is to prove to readers that you are an expert in your industry. By conducting the research and presenting it in your plan, you achieve just that.

The following questions should be answered in the industry analysis section of your personal trainer business plan:

• How big is the personal training industry (in dollars)?
• Is the market declining or increasing?
• Who are the key competitors in the market?
• Who are the key suppliers in the market?
• What trends are affecting the industry?
• What is the industry’s growth forecast over the next 5 – 10 years?
• What is the relevant market size? That is, how big is the potential target market for your personal training business? You can extrapolate such a figure by assessing the size of the market in the entire country and then applying that figure to your local population.

Customer Analysis

The customer analysis section of your personal trainer business plan must detail the customers you serve and/or expect to serve.

The following are examples of customer segments: individuals, schools, families, and corporations.

As you can imagine, the customer segment(s) you choose will have a great impact on the type of personal training business you operate. Clearly, individuals would respond to different marketing promotions than corporations, for example.

Try to break out your target customers in terms of their demographic and psychographic profiles. With regards to demographics, including a discussion of the ages, genders, locations, and income levels of the potential customers you seek to serve.

Psychographic profiles explain the wants and needs of your target customers. The more you can recognize and define these needs, the better you will do in attracting and retaining your customers.

With Growthink’s Ultimate Business Plan Template you can finish your plan in just 8 hours or less!

Competitive Analysis

Your competitive analysis should identify the indirect and direct competitors your business faces and then focus on the latter.

Direct competitors are other personal training businesses.

Indirect competitors are other options that customers have to purchase from that aren’t directly competing with your product or service. This includes other types of trainers, coaches, gyms, and fitness programs. You need to mention such competition as well.

For each such competitor, provide an overview of their business and document their strengths and weaknesses. Unless you once worked at your competitors’ businesses, it will be impossible to know everything about them. But you should be able to find out key things about them such as

• What types of customers do they serve?
• What type of personal training business are they?
• What is their pricing (premium, low, etc.)?
• What are they good at?
• What are their weaknesses?

With regards to the last two questions, think about your answers from the customers’ perspective. And don’t be afraid to ask your competitors’ customers what they like most and least about them.

The final part of your competitive analysis section is to document your areas of competitive advantage. For example:

• Will you make it easier for clients to acquire your services?
• Will you offer products or services that your competition doesn’t?
• Will you provide better customer service?
• Will you offer better pricing?

Think about ways you will outperform your competition and document them in this section of your plan.

Marketing Plan

Traditionally, a marketing plan includes the four P’s: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. For a personal training business plan, your marketing strategy should include the following:

Product : In the product section, you should reiterate the type of personal training company that you documented in your company overview. Then, detail the specific products or services you will be offering. For example, will you provide lifestyle training, boot camps, or performance training services?

Price : Document the prices you will offer and how they compare to your competitors. Essentially in the product and price sub-sections of your plan, you are presenting the products and/or services you offer and their prices.

Place : Place refers to the site of your personal training company. Document where your company is situated and mention how the site will impact your success. For example, is your personal training business located in a busy retail district, a business district, a standalone gym, or purely online? Discuss how your site might be the ideal location for your customers.

Promotions : The final part of your personal training marketing plan is where you will document how you will drive potential customers to your location(s). The following are some promotional methods you might consider:

• Advertise in local papers, radio stations and/or magazines
• Reach out to websites
• Distribute flyers
• Engage in email marketing
• Advertise on social media platforms
• Improve the SEO (search engine optimization) on your website for targeted keywords

Operations Plan

While the earlier sections of your business plan explained your goals, your operations plan describes how you will meet them. Your operations plan should have two distinct sections as follows.

Everyday short-term processes include all of the tasks involved in running your personal training business, including answering calls, planning and providing training sessions, billing customers and collecting payments, etc.

Long-term goals are the milestones you hope to achieve. These could include the dates when you expect to book your Xth session, or when you hope to reach $X in revenue. It could also be when you expect to expand your personal training business to a new city.

Management Team

To demonstrate your personal training business’ potential to succeed, a strong management team is essential. Highlight your key players’ backgrounds, emphasizing those skills and experiences that prove their ability to grow a company.

Ideally, you and/or your team members have direct experience in managing personal training businesses. If so, highlight this experience and expertise. But also highlight any experience that you think will help your business succeed.

If your team is lacking, consider assembling an advisory board. An advisory board would include 2 to 8 individuals who would act as mentors to your business. They would help answer questions and provide strategic guidance. If needed, look for advisory board members with experience in managing a personal training business or successfully running a small fitness class.

Financial Plan

Your financial plan should include your 5-year financial statement broken out both monthly or quarterly for the first year and then annually. Your financial statements include your income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statements.

Income Statement

An income statement is more commonly called a Profit and Loss statement or P&L. It shows your revenue and then subtracts your costs to show whether you turned a profit or not.

In developing your income statement, you need to devise assumptions. For example, will you see 5 clients per day, and/or offer group training sessions? And will sales grow by 2% or 10% per year? As you can imagine, your choice of assumptions will greatly impact the financial forecasts for your business. As much as possible, conduct research to try to root your assumptions in reality.

Balance Sheets

Balance sheets show your assets and liabilities. While balance sheets can include much information, try to simplify them to the key items you need to know about. For instance, if you spend $50,000 on building out your personal training business, this will not give you immediate profits. Rather it is an asset that will hopefully help you generate profits for years to come. Likewise, if a lender writes you a check for $50,000, you don’t need to pay it back immediately. Rather, that is a liability you will pay back over time.

Cash Flow Statement

Your cash flow statement will help determine how much money you need to start or grow your business, and ensure you never run out of money. What most entrepreneurs and business owners don’t realize is that you can turn a profit but run out of money and go bankrupt.

When creating your Income Statement and Balance Sheets be sure to include several of the key costs needed in starting or growing a personal training business:

• Cost of equipment and supplies
• Payroll or salaries paid to staff
• Business insurance
• Other start-up expenses (if you’re a new business) like legal expenses, permits, computer software, and equipment

Attach your full financial projections in the appendix of your plan along with any supporting documents that make your plan more compelling. For example, you might include your gym location lease or testimonials from happy customers.

Personal Training Business Plan Template PDF

You can download our personal training business plan PDF to help you get started on your own business plan.   Summary Writing a business plan for your personal training business is a worthwhile endeavor. If you follow the template above, by the time you are done, you will truly be an expert. You will understand the personal training industry, your competition, and your customers. You will develop a marketing strategy and will understand what it takes to launch and grow a successful personal training business.  

  OR, Let Us Develop Your Plan For You Since 1999, Growthink has developed business plans for thousands of companies who have gone on to achieve tremendous success.   Click here to see how a Growthink business planning advisor can create your business plan for you.   Other Helpful Business Plan Articles & Templates

Training Industry

10 things you must do when starting your training company.

Since starting Training Industry, I’ve been fortunate to have met many exceptional people in the process of starting a training company. Some have been successful corporate executives, others from distinguished careers in the military and yet others from successful stints as training professionals. All are good development grounds for entrepreneurs and offer excellent credentials for credibility with prospective clients, but background does not always guarantee a successful company.

Some plan to launch their business as a consulting or coaching practice where training will be a component of their service offering. Others say they intend to form a pure-play training company that offers customized services or courses to suit client needs. Both will work, but again, there’s no guarantee as to what the clients will buy.

When meeting with them, my most frequently asked question is “Why training? Of all the business alternatives you could choose, why are you interested in starting a training company?” The most frequent response is they truly enjoy helping people.

Now I know we would all agree that this is a very noble perspective. And I believe training is one of those unique professions where you get to do that. But my first piece of advice is to be realistic and help them understand that as important as it is to have a passion for helping people, this too is not a prerequisite for success in this industry.

The good news is the barrier of entry into this market is extremely low. All you need is a website and business card, and you are ready to greet the world as a bona fide training provider. No certification is required, no validation is necessary, and definitely no advance fees are needed to gain entry. Just like the earlier points, however, great passion with easy entry does not make success a guarantee.

The other piece of advice I provide begins with “Entrepreneurs beware!” It’s easy to get into the business, but it’s a challenge to stay. Launching a training company is not for the meek and mild. Sadly, many very talented people who start training ventures neglect to lay the proper foundation before hanging out their shingles, or they fail to follow some basic tenents once the business is up and running. And they often pay a heavy price for these omissions.

According to the Small Business Administration, the failure rate for cross-industry businesses is nearly 60 percent in the first year. While the SBA has no specific data regarding training companies, my guess is the numbers are similar. And as one who started his own training business after managing a training organization for a large corporation – and made my share of mistakes along the way – I feel qualified to share what I believe are the fundamental principles you should take into account when starting a training business. Regardless of whether you want to be a contract designer, instructor, or consultant, or you want to create a learning technology or product, these tips will help ensure your success and reduce your risk of failure.

Doug’s 10 Tips for Starting a Training Business

10. possess the right credentials.

If you are starting a new training business, it helps immensely to demonstrate that you possess the knowledge, education or validation that proves you know more about the subject than others. A valid credential may be an advanced university degree, industry-recognized certification, professional license or something else that comes from an independent third party. Experience is also important. It quantifies the time you have invested in certain situations, although it doesn’t qualify your expertise at that skill. Leverage your credentials with experience to differentiate yourself as a thought leader.

