White labeling a program refers to using a program developed by another company and putting your name and logo on it, while developing your own program involves creating one from the ground up. What are the pros and cons of each option?
Pros of White Labeling:
Time-Saving
White labeling saves time and resources since the program is already developed and tested. By white labeling an existing program, you can quickly get a product to market.
Cost-Effective
Purchasing a pre-existing program usually has lower upfront costs associated with it.
Established Quality
If you choose a high-quality program from a reputable developer, you can ensure that your program will be high quality.
Cons of white labeling
Limited customization
You may not have as much control over the program’s features and functionality UNLESS you are given adaptation rights.
Not unique
Using a pre-existing program may not make your program stand out from other phonics programs IF the original program is being sold in your market.
No control over updates
You will not have control over updates or upgrades to the program and may need to rely on the developer for these updates.
Long term costs
You might need to pay royalties on sales for as long as you sell the program.
Pros of developing your own program:
Authority
Create a program that meets your specific needs with all of the components you wish. You can also modify it as often as you wish.
Unique
Creating your own program is a foolproof way to ensure your program is unique and differentiate it from others.
Intellectual Property
You own the intellectual property of the program. If it is successful, you might be able to license it to other companies overseas to adapt or white label.
Cons of developing your own program:
Time
Developing a program from scratch is incredibly time-consuming. A 6-level ELA program can take years to create.
Costly
Creating your own program is a costly endeavor and involves many departments, such as editorial, product managers, and permissions.
Risk
With large opportunity comes substantial risk. You are putting sometimes many millions of dollars on the line for a brand-new program. You want to ensure it is market ready before you launch.
Either way you look at it, creating or white-labeling a new educational program is not an inexpensive endeavor. You are taking a risk either way. By white labeling a program from another market that has been successful and adapting it to your target audience’s needs you are minimizing your risk, upfront costs, and time to market, but you will have ongoing royalties to pay. With developing your own program, you will have substantial upfront costs, but your ongoing costs are much lower and you own the content so you can make updates to it or even license it to other companies overseas and make even more money it.
When you are ready to make the decision on white labeling or developing your own educational solutions, we are happy to help you make an informed decision. We work with top international educational companies so we can offer white-labeled programs that you can adapt for your unique market and/or individual stories, illustrations, videos, editorial services, and more to help you create your own programs from scratch.