Market Size for Online course in 2026 [Example]

The online education market is projected to be worth around $400 billion by 2025. Considering that solopreneurs and small business owners represent a substantial segment of this market, we can estimate that around 10% of this total market pertains to individuals seeking courses to enhance their skills. This gives us an approximate TAM of $40 billion, assuming an average course expenditure of $500 per person across 80 million potential learners.

This segment includes freelancer skill development, personal branding courses, and other relevant courses that appeal to solopreneurs, representing a large but achievable audience globally. Therefore, we identify around 8M potential course buyers who fall within this financial scope.

Given the online nature of your business, the realistic geographic reach is worldwide, but practical limitations such as marketing resources and audience targeting capabilities narrow your access. Assuming that 5% of the total online education market is directly accessible through digital marketing and relevant course offerings, the SAM comes to approximately $2 billion. This translates into 4 million potential customers, with the assumption that each individual may invest about $500 in online training over a year.

Your specific focus on solopreneurs points to a niche audience within this broader market, which creates a more realistic target audience size, thus allowing for effective engagement strategies and a sustainable market position.

Realistically, capturing 1% of the SAM in the first year is a more achievable target, considering that initial market entry can be challenging. This gives a SOM of around $200K, calculating based on an expected enrollment of 400 customers within the first year. Each customer is anticipated to spend about $500 on their online courses.

The focus should be on building a strong brand presence and utilizing social media and targeted online ads to engage with solopreneurs. Starting small will allow you to refine your offerings and marketing efforts before scaling up in subsequent years.