9. Be Fully Committed

If you want to be a successful training entrepreneur, you must act the part. You must put both feet in the water. Hesitancy manifests as passive behavior. I’ve seen too many training entrepreneurs fail because they passively approach day-to-day activities. Starting a business isn’t a fast process; it can be a grind. Success comes by working through the failures on an even keel and not getting too high on early successes nor too low on early failures. Commitment means not accepting failure. We’ve all heard that success comes to those who work hard. I believe success comes to those who are committed to success.

8. Productize Your Offerings

Most training start-ups struggle to accurately define their capabilities and services. They promise the customer they can do anything the customer wants. But clients buy specific products and services, not a nebulous claim of proficiency. If your main business is a service, then productize that service. Model it, and graphically show it. Anyone can claim they do custom course development, but to differentiate yourself, you must define and name the proprietary process for your course development more clearly and effectively than others. For example, Accenture has productized strategic alignment under the name Business Interlock, while Intrepid Learning Services productizes its assessment service as JARS. You can do it, too.

7. Articulate your Value

Once you have created a product, you must articulate its value to the client. A value proposition is not why you think you’re special, but why your client should think you’re special. Take your time to define it succinctly and convincingly, and then test the message with others to see if it works. But remember: If you can’t adequately explain your value proposition, you can be sure your client will not understand.

6. Publish, Publish, Publish

Buyers of training products and services are proficient at researching potential suppliers. They use internet search engines and look for things that thought leaders have done in the past. One of the best marketing strategies for any new (or mature) training company is to leverage their knowledge. Show the market that you are the expert in your field. Publish articles, blogs and case studies – anything that documents your expertise. Your ability to articulate concepts and thought leadership in writing is a great example of who you are and what you can do for prospective clients.

5. Network with Buyers

Many well intended individuals advise that you should get to know as many people as possible. They are partly correct. Yes, networking is important, but getting to know the RIGHT people is the goal you should strive for. I often find start-up entrepreneurs attending meetings and conferences that have no buyers. Why are they there? Make sure the events you attend have the people you need to meet. Also, develop and execute an aggressive plan to meet potential buyers of your services. Don’t attend events that are full of the same people as you – places where others are looking to start a business or land a job. They don’t buy from you. Success comes from getting to know as many people as possible who buy your kind of products and services.

4. Speak Your Customer’s Language

Many people who enter the training business speak their own lingo, expecting the buyer of those services to understand. Some try to impress by using industry-based language. But remember that buyers of training products and services are not always training professionals. In fact, more than two-thirds of the value of training purchased is done by non-training professionals. So communicate your offerings and your value proposition into words that your customer understands.

3. Limit Non-Binding Partnerships

The life of an entrepreneur can be a lonely existence, especially if one hasn’t yet attracted customers or hired employees. Start-up entrepreneurs often seek relationships with others who are non-threatening and help them feel they are not in this business alone. Be careful. These relationships can become a distraction if they are not, or won’t become, contractually binding partnerships. Relationships should be about growing your business, not making you feel good. If you are going to form some kind of partnership, do it with people who have the same objective: making money for YOU. Minimize relationships that don’t pay your bills.

2. Create a Supply Chain

Recognize that the training industry is very large and complex with multiple levels of buyers and suppliers. A common mistake is to think that your only clients are the end customers of your services. Many tier 4 suppliers sell into tier 3, 2 or 1 suppliers. There is plenty of business to be had by training consultants who sell through another, larger training supplier that has an established channel to the end customer. Find the right supply chain for your business, and don’t limit your opportunities to selling direct.

1. Capitalize Your Business

This is rule number one, the absolute most important thing you must do when starting your training company: Make sure you have the proper amount of cash to make it through the sales cycle. I recommend you have at least six months of working capital on hand to get through the ebb and flow of cash management. It is frequently said that the number one failure of start-up businesses is not having the proper level of cash for the business they are in. Training is no different.

• #entrepreneurship
• #training companies
• #training suppliers

Doug Harward

Doug Harward is the founder and CEO of Training Industry, Inc.

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How to Write a Business Plan: Step-by-Step Guide + Examples

Noah Parsons

24 min. read

Updated July 29, 2024

Writing a business plan doesn’t have to be complicated. 

In this step-by-step guide, you’ll learn how to write a business plan that’s detailed enough to impress bankers and potential investors, while giving you the tools to start, run, and grow a successful business.

• The basics of business planning

If you’re reading this guide, then you already know why you need a business plan . 

You understand that planning helps you: 

• Raise money
• Grow strategically
• Keep your business on the right track 

As you start to write your plan, it’s useful to zoom out and remember what a business plan is .

At its core, a business plan is an overview of the products and services you sell, and the customers that you sell to. It explains your business strategy: how you’re going to build and grow your business, what your marketing strategy is, and who your competitors are.

Most business plans also include financial forecasts for the future. These set sales goals, budget for expenses, and predict profits and cash flow. 

A good business plan is much more than just a document that you write once and forget about. It’s also a guide that helps you outline and achieve your goals. 

After completing your plan, you can use it as a management tool to track your progress toward your goals. Updating and adjusting your forecasts and budgets as you go is one of the most important steps you can take to run a healthier, smarter business. 

We’ll dive into how to use your plan later in this article.

There are many different types of plans , but we’ll go over the most common type here, which includes everything you need for an investor-ready plan. However, if you’re just starting out and are looking for something simpler—I recommend starting with a one-page business plan . It’s faster and easier to create. 

It’s also the perfect place to start if you’re just figuring out your idea, or need a simple strategic plan to use inside your business.

Dig deeper : How to write a one-page business plan

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• What to include in your business plan

Executive summary

The executive summary is an overview of your business and your plans. It comes first in your plan and is ideally just one to two pages. Most people write it last because it’s a summary of the complete business plan.

Ideally, the executive summary can act as a stand-alone document that covers the highlights of your detailed plan. 

In fact, it’s common for investors to ask only for the executive summary when evaluating your business. If they like what they see in the executive summary, they’ll often follow up with a request for a complete plan, a pitch presentation , or more in-depth financial forecasts .

Your executive summary should include:

• A summary of the problem you are solving
• A description of your product or service
• An overview of your target market
• A brief description of your team
• A summary of your financials
• Your funding requirements (if you are raising money)

Dig Deeper: How to write an effective executive summary

Products and services description

This is where you describe exactly what you’re selling, and how it solves a problem for your target market. The best way to organize this part of your plan is to start by describing the problem that exists for your customers. After that, you can describe how you plan to solve that problem with your product or service. 

This is usually called a problem and solution statement .

To truly showcase the value of your products and services, you need to craft a compelling narrative around your offerings. How will your product or service transform your customers’ lives or jobs? A strong narrative will draw in your readers.

This is also the part of the business plan to discuss any competitive advantages you may have, like specific intellectual property or patents that protect your product. If you have any initial sales, contracts, or other evidence that your product or service is likely to sell, include that information as well. It will show that your idea has traction , which can help convince readers that your plan has a high chance of success.

Market analysis

Your target market is a description of the type of people that you plan to sell to. You might even have multiple target markets, depending on your business. 

A market analysis is the part of your plan where you bring together all of the information you know about your target market. Basically, it’s a thorough description of who your customers are and why they need what you’re selling. You’ll also include information about the growth of your market and your industry .

Try to be as specific as possible when you describe your market. 

Include information such as age, income level, and location—these are what’s called “demographics.” If you can, also describe your market’s interests and habits as they relate to your business—these are “psychographics.” 

Related: Target market examples

Essentially, you want to include any knowledge you have about your customers that is relevant to how your product or service is right for them. With a solid target market, it will be easier to create a sales and marketing plan that will reach your customers. That’s because you know who they are, what they like to do, and the best ways to reach them.

Next, provide any additional information you have about your market. 

What is the size of your market ? Is the market growing or shrinking? Ideally, you’ll want to demonstrate that your market is growing over time, and also explain how your business is positioned to take advantage of any expected changes in your industry.

Dig Deeper: Learn how to write a market analysis

Competitive analysis

Part of defining your business opportunity is determining what your competitive advantage is. To do this effectively, you need to know as much about your competitors as your target customers. 

Every business has some form of competition. If you don’t think you have competitors, then explore what alternatives there are in the market for your product or service. 

For example: In the early years of cars, their main competition was horses. For social media, the early competition was reading books, watching TV, and talking on the phone.

A good competitive analysis fully lays out the competitive landscape and then explains how your business is different. Maybe your products are better made, or cheaper, or your customer service is superior. Maybe your competitive advantage is your location – a wide variety of factors can ultimately give you an advantage.

Dig Deeper: How to write a competitive analysis for your business plan

Marketing and sales plan

The marketing and sales plan covers how you will position your product or service in the market, the marketing channels and messaging you will use, and your sales tactics. 

The best place to start with a marketing plan is with a positioning statement . 

This explains how your business fits into the overall market, and how you will explain the advantages of your product or service to customers. You’ll use the information from your competitive analysis to help you with your positioning. 

For example: You might position your company as the premium, most expensive but the highest quality option in the market. Or your positioning might focus on being locally owned and that shoppers support the local economy by buying your products.

