How to Start an Edtech Business

An education technology – or edtech – business leverages technology to improve education. Many of these companies focus on educating students, typically in areas related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). However, there are many different types of edtech businesses and the variety continues to increase. While some edtech businesses do things like teaching programming and engineering using robots, others use tech to do things like create real-time classroom management apps and online learning platforms that teach languages.

Ready to turn your business idea into a reality? We recommend forming an LLC as it is the most affordable way to protect your personal assets. You can do this yourself or with our trusted partner for a small fee.

Northwest ($29 + State Fees)

DIY: How to Start an LLC

Start an edtech business by following these 10 steps:

  1. Plan your Edtech Business
  2. Form your Edtech Business into a Legal Entity
  3. Register your Edtech Business for Taxes
  4. Open a Business Bank Account & Credit Card
  5. Set up Accounting for your Edtech Business
  6. Get the Necessary Permits & Licenses for your Edtech Business
  7. Get Edtech Business Insurance
  8. Define your Edtech Business Brand
  9. Create your Edtech Business Website
  10. Set up your Business Phone System

We have put together this simple guide to starting your edtech business. These steps will ensure that your new business is well planned out, registered properly and legally compliant.

Exploring your options? Check out other small business ideas.

STEP 1: Plan your business

A clear plan is essential for success as an entrepreneur. It will help you map out the specifics of your business and discover some unknowns. A few important topics to consider are:

Luckily we have done a lot of this research for you.

What will you name your business?

Choosing the right name is very important. Read our detailed guide on how to name your business. We recommend checking if the business name you choose is available as a web domain and securing it early so no one else can take it.

What are the costs involved in opening an edtech business?

The costs to start an edtech business can range from $0 to millions of dollars. It all depends on your goals and your existing resources. For example, you could start an education app business with your laptop and an internet connection. If you have education credentials, even better. In contrast, starting a robot programming company may require millions of dollars in capital. That’s because you have to produce the robots, which requires research, development, prototyping, and more.

What are the ongoing expenses for an edtech business?

The ongoing expenses for an edtech business will vary depending on the type of business. Common expenses include labor, certifications, licensing, insurance, and for hard goods manufacturers the various costs related to producing those goods.

One type of ongoing expense that edtech companies have that other businesses often don’t is pedagogy research and support. Teaching methods can change periodically and education organizations often require regular certification for product endorsements. For instance, if you are selling a product to state schools, you will need to keep it up to date with the state’s education requirements.

Who is the target market?

EdTech can be helpful to so many different people and organizations – that’s part of what makes it so exciting. It’s not just traditional students and teachers that can benefit from learning technologies. Anyone who wants or needs to learn something, or to teach something, can possibly benefit from the improvements tech offers. All this is to say that your target market could be anyone, so be careful to define it as thoroughly as you can.

How does an edtech business make money?

Edtech businesses offer products and/or services to customers to make money. While some charge a flat fee for a product, most go with the subscription billing model. For example, a school can pay a monthly or yearly fee to use a robot programming platform. In exchange for the subscription fee, the school gets the robots it needs, access to the programming platform, and ongoing support from the edtech business.

How much can you charge customers?

An edtech business can charge a little or a lot, depending on what it’s offering and the target audience. An app for studying languages aimed at K-12 might charge a modest monthly fee to use each app without ads. A programmable robots company that serves school districts might charge tens of thousands of dollars per school or even per grade for its robots and accompanying software.

How much profit can an edtech business make?

An edtech business can be extremely profitable. The global investment in edtech companies is already in the tens of billions and is likely to increase with each passing year. Whatever direction you take your company, whether more informal to reach a global audience or more formal to focus on educational institutions, you have the potential to earn a significant profit if you are successful.

How can you make your business more profitable?

A key strategy for increasing the profitability of an edtech company is to gain endorsements from relevant educational organizations. If your app becomes the favorite engineering-related app for major engineering schools, you are going to grow quickly and your profits will grow as well. That is why it’s so important to include educators and experts in your product development. Find out what their needs are, meet those needs, and make it easy for them to love your product.

Want a more guided approach? Access TRUiC’s free Small Business Startup Guide – a step-by-step course for turning your business idea into reality. Get started today!

STEP 2: Form a legal entity

One crucial aspect that cannot be overlooked when starting your edtech business is the importance of establishing a solid business foundation. While sole proprietorships and partnerships are the most common entity types for small businesses, they’re a far less stable and advantageous option than LLCs.

This is because unincorporated business structures (i.e., sole proprietorships and partnerships) expose you as an owner to personal liability for your business’s debts and legal actions, while LLCs protect you by keeping your personal assets separate from your business’s liabilities.

