Three decisions
Resolved during research, with the reasoning and the honest counter-argument in each case.
1. Beachhead: TVET or schools?
TVET.
Zero competitors versus 15+. Purchase is forced by compliance — no QAB affiliation means no valid certificate. Switching cost is near-total because reputation rides on the certificate. Institution owners are small and reachable. And it is self-referring.
The honest counter: a 150-student TEVTA institute earns maybe PKR 5,000-10,000/month, so a subscription alone is a poor business. The resolution is that the subscription is not the revenue. QAB per-candidate certification fee processing is, at roughly 2-5% of fee volume transacted. And the accreditation workflow itself is sold at PKR 25,000-75,000 recurring every three years.
Sell the accreditation workflow, not the software. Software is the wedge; regulatory status is the product.
2. Universities: brownfield companion or rip-and-replace?
Brownfield companion, in six layers.
Never attempt to outsell MAKTAB. It is a US$73.5M World Bank line item across 25 public universities, and you lose the RFP on references alone.
The layering, in the order pain actually appears: (1) exam cell — seating plan, OMR, gazette, consolidated result; (2) fee counter — vouchers, receipt books, cash reconciliation, 1Link; (3) HEC returns — HES and PGPR auto-generated from live data; (4) NBEAC and PEC workflow — the dated, expensive, unmet need; (5) student app and WhatsApp on top of their SAP; (6) federated affiliated colleges.
Layer 4 is the wedge with a clock on it. Fall 2027 for NBEAC. Fourth-year inspection for PEC.
3. Gulf expansion: in scope or out?
Out of scope for the ERP. In scope for the credential layer.
Competing for Saudi ERP contracts means fighting Oracle and Aramco ecosystems with a Vision 2030 budget and no local presence — and OpenEduCat already has a Saudi Arabia vocational landing page. Wrong fight.
But every Pakistani graduate seeking Gulf work must run an attestation chain: HEC → notary → MOFA → Gulf MOE → legalisation. GCC attestation remains compulsory because these are not Hague member countries, and UAE authorities require attested documents or there is no work visa. It is manual, document-heavy and takes weeks.
We need verifiable credentials for HEC's IAM, NAVTTC certificate validity and NBEAC evidence anyway. That same infrastructure collapses this chain from weeks to minutes, and it is a fee-charging service the student pays for directly at roughly PKR 3,000 per document.
Phase sequence
- TVET institute — sell the accreditation workflow, not the software.
- Trade centre — WhatsApp-native, PKR ~2,000/month, volume and funnel.
- Single school — report card plus parent WhatsApp.
- College — the consolidated result gazette.
- University — brownfield companion in six layers; NBEAC and PEC are the dated wedges.
- Affiliated college federation — two-sided; needs phases 4 and 5 first.
- School groups — serve opportunistically, do not build for it first.
TVET is the better position — uncontested, compliance-forced, defensible. Schools are the better business short term — more buyers, faster cash, familiar market. If revenue in six months matters more than a moat in twenty-four, schools is the honest answer.
Revenue model
| Layer | Our take | What they get |
|---|---|---|
| Software subscription | PKR 3,000–8,000 / month | Runs the institute |
| QAB per-candidate certification fee | roughly 2–5% of fee volume transacted | Settles with an external body |
| Affiliation and accreditation workflow | PKR 25,000–75,000 recurring every 3 years | Their licence to operate |
A 150-student TEVTA institute generates maybe PKR 5,000–10,000 per month in total fees. A PKR 5,000 subscription leaves nothing. But 3,500 institutes at PKR 25,000–75,000 per accreditation cycle is roughly PKR 87M–262M per year of fee flow, plus per-candidate certification fees on top. The subscription is the wedge. The transaction is the business.
Gulf
Out of scope for the ERP, in scope for the credential layer. The chain is HEC → notary → MOFA → Gulf MOE → legalisation, manual and weeks-long, compulsory for GCC because these are not Hague members, and UAE authorities require attested documents or there is no work visa. Verifiable credentials are needed for HEC’s IAM project and NAVTTC certificate validity anyway, so the marginal cost is near zero and the fee-charging use case is direct.
What is deliberately refused
- Own general ledger — reference ERPNext / Frappe / Odoo
- Own payroll depth — reuse the multi-tenant PHP HRMS already available
- Serious LMS — integrate Blackboard; it is the HEC standard
- Exam proctoring and anti-cheat AI — OpenEduCat already ships it
- Plagiarism detection — OpenEduCat already ships it, and it is HEC-mandated so we integrate rather than build
- US grant compliance, Title IV financial aid, IPEDS
- Accessibility certification — audit and improve, do not pursue certification early