Once you understand your positioning, you’ll bring this together with the information about your target market to create your marketing strategy . 

This is how you plan to communicate your message to potential customers. Depending on who your customers are and how they purchase products like yours, you might use many different strategies, from social media advertising to creating a podcast. Your marketing plan is all about how your customers discover who you are and why they should consider your products and services. 

While your marketing plan is about reaching your customers—your sales plan will describe the actual sales process once a customer has decided that they’re interested in what you have to offer. 

If your business requires salespeople and a long sales process, describe that in this section. If your customers can “self-serve” and just make purchases quickly on your website, describe that process. 

A good sales plan picks up where your marketing plan leaves off. The marketing plan brings customers in the door and the sales plan is how you close the deal.

Together, these specific plans paint a picture of how you will connect with your target audience, and how you will turn them into paying customers.

Dig deeper: What to include in your sales and marketing plan

Business operations

The operations section describes the necessary requirements for your business to run smoothly. It’s where you talk about how your business works and what day-to-day operations look like. 

Depending on how your business is structured, your operations plan may include elements of the business like:

• Supply chain management
• Manufacturing processes
• Equipment and technology
• Distribution

Some businesses distribute their products and reach their customers through large retailers like Amazon.com, Walmart, Target, and grocery store chains. 

These businesses should review how this part of their business works. The plan should discuss the logistics and costs of getting products onto store shelves and any potential hurdles the business may have to overcome.

If your business is much simpler than this, that’s OK. This section of your business plan can be either extremely short or more detailed, depending on the type of business you are building.

For businesses selling services, such as physical therapy or online software, you can use this section to describe the technology you’ll leverage, what goes into your service, and who you will partner with to deliver your services.

Dig Deeper: Learn how to write the operations chapter of your plan

Key milestones and metrics

Although it’s not required to complete your business plan, mapping out key business milestones and the metrics can be incredibly useful for measuring your success.

Good milestones clearly lay out the parameters of the task and set expectations for their execution. You’ll want to include:

• A description of each task
• The proposed due date
• Who is responsible for each task

If you have a budget, you can include projected costs to hit each milestone. You don’t need extensive project planning in this section—just list key milestones you want to hit and when you plan to hit them. This is your overall business roadmap. 

Possible milestones might be:

• Website launch date
• Store or office opening date
• First significant sales
• Break even date
• Business licenses and approvals

You should also discuss the key numbers you will track to determine your success. Some common metrics worth tracking include:

• Conversion rates
• Customer acquisition costs
• Profit per customer
• Repeat purchases

It’s perfectly fine to start with just a few metrics and grow the number you are tracking over time. You also may find that some metrics simply aren’t relevant to your business and can narrow down what you’re tracking.

Dig Deeper: How to use milestones in your business plan

Organization and management team

Investors don’t just look for great ideas—they want to find great teams. Use this chapter to describe your current team and who you need to hire . You should also provide a quick overview of your location and history if you’re already up and running.

Briefly highlight the relevant experiences of each key team member in the company. It’s important to make the case for why yours is the right team to turn an idea into a reality. 

Do they have the right industry experience and background? Have members of the team had entrepreneurial successes before? 

If you still need to hire key team members, that’s OK. Just note those gaps in this section.

Your company overview should also include a summary of your company’s current business structure . The most common business structures include:

• Sole proprietor
• Partnership

Be sure to provide an overview of how the business is owned as well. Does each business partner own an equal portion of the business? How is ownership divided? 

Potential lenders and investors will want to know the structure of the business before they will consider a loan or investment.

Dig Deeper: How to write about your company structure and team

Financial plan

Last, but certainly not least, is your financial plan chapter. 

Entrepreneurs often find this section the most daunting. But, business financials for most startups are less complicated than you think, and a business degree is certainly not required to build a solid financial forecast. 

A typical financial forecast in a business plan includes the following:

• Sales forecast : An estimate of the sales expected over a given period. You’ll break down your forecast into the key revenue streams that you expect to have.
• Expense budget : Your planned spending such as personnel costs , marketing expenses, and taxes.
• Profit & Loss : Brings together your sales and expenses and helps you calculate planned profits.
• Cash Flow : Shows how cash moves into and out of your business. It can predict how much cash you’ll have on hand at any given point in the future.
• Balance Sheet : A list of the assets, liabilities, and equity in your company. In short, it provides an overview of the financial health of your business. 

A strong business plan will include a description of assumptions about the future, and potential risks that could impact the financial plan. Including those will be especially important if you’re writing a business plan to pursue a loan or other investment.

Dig Deeper: How to create financial forecasts and budgets

This is the place for additional data, charts, or other information that supports your plan.

Including an appendix can significantly enhance the credibility of your plan by showing readers that you’ve thoroughly considered the details of your business idea, and are backing your ideas up with solid data.

Just remember that the information in the appendix is meant to be supplementary. Your business plan should stand on its own, even if the reader skips this section.

Dig Deeper : What to include in your business plan appendix

Optional: Business plan cover page

Adding a business plan cover page can make your plan, and by extension your business, seem more professional in the eyes of potential investors, lenders, and partners. It serves as the introduction to your document and provides necessary contact information for stakeholders to reference.

Your cover page should be simple and include:

• Company logo
• Business name
• Value proposition (optional)
• Business plan title
• Completion and/or update date
• Address and contact information
• Confidentiality statement

Just remember, the cover page is optional. If you decide to include it, keep it very simple and only spend a short amount of time putting it together.

Dig Deeper: How to create a business plan cover page

How to use AI to help write your business plan

Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT can speed up the business plan writing process and help you think through concepts like market segmentation and competition. These tools are especially useful for taking ideas that you provide and converting them into polished text for your business plan.

The best way to use AI for your business plan is to leverage it as a collaborator , not a replacement for human creative thinking and ingenuity. 

AI can come up with lots of ideas and act as a brainstorming partner. It’s up to you to filter through those ideas and figure out which ones are realistic enough to resonate with your customers. 

There are pros and cons of using AI to help with your business plan . So, spend some time understanding how it can be most helpful before just outsourcing the job to AI.

Learn more: 10 AI prompts you need to write a business plan

• Writing tips and strategies

To help streamline the business plan writing process, here are a few tips and key questions to answer to make sure you get the most out of your plan and avoid common mistakes .  

Determine why you are writing a business plan

Knowing why you are writing a business plan will determine your approach to your planning project. 

For example: If you are writing a business plan for yourself, or just to use inside your own business , you can probably skip the section about your team and organizational structure. 

If you’re raising money, you’ll want to spend more time explaining why you’re looking to raise the funds and exactly how you will use them.

Regardless of how you intend to use your business plan , think about why you are writing and what you’re trying to get out of the process before you begin.

Keep things concise

Probably the most important tip is to keep your business plan short and simple. There are no prizes for long business plans . The longer your plan is, the less likely people are to read it. 

So focus on trimming things down to the essentials your readers need to know. Skip the extended, wordy descriptions and instead focus on creating a plan that is easy to read —using bullets and short sentences whenever possible.

Have someone review your business plan

Writing a business plan in a vacuum is never a good idea. Sometimes it’s helpful to zoom out and check if your plan makes sense to someone else. You also want to make sure that it’s easy to read and understand.

Don’t wait until your plan is “done” to get a second look. Start sharing your plan early, and find out from readers what questions your plan leaves unanswered. This early review cycle will help you spot shortcomings in your plan and address them quickly, rather than finding out about them right before you present your plan to a lender or investor.

If you need a more detailed review, you may want to explore hiring a professional plan writer to thoroughly examine it.

Use a free business plan template and business plan examples to get started

Knowing what information to include in a business plan is sometimes not quite enough. If you’re struggling to get started or need additional guidance, it may be worth using a business plan template. 

There are plenty of great options available (we’ve rounded up our 8 favorites to streamline your search).

But, if you’re looking for a free downloadable business plan template , you can get one right now; download the template used by more than 1 million businesses. 

Or, if you just want to see what a completed business plan looks like, check out our library of over 550 free business plan examples . 

We even have a growing list of industry business planning guides with tips for what to focus on depending on your business type.

Common pitfalls and how to avoid them

It’s easy to make mistakes when you’re writing your business plan. Some entrepreneurs get sucked into the writing and research process, and don’t focus enough on actually getting their business started. 

Here are a few common mistakes and how to avoid them:

Not talking to your customers : This is one of the most common mistakes. It’s easy to assume that your product or service is something that people want. Before you invest too much in your business and too much in the planning process, make sure you talk to your prospective customers and have a good understanding of their needs.

• Overly optimistic sales and profit forecasts: By nature, entrepreneurs are optimistic about the future. But it’s good to temper that optimism a little when you’re planning, and make sure your forecasts are grounded in reality. 
• Spending too much time planning: Yes, planning is crucial. But you also need to get out and talk to customers, build prototypes of your product and figure out if there’s a market for your idea. Make sure to balance planning with building.
• Not revising the plan: Planning is useful, but nothing ever goes exactly as planned. As you learn more about what’s working and what’s not—revise your plan, your budgets, and your revenue forecast. Doing so will provide a more realistic picture of where your business is going, and what your financial needs will be moving forward.
• Not using the plan to manage your business: A good business plan is a management tool. Don’t just write it and put it on the shelf to collect dust – use it to track your progress and help you reach your goals.
• Presenting your business plan

The planning process forces you to think through every aspect of your business and answer questions that you may not have thought of. That’s the real benefit of writing a business plan – the knowledge you gain about your business that you may not have been able to discover otherwise.