In practice, this means that if your edtech business were to face a lawsuit or incur any debts, your savings, home, and other personal assets could not be used to cover these costs. On top of this, forming your business as an LLC also helps it to appear more legitimate and trustworthy.

More than 84% of our readers opt to collaborate with a professional LLC formation service to kickstart their venture. We’ve negotiated a tailored discount for our readers, bringing the total down to just $29.

FORM YOUR LLC

Note: If you’re interested in more information before getting started, we recommend having a look at our state-specific How to Start an LLC guide (DIY) or our in-depth Best LLC Services review (for those opting for a professional service).

STEP 3: Register for taxes

You will need to register for a variety of state and federal taxes before you can open for business.

In order to register for taxes you will need to apply for an EIN. It’s really easy and free!

You can acquire your EIN through the IRS website. If you would like to learn more about EINs, read our article, What is an EIN?

There are specific state taxes that might apply to your business. Learn more about state sales tax and franchise taxes in our state sales tax guides.

STEP 4: Open a business bank account & credit card

Using dedicated business banking and credit accounts is essential for personal asset protection.

When your personal and business accounts are mixed, your personal assets (your home, car, and other valuables) are at risk in the event your business is sued. In business law, this is referred to as piercing your corporate veil.

Open a business bank account

Besides being a requirement when applying for business loans, opening a business bank account:

  • Separates your personal assets from your company’s assets, which is necessary for personal asset protection.
  • Makes accounting and tax filing easier.

Recommended: Read our Best Banks for Small Business review to find the best national bank or credit union.

Get a business credit card

Getting a business credit card helps you:

Recommended: Apply for an easy approval business credit card from BILL and build your business credit quickly.

STEP 5: Set up business accounting

Recording your various expenses and sources of income is critical to understanding the financial performance of your business. Keeping accurate and detailed accounts also greatly simplifies your annual tax filing.

Make LLC accounting easy with our LLC Expenses Cheat Sheet.

STEP 6: Obtain necessary permits and licenses

Failure to acquire necessary permits and licenses can result in hefty fines, or even cause your business to be shut down.

STEP 7: Get business insurance

Just as with licenses and permits, your business needs insurance in order to operate safely and lawfully. Business Insurance protects your company’s financial wellbeing in the event of a covered loss.

There are several types of insurance policies created for different types of businesses with different risks. If you’re unsure of the types of risks that your business may face, begin with General Liability Insurance. This is the most common coverage that small businesses need, so it’s a great place to start for your business.

Another notable insurance policy that many businesses need is Workers’ Compensation Insurance. If your business will have employees, it’s a good chance that your state will require you to carry Workers’ Compensation Coverage.

STEP 8: Define your brand

Your brand is what your company stands for, as well as how your business is perceived by the public. A strong brand will help your business stand out from competitors.

If you already have a logo, you can also add it to a QR code with our Free QR Code Generator. Choose from 13 QR code types to create a code for your business cards and publications, or to help spread awareness for your new website.

How to promote & market an edtech business

One effective way to promote and market an edtech business is through market research. You already need to get close to your target market to ensure that you are meeting their needs. In the process of your research, you can develop relationships with people and organizations that will help sell your product or service once it is available.

For example, if you are creating a history education app, you might reach out on social media to various history education groups. As you work with those groups to refine your offering, they will become invested in your success. Once you are ready to go live, those groups will often be the first users – and advocates – of your product.

How to keep customers coming back

Be willing to adapt to whatever situation you find your business in. It is common for edtech companies to release products and services that get mixed reviews from their target markets. You can’t think of everything before you launch. Only once your product is used by thousands of customers will you recognize some of the major flaws. If multiple users are complaining of an issue, try to avoid getting defensive. Instead, be responsive and make changes as necessary. Adaptability to your target market will show them you care and are serious about meeting their needs.

STEP 9: Create your business website

After defining your brand and creating your logo the next step is to create a website for your business.

While creating a website is an essential step, some may fear that it’s out of their reach because they don’t have any website-building experience. While this may have been a reasonable fear back in 2015, web technology has seen huge advancements in the past few years that makes the lives of small business owners much simpler.

Here are the main reasons why you shouldn’t delay building your website:

  • All legitimate businesses have websites – full stop. The size or industry of your business does not matter when it comes to getting your business online.
  • Social media accounts like Facebook pages or LinkedIn business profiles are not a replacement for a business website that you own.
  • Website builder tools like the GoDaddy Website Builder have made creating a basic website extremely simple. You don’t need to hire a web developer or designer to create a website that you can be proud of.

