Guide for HR and managers

Ready-Made Training Kit or Custom Development: Which to Choose

Companies usually choose between four options: buy a ready-made training kit, commission a custom program, hand the training to a provider or hire an external trainer. Here is how they differ in cost, timing and what stays with the company after the training.

	Ready-made kit	Custom development	Training provider	External trainer
Who delivers	Your trainer or a manager	Your trainer or a manager	The provider's trainer	A hired trainer
Cost	200 € for a trainer, 390 € for a company — paid once	From 3 000 € per program — paid once	Paid per group or per day	Paid per day of delivery
Timing	Files right after payment	2–6 weeks	Depends on the provider's schedule	Depends on the trainer's schedule
Your own cases	You adapt them yourself or order an adaptation	The program is built on them	Usually in part	As agreed
What the company keeps	All materials and the license	All materials	Usually handouts only	Usually handouts only
Repeat runs	Free, as many as you like	Free, as many as you like	Paid every time	Paid every time

Scroll the table to the right →

When to buy a ready-made kit

The topic is a common one: accountability, motivation, feedback, change, goals and metrics.
Someone in the company can deliver the training: an internal trainer, an HR specialist or an experienced manager.
You need to start quickly — this week or next.
You plan several groups: the more runs, the less each one costs.

When to order custom development

The task is specific to your business: industry, processes, culture, internal standards.
Ready-made programs do not fit, and the training will run for years — for new hires and in different branches.
You need a program in your corporate style and internal trainers prepared to run it.

When a provider or an external trainer fits

You need one or two groups, and there will be no repeat runs.
Nobody in the company can lead the training.
You need a facilitator with special authority for the top team or a strategy session.

How to work out which is cheaper

Compare the cost of all runs in a year, not the price of a single training. With a provider or an external trainer you pay for every group. A kit or a custom program is paid once, and after that you only pay for your own facilitator's time. A simple check: multiply the external trainer's day rate by the number of training days in a year and compare it with the price of a kit or of custom development.

Example: a two-day training has to run for 4 groups in a year — that is 8 days of facilitation. With an external trainer you pay for all 8 days. With a kit you make one payment of 390 € for the company license, plus your own trainer's time.

Questions

Frequently asked questions

Can we start with a kit and order an adaptation later?

Yes. Many companies do exactly that: they run a pilot on the ready-made kit and then order an adaptation of the cases to the company.

Who will deliver the training if we have no trainer?

The trainer guide is written for a facilitator with presentation experience, not necessarily a professional trainer: lines, instructions and debriefs are scripted minute by minute. Before the first run it is enough to read the guide and go through the slide deck in presenter view.

What does custom development include?

A brief, interviews with the client and participants, program design, a minute-by-minute script, a slide deck, a workbook, exercises based on your cases, tests, a briefing for trainers and a round of revisions after the pilot.

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