With all of this knowledge, you’re well prepared to convert your business plan into a pitch presentation to present your ideas. 

A pitch presentation is a summary of your plan, just hitting the highlights and key points. It’s the best way to present your business plan to investors and team members.

Dig Deeper: Learn what key slides should be included in your pitch deck

Use your business plan to manage your business

One of the biggest benefits of planning is that it gives you a tool to manage your business better. With a revenue forecast, expense budget, and projected cash flow, you know your targets and where you are headed.

And yet, nothing ever goes exactly as planned – it’s the nature of business.

That’s where using your plan as a management tool comes in. The key to leveraging it for your business is to review it periodically and compare your forecasts and projections to your actual results.

Start by setting up a regular time to review the plan – a monthly review is a good starting point. During this review, answer questions like:

• Did you meet your sales goals?
• Is spending following your budget?
• Has anything gone differently than what you expected?

Now that you see whether you’re meeting your goals or are off track, you can make adjustments and set new targets. 

Maybe you’re exceeding your sales goals and should set new, more aggressive goals. In that case, maybe you should also explore more spending or hiring more employees. 

Or maybe expenses are rising faster than you projected. If that’s the case, you would need to look at where you can cut costs.

A plan, and a method for comparing your plan to your actual results , is the tool you need to steer your business toward success.

Learn More: How to run a regular plan review

How to write a business plan FAQ

What is a business plan?

A document that describes your business , the products and services you sell, and the customers that you sell to. It explains your business strategy, how you’re going to build and grow your business, what your marketing strategy is, and who your competitors are.

What are the benefits of a business plan?

A business plan helps you understand where you want to go with your business and what it will take to get there. It reduces your overall risk, helps you uncover your business’s potential, attracts investors, and identifies areas for growth.

Having a business plan ultimately makes you more confident as a business owner and more likely to succeed for a longer period of time.

What are the 7 steps of a business plan?

The seven steps to writing a business plan include:

• Write a brief executive summary
• Describe your products and services.
• Conduct market research and compile data into a cohesive market analysis.
• Describe your marketing and sales strategy.
• Outline your organizational structure and management team.
• Develop financial projections for sales, revenue, and cash flow.
• Add any additional documents to your appendix.

What are the 5 most common business plan mistakes?

There are plenty of mistakes that can be made when writing a business plan. However, these are the 5 most common that you should do your best to avoid:

• 1. Not taking the planning process seriously.
• Having unrealistic financial projections or incomplete financial information.
• Inconsistent information or simple mistakes.
• Failing to establish a sound business model.
• Not having a defined purpose for your business plan.

What questions should be answered in a business plan?

Writing a business plan is all about asking yourself questions about your business and being able to answer them through the planning process. You’ll likely be asking dozens and dozens of questions for each section of your plan.

However, these are the key questions you should ask and answer with your business plan:

• How will your business make money?
• Is there a need for your product or service?
• Who are your customers?
• How are you different from the competition?
• How will you reach your customers?
• How will you measure success?

How long should a business plan be?

The length of your business plan fully depends on what you intend to do with it. From the SBA and traditional lender point of view, a business plan needs to be whatever length necessary to fully explain your business. This means that you prove the viability of your business, show that you understand the market, and have a detailed strategy in place.

If you intend to use your business plan for internal management purposes, you don’t necessarily need a full 25-50 page business plan. Instead, you can start with a one-page plan to get all of the necessary information in place.

What are the different types of business plans?

While all business plans cover similar categories, the style and function fully depend on how you intend to use your plan. Here are a few common business plan types worth considering.

Traditional business plan: The tried-and-true traditional business plan is a formal document meant to be used when applying for funding or pitching to investors. This type of business plan follows the outline above and can be anywhere from 10-50 pages depending on the amount of detail included, the complexity of your business, and what you include in your appendix.

Business model canvas: The business model canvas is a one-page template designed to demystify the business planning process. It removes the need for a traditional, copy-heavy business plan, in favor of a single-page outline that can help you and outside parties better explore your business idea.

One-page business plan: This format is a simplified version of the traditional plan that focuses on the core aspects of your business. You’ll typically stick with bullet points and single sentences. It’s most useful for those exploring ideas, needing to validate their business model, or who need an internal plan to help them run and manage their business.

Lean Plan: The Lean Plan is less of a specific document type and more of a methodology. It takes the simplicity and styling of the one-page business plan and turns it into a process for you to continuously plan, test, review, refine, and take action based on performance. It’s faster, keeps your plan concise, and ensures that your plan is always up-to-date.

What’s the difference between a business plan and a strategic plan?

A business plan covers the “who” and “what” of your business. It explains what your business is doing right now and how it functions. The strategic plan explores long-term goals and explains “how” the business will get there. It encourages you to look more intently toward the future and how you will achieve your vision.

However, when approached correctly, your business plan can actually function as a strategic plan as well. If kept lean, you can define your business, outline strategic steps, and track ongoing operations all with a single plan.

Noah is the COO at Palo Alto Software, makers of the online business plan app LivePlan. He started his career at Yahoo! and then helped start the user review site Epinions.com. From there he started a software distribution business in the UK before coming to Palo Alto Software to run the marketing and product teams.

Table of Contents

• Use AI to help write your plan
• Common planning mistakes
• Manage with your business plan

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How to create an effective company training program.

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With unemployment at 3.8%, it’s really tough for employers to find talent nowadays. Keep in mind that there are more job openings than there are people who are unemployed!

But there is another issue facing employers: finding employees with the right skills. More than 82% of middle-skill jobs need digital abilities and over 7 million job opportunities require some level of coding expertise.

So it is any surprise that there is a major skills gap?

Of course not. This is why employers must take on the role as the trainer.

While this may seem daunting, there is good news. Various online education companies provide high-quality offerings that can meet your needs.

And one of the standouts is Udemy , which was founded in 2010. It’s an online marketplace that has over 65,000 courses and more than 20 million students. There is also Udemy for Business, which provides employee training. Some of the customers include Lyft, PayPal, Century21, MetLife, and Volkswagen.

I recently had a chance to reach out to Shelley Osborne, who is Udemy’s Head of Learning and Development. She provided some useful advice on how companies can setup their own effective training program:

#1 – Setting Goals and Objectives

Often a training program is ad-hoc or about checking off some boxes – which often leads to mediocre results. If anything, there may be a lack of participation.

This is why the first step is to setup concreate goals and objectives. “Organizations must ask themselves what business impact they're hoping to achieve through training,” said Shelley. “By evaluating what's happening within the business and identifying opportunities for improvement, creating the right training initiatives will not only satisfy employees, but will also impact the bottom line.”

A key is to set time frames and benchmarks. “While some organizations may use a broad metric like increased productivity as a benchmark, others may take a more tactical approach and recognize a very specific solution in response to a certain need,” said Shelley. “An example of this would be for a small business that's growing very rapidly to deploy interview training as a way to ensure its entire team is aligned and scaling.”

#2 – Leadership

In a smaller organization, there will likely not be a dedicated Learning and Development professional. Rather, the leader of the training effort will be someone within HR.

But depending on the situation – and the importance of training – there may be someone else who will take the role. This may even be the CEO.

#3 – Executive and Founder Buy-In

A successful training program needs the involvement of the executives. “By demonstrating support of a learning mindset, stakeholders can give employees the confidence to fully embrace training and development,” said Shelley. “Having buy-in around learning throughout the entire company is a one of the key elements that differentiates successful training programs from those that fizzle out. It's imperative to create a culture of learning where learning is normalized in the workplace and stakeholders are empowering constant growth.”

For example, the CEO of Udemy, Kevin Johnson, will take courses as well as spearhead trainings.

#4 - Tracking

A nice benefit of online training platforms is that you can get metrics on usage. Although, this does not mean you should use this as a weapon to force the learning. This is usually counterproductive.

“While organizations may occasionally have to mandate specific training for certain reasons, one of our core principles when it comes to learning and development is that employees are in the driver’s seat,” said Shelley. “We're proponents of the ‘pull’ learning model and believe that to create a lasting impact, employees must feel driven to seek training and learning as opposed to feeling forced to invest their time. For training to be successful, the real focus should be on whether employees are preforming better at their jobs, and attendance shouldn't be used as a metric to shame employees into learning. At the end of the day, by making learning personalized and relevant, business leaders can foster employees that are better at their jobs and more engaged as a result.”

Tom Taulli ( @ttaulli ) is an advisor to various startups.

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11 powerful training plan templates and examples for your business.

Your company can get ahead of labor shortages and the ever-evolving skills requirements of the market by investing in employee development.

Training your workers will help you resolve common workplace issues like lack of motivation, poor productivity, inadequate domain knowledge, and confusion or uncertainty about their role.

"Creating a successful employee training plan requires ongoing assessment and adaptation . You must frequently analyze your team's skills and assess any gaps that need to be filled, then design training programs to address those needs and provide ongoing support for growth and development." Sarah Watson, Chief Operating Officer at BPTLAB, personality testing solutions provider .

