If you are reading this it means we are running a class together, so thanks for that. The following criteria have evolved over time as I have worked with different training partners. Some classes work out well, others not so well, some not at all.
These terms are intended to make it fair and transparent for us both.
I like to work on a 70/30 split with a training partner, although I am happy to start at 50/50 and move towards 70/30 as we gain confidence with each other (you know it’s a less risky proposition, I know I’m making more from the training). With my longer-term partnerships this is where we have ended up.
I have a floor of £20,000 for a two-day class, which means you carry the risk for selling the initial tranche of tickets. In reality this means a floor of 12-15 people depending on ticket prices, early bird discounts, etc.
There should be a minimum of 12 attendees, otherwise there aren’t enough people to work in small groups. I have this constraint because one time a partner only sold 8 seats (and didn’t tell me), which made for a poorer learning experience for the attendees.
The class should be positioned at the premium end of your range, depending on the local market. Guide prices for full-price seats are €2,000 for Scandinavia and Western Europe, and £2,000 for UK. Early bird discounts are typically 10-20%, and similar for groups of 4 or more people. If you wish to offer deeper discounts than that, I would expect you to absorb the difference as a marketing cost.
The upper limit is a ‘soft’ 25 people for a two-day class, and practically unlimited (50-70 still works!) for a one-day workshop. The two-day class runs happily with 30 people provided they have a reasonable amount of shared context, say they all come from the same company. I leave it to the training partner to make the call about whether to set 25 or 30 people as the upper limit for their context.
I like to get an update every 2 weeks or so leading up to the class so I can see how we are doing, with transparency on ticket sales and any deals. If we haven’t reached the class minimum 6 weeks before the scheduled date, we agree to reschedule or cancel the class.
You are responsible for sales and marketing of the class. I will amplify it through my usual channels, primarily Twitter and LinkedIn, but the onus is on you to sell into your local market.
I will help with any reasonable marketing requests. So for one class I did a written Q&A interview, with another a short podcast, etc. to help with promotion.
You are responsible for training venue and logistics, as described here, and to let me know if any of this isn’t workable so we can figure out alternatives.
The profit share is net of expenses. The biggest expense is often the training venue, so when we run the class either at the training partner’s own facility or a friendly customer site, it means more in the pot for everyone :) I am happy to offer a couple of free seats for this.