Start with the learner's difficulty
A training offer starts with a difficulty the customer recognises and wants to resolve. Find out what they have already tried, where they became stuck and what outcome they consider useful. That information guides the content and format, helping you avoid building an extensive programme before understanding how people will use it at work.
Conversations with potential customers help distinguish curiosity from need. Ask about recent situations: which task they needed to complete, where they looked for help and what remained unresolved. An answer about past behaviour may provide more context than a general opinion about a course that does not yet exist or have a defined format.
In 2021, research with my customers revealed demand for mentoring when I expected requests for more courses. That episode concerned an earlier offer, but the principle remains: listening may change the solution. People can need support, review or practice even when they already have access to a considerable amount of information.
Choose a format that fits the need
The training format should match the type of learning and the audience's circumstances. Recorded content allows people to revisit explanations, live sessions support discussion, and individual support focuses attention on one context. Define how participants will practise, receive guidance and recognise progress, taking account of the time they can devote to the work.
A demonstration can explain how to perform a simple task. Learning to make decisions may require comparing examples and explaining choices. If the programme involves applying tools, consider prerequisites, access to data and the environment where participants will experiment, without allowing preparation to become an unexpected barrier when the programme has already started.
At Laboratório da IA, I lead two mentoring sessions each month and review students' projects. That is an example of my current work with applied learning. When designing your training business, choose the format according to the need you identified and your capacity to deliver it consistently for the people who enrol.
Define an offer people can understand
The offer should explain whom the training serves, what it covers and what participants need to bring. Present content in relation to the tasks and decisions it will support. The aim is to enable an informed choice, with clear expectations about the learning journey, available support and the participation required from each person.
A programme about creating applications might be organised around planning, building, testing and making an initial version available. The list of tools is additional information. Someone considering enrolment needs to understand whether the programme starts at their current level and whether they will work on problems similar to those encountered in their own activity.
It also matters to explain what depends on the participant. Having access to explanations does not mean completing the work. Clarity about exercises, preparation and available time helps people assess whether they can participate. That affects their learning experience and the kinds of requests for support the team will receive during delivery.
Validate demand before expanding production
Validating an offer means observing whether the audience understands the proposal, shows concrete interest and accepts the terms presented. Start with a scope you can deliver and collect questions throughout the process. Use that information to adjust the explanation, content and support before increasing the effort devoted to producing more material.
A conversation may reveal uncertainty about prerequisites or professional application. An initial delivery experience may expose a stage that requires more practice than expected. These signals help improve the programme, provided you record the context and avoid turning one person's opinion into a conclusion about the whole audience and its requirements.
Production also has an opportunity cost. Recording more modules takes time that could be spent clarifying the offer or improving an essential exercise. Choose what you need to learn first and organise the experience to obtain that information. Expanding the catalogue should respond to customers' work and the capacity available to deliver it.
Connect sales with the experience you will deliver
Selling training should involve a promise that matches the programme and available support. Content, pages and sales conversations need to explain the same offer. Follow the questions asked before enrolment and check whether the delivered experience matches the understanding that led someone to buy and take part in the learning process.
If someone joins expecting personal support and finds only videos, expectations differ from delivery. The problem may have started in communication even when the videos are well produced. Reviewing information requests and initial questions helps identify what needs to be explained before the purchase decision, when people are still assessing whether the offer fits.
My experience with more than 30,000 customers covers my entrepreneurial career across different activities. It does not make every offer suitable for everyone. In your business, seek to understand who benefits from the programme, what preparation they need and which questions should be answered before accepting an enrolment and beginning the work.
Organise delivery, support and the economics of the offer
Sustainable training depends on the work required for production, acquisition, delivery, support and updates. Include these activities when assessing price and capacity. A format that looks easy to scale may require substantial support, particularly when the content involves practical application, project reviews or tools that change during the period in which participants use them.
Record repeated support requests and identify their cause. An explanation, example, access instruction or intermediate exercise may be missing. Addressing the source of the question can improve the learner's experience and reduce repetitive work for the team, preserving attention for questions that require context and a more detailed discussion with the participant.
It also matters to monitor payments, costs and continuity without confusing revenue with results. If individual sessions or work reviews are included, that capacity belongs in the plan. The service business guide explores scope, effort and margins, which are relevant when a training programme includes a substantial element of personal support.
Use AI to support training and review the business
AI can help organise questions, prepare exercises and structure initial versions of materials, provided the content and context are reviewed. Choose tasks you can verify and protect participants' information. Evaluate the value through the quality of learning and the work actually required to keep the solution useful and maintained over time.
A synthesis of questions may reveal subjects that deserve another explanation. Return to the original questions to confirm their meaning and preserve important differences. Likewise, a generated exercise needs testing: a plausible instruction may fail when someone attempts it in an environment different from the one used during preparation and demonstration.
To discuss the offer, sales and delivery in your project, explore individual business mentoring. For the technology perspective, read AI for business owners. If you want to learn with me, visit the training catalogue; this page is intended for people who want to build and manage their own training business.