But if it's your first time designing and executing a structured training program, you might need guidance on how to begin or what to include in your plan.

We've put together some of the best employee training plan examples, templates, and checklists. Use them as a starting point when building robust training programs for your organization.

❗️ 7 Must-haves in an employee training plan template

There are different kinds of training opportunities that you can offer your employees. And templates tend to come in different shapes, forms, and structures because they are made by people with varying organizational needs and goals.

However, whether you're creating your own or building upon someone else's, here are some essential elements that any good training policy template should have.

Training objectives 

List out how you hope the training program will benefit your workforce and company. Your goals must be specific, measurable, and relevant. Learn more about soft skills and hard skills . Employee training assessment can also be helpful to understand your employees needs.

Type/method of training

How do you intend to deliver the training? Will it be instructor-led, self-paced, virtual, in-person, or blended training? Or maybe you want to use a role-playing, virtual training , gamification , on-the-job training and mentoring approach? Think about your options and note them down in this section.

➡️ Check out our new hire training plan for the ultimate training for your new hires.

Training curriculum and materials

This column in your training plan template should cover what employees will learn during the training. Mention the learning resources and materials you'll need or provide and any regulatory guidelines that employees and course creators must follow. 

Audience and stakeholders

This template section is for defining who needs the training, who will be creating courses, conducting, or overseeing the training, and the expectations for each of the roles. 

Learning outcomes 

What specific knowledge, skills, or competencies do you want employees to take away from the training?

We recommend first filling a skills matrix , to understand your people's current skills levels and identify any gaps.

For instance, your marketing team has a training objective to improve their social media advertising skills. The learning outcome you should see after training is a strong understanding of Facebook Ads.

What is the duration of the training program? What dates and times will training sessions take place? What are the deadlines for completing performance milestones? When will you check in with employees to see how they are progressing?

KPIs for effectiveness

Finally, every training plan template must have a field where you can define how you will measure the effectiveness of your training efforts. 

Tip: Note the KPIs or metrics you will use as a benchmark.

📝 11 Examples of employee training plan templates

We've put together these ready-to-use training templates and checklists that you can customize to suit your company's learning and development needs.

1. Training needs assessment template

What this template includes: This training survey helps you uncover insights about gaps in employee performance, knowledge, and skills. It tells you what your workers want to learn, their preferred learning methods, and their schedule.

When to use it: To assess your organization's training needs and know where the skill gaps are for each department and individual employee before you begin planning a training program.

Why it matters: This information will enable you to identify your business case for training and design targeted learning and development experiences that produce better outcomes for you and your workforce.

2. New-hire training template

What the new-hire training template includes: This template covers everything that new hires need to know to help them settle into their role and do their jobs to the best of their abilities.

It contains essential knowledge, training, and skills that you want to equip new hires with, such as:

• company policies;
• role descriptions;
• starter projects; 
• chain of command;
• standard operating procedures;
• orientation, integration, and performance review timelines.

When to use it: Use your training plan to set new employees up for success from day one and guide them through their first few months or year on the job.

Why it matters: How you onboard and train new hires can make or mar their experience and performance at your company.

"Investing in employees at the start with a well-thought-out and comprehensive training program demonstrates a willingness to invest in their growth, which leads to enhanced loyalty, meaning you won't have to fill the position again anytime soon." — Mitch Chailland, President of Canal HR . ‍

Tip:💡 Make sure to check out our blog post on how long onboarding should take and the best practices.

3. New hire training checklist

What the new hire training checklist includes: You'll find all the logistical items, preboarding activities, and action plans you will need to manage to guide new hires through your onboarding and training process from the moment they accept your job offer to their first annual performance check-in.

When to use it: Start ticking off items from your checklist to prepare your new hire for their first day and acclimate them to their new role, team, and company in the early months.

Why it matters: The strength of your new hire training will determine: - the employee's experience with your company;  - their speed to productivity;  - how well they perform in their role.

A checklist keeps things from falling through the cracks, guaranteeing all new hires a uniform onboarding and training experience.

➡️ Check out the new hire training checklist .

4. Pre-training checklist template

What the pre-training checklist template includes: This template breaks down the materials, schedules, tools, tasks, and activities you'll need to create, arrange, track, and execute to conduct a training session successfully.

When to use it: Create a training curriculum, prepare a memorandum, invite instructors and trainees, get feedback from participants, and disaster-proof upcoming training schemes by working through the checklist.

Why it matters: The last thing you want is to pour your time and energy into planning a training only to realize on D-day that you forgot essential elements.

You want to ensure that you remembered to:

• Book a conference room. 
• Send out email invites to some employees.
• Print out enough assessment forms.

Preview of Pre-Training checklist template

☑️ Prepare training memorandum and email invite.

• Determine which employees are mandated or free to attend.
• Provide training agenda. 
• Provide training date, time, location, and other pertinent information.

Completion date: 2 weeks before training day.

Assigned to: HR.

☑️ Confirm attendance.

• Make sure all mandated attendees have signed up.
• Book a suitable conference room.

Completion date: 1 week before training day. 

➡️ Download the complete training checklist in excel .

5. Individual employee training plan template

What the individual employee training plan includes: This template gives you an overview of where a specific employee currently is regarding skills and performance and where they need to be. It details the following:

• Employees' skill gap ;
• Training goals;
• Development actions;
• Training methods and materials;
• Learning outcomes;
• Progress metrics;
• Training timeline.

When to use it: Use this template to sharpen an employee's existing skills or prepare them to transition into a different role. Or as a component of your performance review process to support staffers who seem to lag behind before their performance becomes a severe issue.

Why it matters: A proactive training approach boosts employee productivity and efficiency by pinpointing the skills they are lacking and helping them develop those areas.

Tip: Sit down with the employee who needs the training and work with them to develop their training plan.

➡️ Get the individual employee training plan template.

6. Employee development plan template

What the employee development plan template includes: This template acts as a guide for documenting and nurturing each employee's professional growth plans. It covers:

• their career goals;
• the skills and knowledge they need to reach their goals;
• the training and actions they will take to gain these skills;
• the timeline for completing the training and hitting milestones.

When to use it: Create development plans to:

• Speed up time to productivity for new hires as part of the onboarding
• Improve performance of underperforming employees
• Help members of your team grow their skills and advance their careers, whether that means progressing toward a management role or making a lateral move.

Why it matters: Hiring new employees, especially at a higher skill tier, is far more costly and time-consuming than providing upskilling and career development opportunities for your current employees.

➡️ Get the employee development plan template.

7. 70-20-10 development plan template

What the 70-20-10 development plan template includes: A 70-20-10 training plan gives you a framework for structuring your development programs using:

• experiential, 
• peer-to-peer, and 
• formal training methods

To maximize engagement and performance.

When to use it: Use this template before launching your program to divide your training into sections, so everyone knows which skills trainees will learn on the job, from their peers, or through formal training sessions like seminars, presentations, and courses.

Why it matters: Offering employees the 70-20-10 blended learning experience supports better knowledge retention and the development of practical skills.

➡️ Download the 70-20-10 development plan template.

8. Training matrix template

What the training matrix template includes: This template supplies all the data you'll need to get a comprehensive view of the state of your training initiatives, such as:

• employee names, roles, and departments;
• active training courses and topics;
• learner progress;
• course completion rate;
• failure rate.

When to use it: Keep track of specialized and company-wide past and present training efforts and the individual employees or teams that have participated in them with this template.

Why it matters: Building a training matrix is a great way to monitor your active training programs, how trainees progress through the program, and the training needs you should be working towards meeting.

➡️ Get the training matrix template .

9. Leadership training plan template

What the leadership training plan includes: Get an overview of your company's current leadership abilities and the areas where there's room for improvement. This template addresses the following:

• training needs assessment;
• training objectives;
• your leadership training topics ;
• the core leadership skills your (future) leaders will obtain from the training;
• the training methods and formats you'll use to facilitate this; 
• your use of facilities and stakeholders.

When to use it: Provide your workers with leadership training to develop and improve the skills they'll require to manage a team effectively. Plus, use leadership training to teach about your organization's code of conduct for supervisors.

Why it matters: A leadership training plan example allows you to transform your newly promoted employees and staffers with management potential from "actors" to "directors."

➡️ Get the leadership training plan template .

10. Product training template

What the product training plan includes: This template makes it easy to train your employees and other stakeholders on new or existing products. It presents information about the following:

• the product's benefits and features;
• product use cases;
• how the product works;
• why it is better than that of your competitors ( product comparison ).

When to use it: Break out this template whenever a new team member starts in your company to get them up to speed with your products. Alternatively, use product training to help current employees learn everything there is to know about newly launched offerings.

Why it matters: To convincingly sell your product to customers, your employees must first understand its WHAT, WHY, and HOW.

11. DEI training plan template

What the DEI training plan template includes: This diversity, equity, and inclusion template is designed as a microlearning journey. It touches on everything from why DEI matters to your company's DEI policies and aspirations, as well as actions employees can take to tackle bias and foster inclusivity.

When to use it: Put this ready-to-use course to work to educate new and existing employees about DEI topics so that everyone feels respected, safe, welcome, and empowered in the workplace.

