You’ve done your SWOT analysis, and now you have a list of your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
The threats can seem especially overwhelming, especially if you are an edtech company. Sometimes, it’s hard to figure out where the threats are.
Problems, uncertainty, limitations, and resistance can thwart even the best business plans, but every threat is an opportunity if you know how to turn it around in your favor.
Let’s look at five risks and the opportunities they present.
- The Threat: There’s a Problem
Discovering that you have a problem can be a huge threat. No one likes problems because they can slow down all the other process in your company.
The Opportunity: Every problem has a solution. Identifying a problem, especially when it’s small, can help you create successes and then build on them. Educators know that learning comes from failure, and that’s something edtech companies can use to their advantage.
- The Threat: Uncertainty
Not knowing is scary. When an unknown variable exists, the human mind looks for a resolution. In the absence of any solution, the mind begins creating its own possible answers based on infinite “what-if” scenarios.
The Opportunity: What-if scenarios are tremendous opportunities if you are willing to explore the possibilities brought on by uncertainty. Brainstorming ways to respond to various situations can help edtech companies develop courage as well as a plan.
- The Threat: Limited Funds –Yours
Three out of four edtech entrepreneurs will tell you that they constantly worry about funding. They have no assurances that they will have enough money to carry their products from beginning to end.
The Opportunity: Savvy edtech entrepreneurs know that their companies might survive lean times if they are willing to develop their MVP – minimum viable product.
- The Threat: Limited Funds –Theirs
Edtech companies aren’t the only ones facing tight budgets. Schools have less money to spend because district allocations are being slashed at the state and federal levels.
The Opportunity: Become a funding expert. By learning how to solve money problems, you position yourself as an expert in the field. Money won’t solve every problem, but it can help schools get the edtech they need.
- The Threat: Change Resistors
Not everyone embraces edtech. Many teachers are still wary of digital technology. They fear losing control in the classroom. Some don’t understand how the technology can help them, or even how to use it. They resist its use.
The Opportunity: Learn how to ease teachers through the adoption of your edtech product and the rapport you build will reduce their resistance to change.
By identifying what’s holding them back, edtech companies can turn threats into opportunities.
