I have been thinking on this idea for quite a some time now. It would be good to have this idea discussed over here.
The plan is to have the study material for management entrance exams (like CAT/GMAT) made available through some software, both online and offline. If we look at the candidates who take these exams, most of them come from the IT background and spend most of their time in front of computers. These candidates are always on lookout online for something to study . But they need to wade through the clutter of websites to reach the properly aligned study material. Other thing is even if the material is found online its really not put up in an user-friendly manner. They just get to read the problems and their answers. And for the candidates of GMAT having the study material on computers is very important thing as the exam that they finally take is on a computer.
For the success of this idea I think we need a few things mentioned below
1. Good study material in soft format
2. A software that is user-friendly, intuitive and can give the feeling of a virtual class-room. (e.g. a facility like scratch pad)
3. Pricing strategy that attracts most of the IT professional to go for the service.
I would be grateful to hear your suggestions, advices and doubts.
Suhas
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I have been thinking about such a service for some time now.
The idea about tests is good. We do have online forums for competitive exams. Given the current virtual environment, I think there is room for innovative offline learning solutions that seek to simplify concepts and enhance curiosity.
Since most candidates are tech savvy, paperless prep material will be a boon.
Hi,
There is lots of material available on the net and in forums ( of course illegal ) which people can download. Of course you cannot sell this material. So the first thing is you have to create your own content. and you have to sell it .
GMAT has lots of competition. Indiatimes gives 7 tests or so for 1500 for one. I am not sure if people spend a lot on preparing for GMAT. For one I did not spend more than 1k and still managed a good score. I might be wrong here.
There are lots and lots of websites offering Tests . So you would have to think why would people come to you?
I think there is more money in the offline play for this rather then online.
would love to hear comments from experts!
How about just a testing site that conducts India wide “mock” tests for all sorts of entrance exams, like JEE/GMAT/GRE/SAT/CAT and provides India wide ranks for each test? You can do this in co-ordination with Reliance Web World or Sify to get locational.
You can also have a set of mock tests that subscribers pay monthly fees to be able to take. Each test can have a percentile ranking to know how each person has performed in the test. Plus a guided replay to see which questions were wrong etc.
And if you’re a testing site you can provide tests for recruitment as a paid service to companies, which allows sub-users to identify candidates.
Testing has a lot of good monetisable value in India; I had a site like this in mind (not Brainbench style, but suited to mass testing of the kind described above) a long time back though that idea fizzled out for reasons I cannot divulge. Still, the potential is there I believe.
I think the problem will be making money from this business apart from Ads, countering mentality that anything available on net is free would be a big task.
Offline and online model could work out better as compared to only online model.
On the line of video sites providing learning videos, An educational video site may be a good direction to go.
http://www.5min.com
– Vicky
http://www.startupnews.in
its a good idea….as far as GMAT goes you already have competition