Why it matters: A lot goes into designing an effective diversity training initiative. Work from a structured template to keep track of all the moving parts and ensure you deliver consistent messaging about the importance of cultivating a healthy and inclusive workplace culture.

➡️ Get the DEI training plan template .

💪 Why use a training plan template?

A training plan template is a document that outlines how you intend to carry out your training initiatives. It breaks down what has to happen to ensure the success of your training efforts.

Here are some advantages a good training plan template can offer you.

1. Saves you time

The more time you use in creating your training plan, the longer it will take to launch your training program and start upskilling your workers .

Rather than spending days or months strategizing and building your training plan from scratch, you can fill out a template or modify it to suit your needs. Again, this frees up time you can spend on other important tasks.

2. Makes the training process less stressful

A training plan template streamlines your company's training journey by providing a roadmap outlining the steps you need to take to achieve specific goals.

It takes the pressure and worries out of analyzing training needs, preparing strategies and objectives, and developing a curriculum to support individual learning goals. 

Templates help you address your organization's present and future skill gaps.

3. Keeps things on track

Without a training plan template, it's easy for things to fall through the cracks because you may not be able to remember or keep track of all details.

You can invest a lot of money and time only to end up with a training program that doesn't deliver on its promises or meet the expectations you set for it. 

A template helps you stay on schedule and manage all the components of your training process so that everything flows smoothly.

4. Helps anticipate employees' training needs

To create successful skills development programs, you first need to know what areas your workers need upskilling or reskilling to remain competitive in their careers. And to ensure the continued survival and profitability of your business.

A training plan template takes the guesswork out of the equation, empowering you to design and execute engaging training programs that help your employees grow as individuals and as a team.

➡️ Learn how to create an effective employee training plan in 9 steps.

➡️ Plan your training with Zavvy

Training plan templates can be a helpful guide for standardizing your training initiatives and mapping out how you will empower your workforce with the skills they need to grow and perform better.

But to build sustainable and scalable training initiatives, you also need the right training tool.

Zavvy's training solutions are ideal from onboarding onwards to create a continuous learning culture for your company.

Zavvy makes it easy to:

• Plan, create, distribute, and manage your learning and development content in one place.
• Automate your entire training program to reach people with the right content at the right time with ready-to-use training courses .
• Deliver effective and engaging learning experiences with creative training solutions like microlearning, peer learning, and learning in the flow of work.
• Develop leaders and everyone else based on data with precision.
• Track course completion, engagement, learner performance, and training ROI.

Ready to build a worry-free training program? Book a free demo anytime.

Berfu is an Employee Experience Specialist at Zavvy. She has a background in learning psychology and helps our customers get the most out of their people enablement programs.

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Blog Human Resources 21 Training Plan Templates for Every Need

21 Training Plan Templates for Every Need

Written by: Jennifer Gaskin Oct 26, 2022

An employee training plan acts as the ultimate cheat sheet for building a successful workforce. After all, a company is only as good as its people. So, whether you’re bringing in new staff, transitioning someone to a new role or up-skilling professionals in their current job, it pays to create effective training plans .

Though investing in training can be expensive, not making sure your employees have the skills they need is even costlier — from the risk of mistakes to simply falling behind your competition.

But you can save time and money developing these programs by starting with a training plan template . Keep reading for tips and templates to help you supply your team with the training they need to succeed.

Click to jump ahead:

What is a training plan?

What is a training plan template, what should a training plan include, 21 employee training plan templates, benefits of using training plan templates, how do you create a training plan.

A training plan is a visually organized document detailing the steps and resources needed to teach a worker a new set of skills, task or policy. There are many types of training plans, depending on the specific needs of the company and the employee.

Training plans are useful not only for organizing resources for workers, but employers can also use them to track performance progress and see at a glance where their teams’ greatest skill deficiencies may be.

Managers can also use employee training plans (and their knowledge of how well workers have done under them) when making advancement decisions.

Learn more about creating a successful employee training and development program built on visual communication.

A training plan template is an existing, blank document that managers can fill in to describe the path needed to train a worker on a new task, get a new hire ready to roll or otherwise ensure an employee is able to achieve their potential.

Training plan templates are ideal for businesses that need to develop many training plans for different types of workers or processes, as this can speed up creation and implementation time (which also speeds up the overall training process).

The exact content and setup of a training plan varies depending on the end goal, but here’s a broad overview of what your training plan should include:

• SMART goals:  Clearly define  what  trainees will  learn and be able to do  by the end (e.g., “use software X proficiently in 2 weeks”).
• Tailored training:   Adapt the program  to the  existing knowledge, skills, and preferred learning styles  of the target audience.
• Content & delivery:  Plan the  specific topics  to be covered,  choose appropriate training methods  (lectures, demonstrations, etc.), and decide the  format  (in-person, online, blended).
• Logistics:   Schedule the training  (duration, frequency),  allocate resources  (trainers, equipment), and determine  methods to assess learning  (quizzes, practical exercises).
• Feedback and improvement:  Establish methods to assess trainee progress and collect input from trainees and trainers to improve future iterations of the training program.

New hire training plan

Perhaps no single employee training plan is more important than what is created for new hires. A bad hire is an incredibly costly prospect for any business, and for a small business, it’s especially problematic. That’s because a small business has less wiggle room in the bottom line.

According to Business News Daily , poor onboarding is a leading cause of turnover — costing the company as much as 300 percent of the person’s salary for the unsuccessful training and eventual hiring process to fill their position.

Let’s look at some new employee orientation and onboarding training plans to keep this from happening to your team:

A new hire training plan checklist is a perfect way for the new employee and their supervisor to stay on the same page. Plus, this ensures new hires get all the crucial information they need early on in their tenure. Customize this template with the policies and procedures unique to your company.

Onboarding checklists can help both trainees and managers keep track of all the tasks that need to be done when a new person joins the team. And by monitoring how many boxes are checked, it’s easy to see where you’re falling short.

When you think about it, a new job begins from the day of the hire, not the moment the new person starts working. Seize the opportunity to make sure your internal processes are up to speed before the person even walks in the door with this orientation process checklist template.

With Venngage for Business, you can easily customize a new hire onboarding HR checklist (like the one below) to add relevant company documents. For example, your new hire may be expected to have certain licenses or qualifications; add those to the new hire paperwork section to keep your HR department happy (and legally compliant!).

Make onboarding fun by using the principles of microlearning, which can help overwhelming tasks seem manageable. Keep important materials organized so that your new team members get all the knowledge they need in an accessible format.

New manager training plan

Study after study has confirmed : bad managers — not low salaries or heavy workloads — are the number one reason people leave jobs. In fact, Gallup has found that about 70 percent of the variance in employee engagement scores can be attributed to the quality of the individual’s direct supervisor.

That’s why it’s so important to make sure that from the top down, your management structure is filled with people who have the right temperament and skill set to get the very best out of each team member. Here are some new manager training materials that can put your leadership on the right path:

Just because they’re already in management, that doesn’t mean your team members don’t have further goals. Sit down with them and talk through what they want to accomplish, and then help them visualize how to get there with this career roadmap.

Not sure about using visual content in training ? Let us convince you.

Focus on the team aspect with your new manager training plans by having them creating a mind map like this one. Get them to fill it in with their goals for various aspects of their stepped-up role in your company.

One of the hardest parts of running a company is identifying people who have management potential. Use this chart to help you understand the difference between those who would be good first-line managers and those who might have executive potential.

Though this template was created to supplement an annual performance review, it’s also an effective tool for training a new manager.

Have them plot where they perceive themselves to be on a matrix (customize it easily by updating the text) and then add your opinion. From there, you can discuss what changes they need to make to land in the ideal quadrant.

Employee development plan

Employee development plans have a wide range of uses, from getting underperforming team members to improve what they’re doing to helping workers add skills to their arsenal. They can be focused on individuals (adding skills) or the team (improving performance) — or both.

You might think it’s counterproductive to have team members adding skills that don’t align entirely with your business objectives. But remember: employees are more likely to remain with an employer if the company invests in their careers, according to LinkedIn .

Use this SMART goals template to set objectives, timelines and methods for improving your employee’s skills. Customize it to your needs by updating the colors and adding new items to each column.

Data visualization has been shown to help with information retention — plus, it just looks cool. Use pie charts like these to help your employees visualize on a 1%-100% scale how well they’re doing at various tasks. And use the second page to expand further on where they could improve.

Work with your staff member to establish the areas where they need or want to learn more and list out the specific steps to get there using this template. Or use it to set goals they want to accomplish as part of their employee development plan .

Training needs assessment

Understanding where deficiencies are is an important part of any employee development plan, and it’s useful in helping your team members set their own career goals. Here are several training needs assessment templates you can use in your business today:

Use this training needs assessment to see your entire team at a glance. Update the columns and rows with your specific needs and see where your teams may be falling short (or excelling!).

Customize this skills checklist for your needs and have your team members fill one out for themselves. Using a method like this can help you better understand how your staffers feel about their contributions to the team — and where they see room for improvement.

Before advancing an employee to a new role or even elevating them to management, assess their positives and negatives using this readiness checklist template.

This multi-page assessment template can help you go into detail on what skills and competencies you expect members of your team to have. While it’s long, it remains accessible because of its clear organization and color-coding.

