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Technology is advancing and creating interactive, and new tools to improve efficiency and create new revenue streams. App businesses are among them, as it creates multiple ways for app owners to generate revenue through app monetization strategies.
Mobile phones, tablets, and other devices keep on improving on their computational power and capabilities. With such advancements, it becomes important to find new app business ideas to work as smoothly, efficiently, and superior as possible.
Apps use and combine technologies like Augmented Reality (AR), the Internet of Things, and Machine Learning.
No wonder the complexity of application development has become a challenge for many companies and businesses. Creating an application for a business is hence a task!
In this article, we will go through the steps to create a successful app and see why having an app business can be great!
Set Your App For Business
There are 6 steps involved in creating an app business model to run successfully for business. Remember you are making the app for the user, and it should have a primary focus on ‘user friendly!
Create a business strategy
The needs, goals, and methodology are the three components that comprise an app business plan. Without a strategy, you may get lost, or fail in your mission. Always plan a blueprint and get your app development started!
- Define your Business Needs – According to Apple Store and Google Play, approximately 5 million applications are running worldwide. With such fierce competition, your application should focus on two things- offer unique value and solve the problem of the user. Original concepts always win – make sure you curate something out of the box!
The intention of the application is equally important. It should raise a problem with instant solutions, for example, to store photos online, we quickly think of Google Drive. Or a cab service is instantly linked to Uber! Apart from using the latest technology, make sure your app makes a big product.
- Market Research and Competitor Analysis – Many companies may offer the same service and solutions to people like you. Ensure you conduct proper market research and identify the strengths and weaknesses of those apps. Unique ideas never run out of the picture, they just need improvements to make a name. Evaluate the apps and examine the competition. This evaluation ranges from pricing, team, partnerships, and features.
Pre-Production Marketing
Register the website domain name early to smooth app promotions. These marketing activities in the app business model will help you to develop your app faster. Also, verify the app’s name on Apple and Android app stores. You may also secure the domain name if it’s an enterprise app.
App-Developer
After implementing the business strategy, you’ve to make the app. UI design, programming, QA testing, and product management are 4 important components to make a quality mobile app. An expert team can handle the same and will run according to your needs and budget.
Plan and Budget
Insufficient funding is one of the main reasons why apps fail. The key to success is not more money but sufficient money to run the application successfully. An estimation of the budget is important along with the good quality. Some of the technicalities should also be considered like-
- Are you making a native app?
- Are you making a cross-platform app?
- Do you want a mobile-friendly application or a responsive website app?
- Do you want the native app for iOS, Android, or both?
- Is it for mobile phone users or tablets as well?
All these factors may influence the pricing and timing of your app business plan. It is hence important to draft a rough estimate before the application implementation.
Some of the costs may include marketing, support, and administrative functions. If it requires a back-end program, a hosting fee is required as well.
Consider all these factors before the app works, if you face insufficient findings, you may go for MVP or the minimum viable product or wireframes.
Create a roadmap post the budget planning. It will help the development team to strategize accordingly. A roadmap is advantageous in many ways-
- It will prioritize work (in the form of milestones).
- It will help to identify dependabilities.
- It will help you get a timeframe.
- It will help in communication.
- It will help in the success of the application.
With everything on point, the next step in the app business model is application development.
Let’s explore the 5 stages of mobile app development:
App Development:
With a rough draft and focus on the potential application, you may have the gist of your work. Create an app iteration along with agile development processes. You may capture detailed functional requirements and business files for complex applications.
Define the ‘WHAT’ of the project. Let’s quote an example, your app can allow users to log in with a username and password. What if the customer wants to log in via phone number? This change may require a lot of rework, right? Avoid this by discussing app requirements!
An attractive UI design, good performance, and a friendly user experience are what customers want. Design plays an important role to make apps successfully. It should be scalable and focus on visual as well as solution design.
UI/ UX designers can translate the application requirements to wireframes and help to create visual designs. They may use design tools like Adobe XD, Sketch, and Invision, to name a few. Make sure the design is apt (as changes may cost you a fortune after the app development).
The team will focus on the ‘HOW’ of the project–
- Identify the app’s structure
- Technology stack
- Database structure
- API design
This stage may include front-end developments, API developments, back-end developments, user authentication, push notifications, payment processing, multimedia, location tracking, and usage analytics. Some apps, such as AI and machine learning, augmented reality, and IoT will help in fulfilling your app business plan.
Technical analysis and application architecture are considered to develop the app. Later you can focus on programming after creating a project delivery plan. You may also use project management software to focus on one structure at a time. Popular applications like Trello, Asana, and Pivotal can help.
Always run the quality assurance test to provide stable, functional, and secure applications. Get feedback and track, review and prioritize the changes.
You have to submit your mobile application on the respective platform. For iOS applications, submit on Apple App Store and for android applications, submit on Google play. It may take a few days to get the application approved.
Now that you have a full fledged app, you can explore various ways of app monetization. The most tested and approved app monetization strategies used by app publishers and developers include in-app advertising, in-app purchases, and data monetization.
Wrapping Up
It would be a great way to connect with experts that help you uncomplicate the application-building process. Their focus is mainly on providing profitable app business with means of app ideation, user acquisition, app monetization and analytics. They also support app store optimization and app promotions through Google UAC.
So, take your app business to the next level today!
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Author Bio: I’m Akash Yadav, an experienced Digital Marketer, and Strategist, been in the IT Industry for the last 5+ Years. Currently working with AppBroda Tech – a mobile advertising platform that helps app publishers and developers reap and optimize ad revenue. Skilled in constructing a Digital Strategy, Growth Hacking, etc.
