Questions start-up founders need to ask themselves before developing an app.
App development is a booming field at the moment, and you may be contemplating developing one for yourself. However, what you need to consider is that proceeding with any project requires the assemblage of a range of skills and finance.
Start-ups can be extremely costly, especially as the development of the app is usually not the most expensive part of the project, it has to be marketed and sustained.
Try not to be disheartened by the lack of cash or capital, creating an app can help you to achieve your business goal, if done correctly.
So, how do you do it correctly?
Ask Yourself…Do I really need an app?
You may regard this as a strange question, considering our main business is based on app development. But we are a client first business!
We realise that tech start-up founders are usually stimulated by an idea or drive, but very rarely has much more thought been given into the specific components required to make a project like this successful. We have seen many times, an idea is presented and an app built to then run out of steam or money, or worse find it has no market, no customers and no future.
Below we outline some of the questions to ask yourself to define whether you are ready to build a tech start-up business:
- Is there a gap in the market?
- Would this be something people are likely to pay for?
- Are you committed to this or jumping on the app bandwagon?
- Is there a possibility of a healthy return on investment?
- Do you have the time, money and resources to invest in proper planning and prototyping?
- Will you need to seek investment or funding?
Who is my customer?
It is essential to determine the end users of your app and cater for their needs. This information is central to creating buyer personas. These help the development and marketing team to comprehend the user behaviours, motivators, demographics and their pain points.
How do I plan to generate revenue?
App development can be an expensive investment, and one which should earn you a positive return. Consider how you will recoup your costs, with the questions below:
- Will the app be free to download?
- If free, what strategies will you use to earn money?
- If it is free, but with a freemium pricing model, which features are free, and which are not?
- If it is paid for, what is the price point to be set at?
- And then provide justification….You need to be able to answer why, to all of the above.
Who is going to develop your app?
Creating an app requires designers who are skilled in UI (user interfaces) and UX (user experiences). These designs need to be developed using personas and approved before being handed over to the development team.
They will then start work on the coding. The code created then needs to be passed onto the (QA) quality assurance team, who will then check it for functionality and any bugs.
App development is a complicated procedure which is the reason we recommend you carefully consider who you hire or outsource to.
Our mantra here is “buy cheap, buy twice”. We have seen it so many times. It saves a lot of time, money and stress to do things properly the first time.
A few things to check before you hire or outsource your app development:
- Reviews from previous clients.
- Software development model – is the software house working on a waterfall or agile methodology?
- Experience- have they developed apps similar to yours?
- Pricing model – will the software house be charging you on a fixed or hourly contract?
- Communication model – how often can you expect updates and replies? What are the tools used for communicating with clients?
What’s my plan for marketing?
If no one knows about it, a great app can remain unused.
When marketing your app, you will not need an ad budget with many zeros behind it. However, a significant amount of money will be needed to formulate and implement a successful marketing strategy.
Create a plan containing who your customers are, where they are, and what they do. This will help you to better understand what you can do to attract them.
How will I fund my start-up business?
As difficult as it is, we must discuss the means through which you will be funding the app development. It is important to give this some serious attention from the get-go. The cost of research, design, development, testing, launching as well as other expenses can eat a massive chunk of any start-up budget. Nevertheless, there are numerous means through which you can raise capital for your app development.
Family & Friends
Family and friends are the easiest means of raising capital. You already know and trust them with your vision. However, remember to respect them like investors, who trust you and take care of the money they have entrusted you with.
Crowdfunding
Crowdfunding can also provide a great means towards validating your idea. This is a good way to build awareness and gather momentum from a pool of investors.
Funding Contests
A number of companies and organisations, even start-up incubators host competitions for those seeking to fund their ideas. A good pitch can carry you a great distance. These competitions are highly competitive, so try to ensure you research, create an engaging pitch and rehearse as much as possible.
Angel Investors
Angel investors can be a very appealing option for pre-revenue start-ups. Angel investors provide much-needed finance alongside their business expertise to assist managing the project. However, do remember Angel investors will often want an equity share.
Conclusion
We understand that getting your head around all the processes and steps needed to develop an app can be exhausting. More so if the developed app is incorrect and it becomes a liability that sucks your funds dry, instead of being the asset you expected.
It is for this purpose that we recommend that you recruit an app consultancy agency that can assist in providing beginning to end services for your tech start-up.
If you have a mobile or web app idea and you are unsure of where to start, give us a call today on 0203 150 0565 or email info@thealtitudeagency.com, we would love to collaborate with you.