Use this questionnaire, which was developed for a healthcare setting, to understand more about how your employees rate themselves.

What’s unique and interesting about this template is that it calls for workers to rate both their success in each task and that task’s importance to their job success — which can also help you understand whether your priorities are in line with theirs.

Individual training plan

No worker wants to feel like just another body. But creating a truly individual training plan means sitting down with your team and understanding where they are — and where they need to be. Once you’ve done that, here are some individual training plans you can work together to create:

This individual training plan template is ideal for staffers who need to work on their performance before they fall into the range of under-performing. Having templates like this on hand can help turn you from a reactive manager into a proactive one . In other words, you can head off minor issues before they become major problems.

Work with your employee to determine where they fall on this matrix. Make one quadrant for each of their critical skill sets, determining if the job in question is being done well and how important it is to the success of the employee and the company.

Here’s another alternative to an individual training plan. This template can help employees do some introspection and determine what they want to get out of their jobs and how they might plot out their future with your company.

While this employee evaluation template is geared towards an annual self-review, it can also be useful as the basis for an individual training plan. Work with a single team member, or have each person on your team fill one of these out. Then, work with the group to address each individual’s needs and potential.

• Time-Saving: Speeds up the process of creating a training plan by providing a pre-structured format.
• Consistency: Ensures uniformity across different training programs, maintaining quality and standards.
• Clarity: Clearly outlines objectives, timelines, and resources, making the plan easy to follow and implement.
• Customization: Allows for easy adjustments to fit specific needs or training goals.
• Professionalism: Offers a polished, professional appearance that can enhance credibility and buy-in from stakeholders.
• Focus: Helps trainers stay focused on key elements, avoiding unnecessary details.
• Efficiency: Streamlines communication and coordination among team members involved in the training process.
• Evaluation: Provides a structured way to assess the effectiveness of the training, with built-in methods for tracking progress.

To create a training plan, start by identifying the learning objectives and the skills or knowledge that need to be developed. Assess the current skill levels of the participants, then design a structured program with clear milestones and timelines, including a mix of instructional methods like lectures, hands-on activities, and assessments. Finally, ensure that the plan includes resources, a schedule, and a method for evaluating the effectiveness of the training.

Follow the key 5 steps below to create an effective employee training plan:

Step 1: Identifying the training gap

Start by understanding the specific skills or knowledge needed, whether it’s to address performance issues or adapt to new challenges.

Step 2: Build your training framework

Define the overall goals, target audience, and desired outcomes to create a clear roadmap for the training program.

Step 3: Explore resources

Explore internal resources, external vendors, and online platforms to find the most cost-effective and effective delivery method.

Step 4: Collaborating for success

Secure support from key stakeholders like managers, trainers, and even learners to ensure program success.

Step 5: Finalize & refine

Schedule the training, allocate resources, and establish assessment methods to measure learning and refine the program for future iterations.

Level up your team: the power of personalized training plans 

Use the templates you’ve seen here, or consider them a jumping-off point to leveling up the skills each individual contributes to your team.

And remember, you can customize any of these training plan templates to suit your needs.

With Venngage’s user-friendly, drag-and-drop editor, you can edit the text, colors, icons, images, branding and more — and impress trainees with your professionalism and organizational skills!

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This overview explains the essentials of workplace learning while providing expert analysis and examples of companies that are leading the way in building a dynamic learning culture. Click on the links for a deeper dive into the trends, tools and best practices you need to know to build an effective learning strategy.

• How to create an employee training plan (with template)

Employee training requires a comprehensive plan to ensure that training methods are user friendly, effective and aligned with the goals of employees and the organization.

• Eric St-Jean

Employee training is essential to ensuring a company has employees with the skills, knowledge and competencies needed to manage and grow the business. It is also an important tool to attract and retain talent.

Successful training often depends on having an effective employee training plan in place. It can be at the corporate level, where many employees will benefit from the training program, or at the individual employee level. Each type of plan requires capturing similar details.

From a corporate perspective, the learning and development (L&D) team must identify the workplace learning programs it wants to offer employees, both from a compliance perspective and to meet current and future business goals. With the programs identified, the L&D team can then begin building the employee training plans. An employee training plan template can be a good starting point. If your organization doesn't have a template, read on to learn how to create one.

What is an employee training plan and what is its purpose?

A company-level training plan provides the details for an employee training program that the company has decided to offer. For example, if the L&D team wants to offer a leadership development program to employees, the L&D team would develop a training plan as a next step. The training plan will include items such as the goals and objectives of the training, when the training is being offered, prerequisites, the curriculum for the course, training methods, and the different types of learning opportunities, such as instructor-led training, online courses , assessments and perhaps mentoring.

This article is part of

Workplace learning: A complete guide for businesses

• Which also includes:
• 10 top learning experience platforms to use in 2023
• 12 ways to create a continuous learning culture

The training plan is meant to educate managers and employees about the value of the program. It will help them determine if the program is the right one for a particular employee. It will also help decide if an employee is ready for the program based on their education and experience, as well as the time commitment required to complete the training program.

When a training plan is written for a specific employee, everything in the plan reflects the short-term needs of one person. Employees may also have an employee development plan that focuses on their long-term growth goals. In that case, the employee and manager should work to align the training plan with the goals in the development plan.

Different types of employee training plans

As the L&D team identifies the need for new, company-level learning programs, it will in turn create new employee learning plans. Companies can have an unlimited number of learning programs and associated learning plans. However, the following types are commonly found in most companies:

Onboarding helps the employee get acquainted with the company, will often cover information that is generic to all employees, such as policies, and may introduce new hires to additional information about the company and the products and services it offers.

Onboarding may also include role-specific training. In this case, new hires will be split into appropriate groups. For example, employees hired into customer service will likely have specific applications to learn, as well as training to be able to answer questions from customers.

Health and safety training

Companies often include some level of safety training for new hires. It might be included in the onboarding for employees who only need to understand the basics. For example, office staff who sit at desks have little risk and only need to know risks that are specific to their role. However, employees working on a construction site or in dangerous roles may require in-depth training to avoid injury.

Product training

Product training is often broken down according to the different needs of employees grouped by role, since not everyone requires the same level of detail. However, it is good for all employees to have a general understanding of the products the company makes.

For office staff who don't deal directly with customers, such as HR and accounting employees, a short overview built into the onboarding process may give them the level of detail they need. Salespeople must be able to speak to customers about products but may not need all the details. Technical support staff, on the other hand, may need detailed training so they understand the products in sufficient detail to answer specific questions from employees.

Leadership training

Companies often develop a leadership program to support the development and growth of their current and future leaders. The employee learning plan may include items such as how to give feedback, coaching, and instruction on the systems used to view employee data, approve time cards and measure employee performance. The learning plan will also be tailored to how the company wants its leaders to work, often taking into account the company's values, mission and business goals.

Diversity and inclusion training

A company may offer a diversity, equity and inclusion program to educate employees on how they are expected to interact with their peers, highlighting examples of conduct that won't be tolerated, such as sexual harassment or racial discrimination. The training plan may include a course that is generic to all employees, and courses specific to employees in certain roles who need additional training, such as those in recruiting or leadership positions.

Soft skills training

Companies often develop programs to help employees improve specific soft skills. An example would be an employee training plan focused on communication. Other examples include project management , teamwork, time management and problem-solving skills.

Five key steps to create an employee training plan

Here are the top-level actions most organizations take to develop a plan:

1. Identify the need

The first step is to identify the specific need to be addressed by the training, whether it be for a companywide training program or an individual employee. You should also rank this need against other training needs in the company.

2. Develop a high-level overview

Document the main features of the employee training program so it can be shared with others. Include the learning objectives, courses to include in the curriculum, eligibility requirements and training approach.

3. Evaluate existing training options

Before developing a new learning program and plan, it's important to step back and see if existing programs can meet the company's or employee's needs. This is especially important in large multinational companies where it's not always obvious what might be available elsewhere in the company.

4. Engage key stakeholders

Once you have a high-level plan documented, share it with key stakeholders, including employees, managers and other leaders in the company. For an employee's personal training plan, engage HR and senior members of their team to get feedback.

5. Finalize the training plan

With feedback from key stakeholders and a clear understanding of the need, it's time to develop the employee training plan by using the employee training plan template. This step includes important decisions such as choosing the curriculum, instruction type and supporting materials.

For companywide courses, once the employee training plan is finalized, the L&D team can move on to the task of developing courses, identifying third parties to run courses and developing training materials. For employees, the task is similar, but typically smaller in scope. In conjunction with their manager and HR, each employee should identify courses and learning opportunities that will meet the objectives of their employee training plan.

Employee training plan template

An employee training plan should contain enough information that the people using it need to take action. For company-level training plans, the L&D team will need to know what courses are included in the learning program so they can make sure they have the instructors, rooms and video conferencing systems they need, whereas managers and employees may be more concerned with the training content and time commitment.

For individual employee training plans, the information will be similar to what's in the company plans, but the scope is much smaller as it will mainly be relevant to the employee, their manager and HR.

Once the template is created, it's important to use it for all future employee training plans and review it from time to time to make sure it's capturing all the relevant information.

You can download a blank template here to get started.

