It is a fact that in the last few years, India's overall GDP has been growing steadily in the range of 8-9%. Even under the dark clouds of recession in the US and parts of Europe, India is still considered fairly resilient. Our economic growth today is hugely dependent on services – related businesses in sharp contrast to China's well-planned strategy of becoming a manufacturing behemoth. This trend is very similar to many other countries with leading GDP where services sector contributes more than 60%. Post liberalization, the contribution of the services sector to our total GDP has steadily risen and now is more than 50%. The segment also plays an important part in retaining the services of at least a quarter of our workforce. This sector unlike agriculture offers relatively equal employment opportunities to skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled people. Growth of services sector means more employment for our young workforce. Services sector is also reasonably responsible for our growth in exports.

Salaries and compensation per household is also steadily increasing and we have lot more millionaires than what we had back in the 80s and early 90s. The number is predicted to double by the end of this decade. This increase in per capita income does not only mean well for the automobile, real estate and luxury sectors but also for the social services sector (education and healthcare). Apart from retirement, children's education plans are hugely advertised by our insurance and other financial investment companies. It clearly shows the importance that average Indian households place on education. But education sector in India is still at its nascent stage and miles to go before it can reach global standards. With the right amount of nudge in the proper direction, we can become a preferred destination globally for acquiring education (like the US of A) as we are flourishing in the area of medical tourism. 

India is expected to have huge growth in its working population where other countries seem to be facing a decline. This growth is forecasted most in the middle – income group category. The predicament in this positive attribute is our dismal literacy rate.

Innovation and development of the education sector can be instrumental in circumvolving our burgeoning population from being a hindrance to a matter of strength both domestically and internationally. It can also act as a tool for socio-economic development and source of economic independence.    

In emerging markets like India, there is tremendous potential for various sectors like education as there is ample scope for growth and expansion before saturation sets in. 

“Education is not the answer to the question. Education is the means to the answer to all questions.” William Allin

Magnitude of Prospects

The education sector though not a very high profile one, provides ample business opportunities for micro, small and medium level enterprises to present various offerings for different spheres of our lives. (The target group of students (6-24 years age group) was projected to be 410 million estimated way back in 2005. (Source: http://www.education.nic.in/sector.asp#size accessed on 5th Sep 2011)

 

There is potential for setting up businesses to cater to individuals and institutions at school, university and professional level apart from other diverse fringe support sections.

The school level segment includes a whole range of products and services for students forming part of toddler and play group programs, pre-primary, primary and secondary sections, individual schools, tutorial classes and academicians. The same extends to the university level for undergraduate, graduate and doctoral courses. The market spreads wider in the professional segment which also includes corporate training, skill development and upgradation as well as mentoring systems. These are part of our structured education system which is basic or technical in nature upto the tertiary level.

 

 

There are other diverse areas like recurrent education for continuous development, vocational training, finishing schools, hobbies and extra-curricular activities, sports, music, art (drawing, painting, craft, pottery etc.), mastering new languages, information technology training to name a few. 

This is an extremely lucrative segment due to rapid transformation in our lifestyle and family system. With both parents involved in their respective career and higher incidence of nuclear families, there is a growing need for engaging the children into constructive activities. The choices have moved beyond the consideration based on cost rather there is focus on quality and novelty. And the demand is not only for children but among working people too to enrich their lives. 

Training is a part of education which seriously lacks adequate impetus. Today's academicians need constant upgradation of knowledge and learn new skills to embed them in their teaching methodology. Training is also necessary for employees in organizations to upgrade their existing attributes. Many employees start working with basic education. Increasing competition and need to climb up the food chain makes higher education mandatory either as a regular student or acquiring the same in distance (part-time) learning mode. Many senior level executives require all-round exposure to techno-commercial skills to tackle the pressure of their growing responsibility. Management schools are offering various kinds of reasonable to expensive executive development programs. Apart from good trainers, there is gap for relevant training material in hard or soft copy formats. Thus, content creation and management has nowadays become a popular career choice as well as business proposition.

The business opportunities also range from (but not restricted to) creating fundamental capital intensive infrastructure like schools or universities and buildings to educational programs, development of curriculum or variety of teaching and learning aids.  

