In this highly competitive market scenario, every business wants to reach out to more and more customers. Due to the increased mobile usage, mobile apps have shown a great opportunity to reach customers and increase sales.
More importantly, the budding entrepreneurs with marketing strategies for a promising startup want to accompany their startup with a mobile application. But developing a business app is not that easy and straightforward. One cannot simply jump in for a business app development. Start with app development strategy.
Why You Need a Brilliantly-developed Startup App Strategy?
Once you decide to have a mobile application for your startup, you have to look for answers to a series of queries that will decide the future growth of your business. You need to figure out many aspects like the need of the app, target customers, the investment, and the time it is going to be crying out for.
It is significant to develop a well-researched and designed strategy to expand the customer base and boost sales. A well-designed strategy will always push you to do better. You need to have to analyze various parameters before digging into app development.
Hereafter, in this blogpost, we have tried to list all the major aspects you need to consider before going for a startup app development.
Things to Consider during Startup App Development
Need and motive behind the app building
An entrepreneur must never build a mobile business app just because everyone in the industry is doing it. There must be a clear idea and thorough consideration of the future of the mobile application and the reasons and purpose that can be attained with it.
You need an objective or a clearly defined purpose for building a mobile app for your startup. An unambiguous vision, mission, and passion will ensure a successful accomplishment of the app development. Make sure that your business app presents a complete business solution to the various issues faced by your target audience.
Protecting the app idea
To ensure complete secrecy of your app idea, a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) can lend a helping hand. Till you don’t sign a non-disclosure agreement with the app developer, it is advisable to discuss only the general non-proprietary information regarding your app.
Prior to drafting an NDA, it is important to understand the basic requirements of the same. Try protecting essential parts of your idea, like the probable platform for the app, comparison with other similar apps, financial plan, and tentative timelines for the app development.
Choosing the appropriate platform
Your choice for an appropriate platform to build your app depends on the type and objective of building your mobile app. Android is the foremost choice for most startups. If your app requires some features that iOS doesn’t support or your target audience is largely Android users, then you should go for an Android app. There may be many valid reasons for this like:
- Compared to iOS, the Google play store has more apps.
- There are many features that are not supported by iOS. While it is comparatively easy to put on many additional features in an Android app.
However, an iOS app has its own benefits, such as:
- iOS mobile apps are easy to build and faster as well.
- iOS app creation costs less because there are limited screen sizes and devices to consider during its development.
- iOS are more consumer-oriented.
- iOS apps can match the key demographics for best results.
- iOS apps earn better revenue compared to most Android apps.
Consider all these platform features and choose a perfect platform for your mobile application that makes more sense for you. However, if you want a customer-oriented app, it is advisable to go with an iOS app.
Cost of app creation
The cost is the most basic concern for any startup. It primarily depends on the platform you choose, the storage requirements, the complexity of the app, and the features you want to add to your app.
Moreover, it is also influenced by the app developer you choose to build the app. A renowned app builder would entail a higher investment. If you have a small budget, go with some freelancer or an offshore app developer, though it may involve more risk and challenges. Make sure to plan your budget and allocate the money properly to avoid any disparities during the app creation.
Time required for app development
It is very important to set a firm realistic timeline for the app development process. A high-quality app may take about 4 to 6 months to get ready. The actual time required depends on several factors like a team of developers, features to be added to the app, complexity of features, and application platform of the app.
Don’t forget that other than app-building there are many more steps involved in the app development process like strategic planning of the app, designing, user experience (UX), quality assurance, and submission to the app store.
Raising funds for your startup application
After deciding on the financial budget and the cost involved in the app-building, you have to approach the investors to raise money for your app development process. Be prepared with your business plan and a coax pitch to raise the inquisitiveness of your app investors. Keep your marketing and promotional material ready along with your company details to ensure your project’s credibility.
Impact on key stakeholders
It is significant to identify the stakeholders who have their interest vested in your app. These are the people who will be affected by your product or service. Your external stakeholders may be the customers, project owners, financial investors, or people at different phases of decision making and internal stakeholders are your employees and managers.
Make sure to consider the requirements and impact of the stakeholders. Prioritize your stakeholders on the basis of their ability to affect and level of interest in your startup app.
Make sure you have a user-friendly app
It takes a lot of effort to build a good customer-friendly app. Do not, and you must not treat your app simply as an app but as a full-fledged business. Here are a few tips you must consider in this regard:
- Make sure that your app sustains the changing needs of the business.
- Take all required precautionary measures to prevent your app from failing.
- Always keep a holistic approach towards developing and marketing and ensure to release future updates and bug fixes to keep your app competitive in the market.
The Bottom Line
While there are several other factors to consider, these concerns could prove to be the foundation stone during app creation. Build a proper strategy and hire a startup product development partner to simplify the app development process and ensure the success of your startup app!
