Mobile apps are an excellent investment you can make for your business.
According to leading research company Statista, global mobile app revenues were $ 41.1 billion. In 2020, Consumer is projected to spend over $101 billion on mobile apps via play store. That is approx 25% CARG over 4 years.
Entrepreneurs and businesses are making record amount through apps.
The cost of the developing an app for the first time can be extortionate for the businesses if they just want to get started and testing the waters in the app world.
Apps can help you keep reach out to customers and potential customers to pitch new products/services offerings to boost sales and build a brand.
You don’t want to cut the corners to build a mobile app. It is possible to build a mobile app with a low budget if you follow well-thought approach.
Here are the few things that you need to keep in mind while developing an app.
What is the cost of Mobile App?
Before asking this question you want to figure out what features that you want in the app. Without features and functionality, it is not wise to look for the company who can make your app. Cost the app also depends on the platform that you want to develop. For example Android app has different costing structure the iOS app.
Mobile apps have to conceptualize, designed and crafted with smart UI/UX design. The app needs to cater to needs of the user. Each phase takes time and strong technical skills in order to craft a well-managed design and craft well-executed strategy. You need expert app developer by your side to guide you through necessary steps.
Don’t put cart before the Horse
Do you want to know how Facebook or Twitter looked when they first launched? Unless you are sure about the demand for the app don’t build a whole app at one go. The fact is, you will never know about the reception of the app until and unless user start using it. Before you roll out full features app, develop a core set of the app as MVP (Minimum Viable product). You need to make sure that basic idea behind the app is something that your customers are interested in. Instead of focusing on including too many options and features, concentrate on User flow and Interaction. Businesses often cut corners by reducing the development budget or time. If you follow this strategy your budget and time will automatically come down.
Successful products as evolved over a long period of time through constant feedback from users.
Research
If you want to cut the app development expense then you need to do extensive research. The objective of the app development should be very clear. Proper market research is a must before you talk with app developers. You need to do intense research on what the customers need and their pain points. You need to write down requirement and expectations from the app and share it with the app developer.
Don’t reinvent the Wheel
Many services provide SDK or library of resources. In layman language , it’s a shortcut for the developers to build functionality. If pre-build SDKs are used in the app time and cost can reduce drastically. For example, if you want to develop a chat or in-app messaging feature in the app, rather than building it from scratch, you can take the third script and integrate on your app.
Here are few examples:
Urban Airship: For Mobile Messaging
Parse: For Push notifications
Twilio: For SMS, MMS and Voice Messaging
Avoid Overheads
By avoiding overheads and extending development time you actually, saves money. Often small business and entrepreneurs stuck in unnecessary overheads, delay in development time etc. This all increase you app development cost. If you make a smart plan you can avoid and save money.
Choose Right Development Partner
You need to carefully choose the app development partner. The app developers you hire can range widely in cost and level of experience they have. It is very important to find the balance between the two. As a business owner, you have to clearly communicate the objective to the development partner. You also need to make sure you have actively involved the development process & communicate your likes and dislike to the developer so that app can be completed in time.
Conclusion
Developing an app for the first time can be a frustrating and design & development cost don’t make it easier. When trying to reduce the cost make sure you don’t cut the corners and compromise on the quality of core value of the app.