The learning and teaching aids segment is more attractive for Micro and Small enterprises due to low level of investment and possibility of distribution through existing retail outlets. There is also lot of scope for smaller but effective innovation. In my childhood days, there were simple books generally black and white in color or with few colors. Today, my tiny tot has books which can be safely dipped in the bath water or washed in the washing machine. The story of thirsty crow is now available in the visual form for faster and effective absorption in the young minds. The erstwhile slates have been replaced with sleek writing devices which can be neatly erased with the swipe of a button. Wikipedia has become an integral part of our learning and knowledge acquisition process. 

 

 

There has been a revolution of sorts in the teaching and learning aids arena. The staid course books are now complemented with wide range of practice and activity material to improve understanding and enhance the learning process. Educational institutes are open to implementing interactive boards for teaching in the classrooms. Books are available in electronic format which also makes it easier to come out with newer editions in much shorter time apart from being portable and carried in smartphones, pendrives or tablets. Availability and accessibility to related material of books through online sites or as mobile content has become de-rigeur. Many subjects are being taught with computerized simulation and graphics for increased understanding of the concepts and theories.   

The bottom-line is there are takers for all kinds of mundane or innovative products and services in the sector. It can be a play-school, day care center or programs like wine tasting, the art of laying a table. A product like a regular mathematics practice book will have an equal taker like a hitchhiker's guide to Mongolia.  

“Learning is what most adults will do for a living in the 21st century.” Perelman

Thrust Factors 

Having established the fact that education sector has huge latitude for augmentation of products and services, it is essential to understand the genuine thrust factors which make it rewarding. It is well established that an enterprise or business venture of any scale is bound with certain amount of risks and uncertainty. In that respect, this sector is quite flexible and adaptable.

The central resource in this business is human skill and education which forms the foundation for setting up a venture. There is no restriction of gender or economic status. How have the tuition classes gained so much prominence? How much was the seed capital employed and the comparative human resource input? How soon did revenue generation commence and the investors broke even?

This sector provides ample employment opportunities for both skilled and unskilled people. The operation of business can be customized to suit specific needs and resources. Technological advancements have had huge impact in generating innovative products and services in this sector. It has enriched our learning methodology. It has also reduced cost of gathering information and acquiring knowledge. 

But the most important feature of investment in this sector is its ability to remain resilient under economic pressure. The process of acquiring education usually does not feature any seasonal impact or trend and it is rather linear. Austerity drives touch education towards the end; after most of the other options are exhausted. The scarcity of supply in the face of growing demand in this sector is another reason for its resilience. 

It is a matter of cognition that many individuals and business entities are diversifying their investments in the education sector in various forms to add to their basket of trade. Even the Birlas, Ambanis and the Goenkas are in this business. Whether it is solely for philanthropy is a matter of contention. 

“It is a greater work to educate a child, in the true and larger sense of the word, than to rule a state.” William Ellery Channing

 

 

The education sector will soon be growing in geometric proportions and this is the time to ride the waves. This is also one sector where people can have any magnitude of setup either in a Big – Bang theory way or growing gradually over a period of time in a slow evolutionary method. There is scope for end-to-end offerings like having a school, providing proprietary educational material, tutorial support, hobby classes, daycare facility or to be a niche offering in the entire 'food chain'. India today not only needs world-class higher education institutes but equally forceful primary and secondary education system and services to cater to the growing needs. This is also a paradigm for poverty alleviation, inclusive development and improving our literacy levels to actually enhance living standards and quality of life on the whole. Setting up a venture in this sector is also relatively easy but quality continues to be the defining factor. People have become more informed, and have higher disposable income hence are open to the idea of spending even higher figures for a good and promising product or service. The landscape is open for visualizing and enriching the entire learning and education system with various kinds of offerings of any scale especially by the MSME players.

Last but not the least, this segment is also attractive from a social entrepreneurship perspective. Unlike other businesses, education and related enterprises actively contribute to the betterment of our society and help bring in economic equality while generating revenue.

“Upon the education of the people of this country, the fate of this country depends.”