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Employee training plan templates — 3 training plan examples

Offering a strong employee onboarding process as well as ongoing training can help improve employee performance and retention. Employees that are given opportunities to learn new skills, train for leadership roles, and explore new professional interests are more likely to stay with the company. They can also grow into more valuable assets for your business.

Developing an employee training plan is a great way to streamline and organize your employee development initiatives. However, it can be hard to know where to start. To make the process easier, consider using an employee training plan template. Here we’ve outlined a couple of employee training templates and examples.

Why you need an employee training plan

Employee training plans detail how employee training programs will be conducted. They help organizations keep the training process organized by making it clear what training activities will be completed, who will be responsible for each step of the training process, and how the effectiveness of the training will be measured.

They’re also a great tool for ensuring that all training activities and outcomes are documented. Documenting training activities can be helpful for performance management . It allows managers to better understand gaps in employees’ skills and keep track of what has been done to address any of those gaps or weak areas thus far. In some cases, employee training plans can also be used as performance improvement plans. Documentation is also useful for tracking required training and continuing education.

What to include in an employee training plan

Regardless of what type of training plan you are creating or which template you choose there are a few key pieces of information that you should always include.

• Training materials required. You’ll want to consider what materials will be required for the training activities. This can also include technical requirements. For example, if you are creating a sales training plan you’ll need to make sure that everyone participating has login information and access to the company’s CRM system and other sales tools that will be utilized.
• Training method. There are many different types of employee training. A good employee training plan often combines multiple training types and delivery methods to provide a well-rounded learning experience.
• Intended audience. In many cases, organizations need to have multiple versions of their employee training programs to address the needs of different audiences.
• Timeline. Estimate how long the training plan will take to complete. Some training plans such as new hire training plans or performance improvement plans can have longer timelines such as 3 or 6 months.
• Training leaders or supervisors. Who will be in charge of carrying out the training? This can be the person leading the training session or course. However, many training activities are structured as more of an independent study or online self-paced learning. In this case, it is still a good idea to designate a person or department that will act as the point person for questions that may come up throughout the training. You can also list any other relevant stakeholders who will be supporting or overseeing the process.
• Learning objectives. What do you want learners to take away from the training activity? List the new skills or core competencies you hope to have employees develop through the training program.
• Success metrics. What do you hope to achieve with this training plan and how will you measure it?

In addition to considering the above items, you may also want to spend some time identifying the training needs and employee, team, or overall employee population. A training needs assessment can help organizations create an employee training plan based on the team or employees’ job duties and any current skill gaps. These skill gaps can be identified in performance reviews or self-assessments. Then, you can build your training plan around the individual employees’ needs.

General employee training plan template

Here is an example of a basic employee training plan template. This training plan template can be adapted to a wide range of training initiatives including onboarding training, performance improvement planning, leadership development training, and more.

Blank general employee training plan template

Employee Name: Job Title: Department: Manager: Training Program start date: Training Purpose:

Additional notes:

Success metrics:

Example of a completed employee training plan template

Employee Name: David Smith Job Title: Customer Service Representative Department: Customer Support Manager: Thomas Belden Training Program start date: 6/05/22 Training Purpose: To prepare the employee for a leadership role.

Additional notes: N/A Success metrics: Demonstrate proficiency in communication and problem-solving skills. Earn certificates of completion in both online courses with a satisfactory score.

New hire training plan template

The general employee training plan template above can be used for new hires. However many organizations spread their onboarding process and training objectives out across the first 90 days (often also considered the probationary period) and prefer a training plan format that separates the goals out by different milestones.

The new employee training plan template below is also a great way to not only keep the training process organized, but also to facilitate conversations during various employee check-ins. Many businesses have check-ins scheduled at the 30-day, 60-day, and 90-day marks to check in with employees on their training progress and see how they are adapting to their new teams and roles.

Blank new hire training plan template

Employee Name: Job Title: Department: Manager: Start date:

Completion Date:

Example of a completed new hire training plan template

Employee Name: John Smith Job Title: Sales Development Representative Department: Sales Manager: Joseph Turner Start date: 8/1/22

Comments: All HR forms and first-week training requirements completed.

Comments: At the 30-day check-in, John reported that he felt ready to start taking the lead on more sales initiatives after shadowing and performing sales support tasks for Kevin.

Comments: Review of initial sales calls showed a need for improved training and mentorship on sales negotiation.

Comments: Employee has satisfactorily completed all training activities.

Completion Date: 11/1/2022

Employee training plan evaluation template

It’s also a good idea to conduct some post-training feedback from employees to understand how the training program can be improved next time. This can also help you find out if any additional training opportunities are required after completion of the initial plan. Every employee has different learning styles and training needs so even if the training program was well-designed and reasonably paced, some employees may still need additional training or resources.

These are examples of some questions that may be helpful to ask after training. Of course, due to the wide variety of training purposes and formats, you’ll want to adjust the list to fit the training that the employee or team received.

Employee training plan feedback survey example

Trainee Name: Training Date: Training Activity: Training Manager:

• How would you rate your overall training experience on a scale of 1-5?
• How would you rate your trainer?
• Were the learning objectives clearly defined?
• Did your trainer seem knowledgeable about the topic that they were teaching?
• Was the trainer able to answer all of your questions?
• Did you find the training course content engaging?
• Do you feel that the pace of the training was appropriate? What would you like to have spent more time on?
• Did this training make you feel better prepared for your current or future role?
• Did you have ample opportunities to practice the skills that you were learning?
• Which of the training delivery methods did you prefer (independent learning, group sessions, one-on-one sessions, etc)?
• Did you feel supported throughout the training process?
• Were there any training activities that were confusing or hard to follow?
• Did you feel that the training was relevant to your needs?
• For virtual training activities, did you experience any challenges with the virtual call quality or the technical systems utilized?
• Did you find the training activities interactive enough?
• Was the format of the e-learning course(s) easy to navigate?
• Would you recommend this training to a coworker?
• Were you provided with all of the training materials that you needed to complete the training activities?
• Is there anything that you feel you need additional training on?
• Do you have any suggestions for how future training could be improved?

WHAT TO READ NEXT

Everton suitor Textor to file plan for $2.3bn Eagle Football float

The owner - for now - of a 45% stake in Crystal Palace Football Club has lined up bankers from Stifel and TD Cowen to float its holding company on the New York Stock Exchange, Sky News learns.

City editor @MarkKleinmanSky

Monday 26 August 2024 19:25, UK

The leading contender to buy Everton Football Club is preparing to launch within days a plan to take his sports and technology holding company public at a valuation of over $2bn.

Sky News has learnt that John Textor, an American businessman, is to file documents with US regulators that will see Eagle Football Holdings become a US-listed company.

Banking sources said on Monday that Eagle Football had lined up Stifel and TD Cowen, the investment banks, to work on the initial public offering (IPO).

At least one other bank is likely to be appointed alongside them, the sources added.

Eagle Football, which owns a 45% stake in Everton's fellow Premier League club Crystal Palace, is likely to seek around $500m (£379m) of new funding from investors as part of its IPO plan, according to bankers.

That would help Mr Textor achieve a valuation of around $2.3bn (£1.74bn), they said.

Eagle Football owns controlling stakes in clubs including France's Olympique Lyonnais, Botafogo in Brazil, RW Molenbeek in Belgium and FC Florida.

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Its ownership of a minority stake in Crystal Palace means that despite Eagle Football being its largest individual shareholder, the club's earnings are not consolidated within the company's results.

Mr Textor is in exclusive negotiations to acquire Everton, which has endured a torrid start to the Premier League season with 3-0 and 4-0 defeats to Brighton and Hove Albion and Tottenham Hotspur respectively.

He had held earlier discussions about buying the Toffees, but the club's complicated capital structure led to a breakdown in discussion with its majority shareholder, Farhad Moshiri.

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

However, after talks with rival bidders including Daniel Friedkin, the owner of AS Roma in Italy, fell apart, Mr Textor reopened negotiations.

Sources said that he intended to buy Everton personally rather than through Eagle Football, although they added that it was conceivable that the English club could be absorbed into the broader holding company in future.

Mr Textor, a successful former media executive, is understood to have kicked off talks with prospective investors in Everton as part of his efforts to strengthen the club's balance sheet.

He is said to have received interest from investors about injecting more than £150m into the club, according to banking sources.

One obstacle in the way of Mr Textor completing a takeover of Everton is the Premier League rules requiring the prior disposal of his stake in Crystal Palace.

Football insiders said he had received firm offers from two parties capable of executing a deal rapidly.

Their identities were unclear on Monday.

Raine Group, which handled the sale of Chelsea in 2022 and a minority stake in Manchester United to Sir Jim Ratcliffe late last year, is overseeing the disposal of Eagle Football's Crystal Palace stake.

In the past, Mr Textor has spoken about his belief that public ownership of football teams provides fans with greater transparency about the running of their clubs.

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He has described this as the democratisation of ownership - an issue likely to be at the heart of a bill on football regulation when it is reintroduced to parliament by the new Labour government.

Some clubs with listed shares, including Manchester United, have, however, endured a torrid relationship with supporters, partly as a result of their voting rights being controlled by a single dominant shareholder.

If Eagle Football's filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission proceeds in the coming days, its stock is expected to begin trading in November.

Mr Textor could not be reached for comment.