Recommended: Get started today using our recommended website builder or check out our review of the Best Website Builders.

Other popular website builders are: WordPressWIXWeeblySquarespace, and Shopify.

STEP 10: Set up your business phone system

Getting a phone set up for your business is one of the best ways to help keep your personal life and business life separate and private. That’s not the only benefit; it also helps you make your business more automated, gives your business legitimacy, and makes it easier for potential customers to find and contact you.

There are many services available to entrepreneurs who want to set up a business phone system. We’ve reviewed the top companies and rated them based on price, features, and ease of use. Check out our review of the Best Business Phone Systems 2024 to find the best phone service for your small business.

Recommended Business Phone Service: Phone.com

Phone.com is our top choice for small business phone numbers because of all the features it offers for small businesses and it’s fair pricing.

Is this Business Right For You?

This business is right for entrepreneurs who have a passion for technology and education. It can be challenging to find the right angle for an edtech business, so you need to have the drive to keep experimenting until you get it right. But if you love the idea of making a big impact in an innovative way, all the hard work will be worth it.

Want to know if you are cut out to be an entrepreneur?

Take our Entrepreneurship Quiz to find out!

Entrepreneurship Quiz

What happens during a typical day at an edtech business?

There are so many different types of edtech businesses – a typical day can vary considerably depending on the business. However, there are some common tasks that most must take care of. These businesses need to find and maintain funding to get rolling, so a lot of time is spent on courting investors and selling the overall idea of the business. They also need to ensure that their products and services are fully addressing the needs of their target market, which means they focus on research and development. That might include consulting teachers, for example.

One ongoing task of edtech businesses is customer support. Customers need instruction on how to use edtech products and often need continued support – like troubleshooting services – to use the products and/or services in real-world settings.

What are some skills and experiences that will help you build a successful edtech business?

Some edtech entrepreneurs come from tech backgrounds, while others come from educational backgrounds. There are even edtech entrepreneurs with other backgrounds, such as accounting or banking, that partner with tech and education professionals to start a company. It’s helpful to have experience with the problem you are solving so you understand clearly what solutions are needed. For instance, you might have learned programming in college and found it difficult at first – then realized that your experience would have been easier had you learned more about programming at an earlier age. Your kid-friendly programming education product would help solve that problem for others.  

What is the growth potential for an edtech business?

As computers become more and more ubiquitous it is important to understand how they work and what is possible through technology. As far as a learning tool, new businesses start up everyday, and according to a 2020 study the E-Learning market size surpassed $250 billion in 2020 and is expected to grow over 21% between 2021 and 2027. The pace of technology means that there are almost always opportunities to get in on the ground floor of a new innovative business.

Not sure if an edtech business is right for you? Try our free Business Idea Generator and find your perfect idea.

Take the Next Step

Find a business mentor

One of the greatest resources an entrepreneur can have is quality mentorship. As you start planning your business, connect with a free business resource near you to get the help you need.

Having a support network in place to turn to during tough times is a major factor of success for new business owners.

Learn from other business owners

Want to learn more about starting a business from entrepreneurs themselves? Visit Startup Savant’s startup founder series to gain entrepreneurial insights, lessons, and advice from founders themselves.

Resources to Help Women in Business

There are many resources out there specifically for women entrepreneurs. We’ve gathered necessary and useful information to help you succeed both professionally and personally:

  • Funding
  • Events
  • Guides
  • Support

If you’re a woman looking for some guidance in entrepreneurship, check out this great new series Women in Business created by the women of our partner Startup Savant.

What are some insider tips for jump starting an edtech business?

Don’t assume you know there is a need for the product and/or service you are planning to provide. It’s easy in the excitement of a new idea and with the right support to assume your target market will be ecstatic to buy your product. Then, after you have spent all that time and money, you may discover that your offering is not as compelling as you thought it was.

Market research is vital in edtech. Talk to your potential customers. Find out if they have a need that your product will meet. It’s better to find out now, before you dig in, that you need to change directions. 

How and when to build a team

If you want your edtech business to grow, you need the help of others. Realistically, if you plan to do anything ambitious – like producing programmable robots – you need to build a team sooner rather than later. Even if you are just designing an app and have all the right skills, you will quickly need to build a team for marketing, customer service, investment, and more.

Edtech entrepreneurs are typically aiming for large markets. If that’s you, start adding to your team as soon as possible. Recruit experts, educators, advocates, and support staff to give your product legitimacy and ensure it meets the needs of your target market.

Useful Links

Real World Examples

Further Reading