In the context of the emerging industrial revolution 4.0, mobile devices play a vital role in every person’s life. Mobile devices can help people do most things in life, from common things like connecting, reading the news, shopping, etc. to tracking health, managing personal finance, etc. These things all happened in connected devices via mobile apps. By having a popular mobile app, start-ups can strengthen their business capacity and grow their reliable connection.
Do you have an idea about creating a mobile app? Do you admire successful mobile app start-ups and wonder how they can make it? Are you now facing a variety of difficulties to change your idea into action? From our previous experiences in developing mobile apps, this article will provide detailed information on starting a mobile app for start-up.
Table of Contents
1. Overview of Mobile App Downloads
According to Statista, the number of mobile app downloads worldwide has witnessed significant growth since 2016 and surpassed 200 billion in 2019. In 2022, 255 billion mobile apps were downloaded, up by more than 80% from 140.7 billion app downloads in 2016.
As we can see from the actual situation, Google Play and App Store are overflowing with hundreds of billions of mobile apps in various sectors – Business, Healthcare, Lifestyle, Education, Finance, etc., but very few apps get popular. Many startups have made common mistakes, so your first step in building an app would be to check and validate demand exists for your app.
2. Building Steps
2.1. Research & Analytics
Although your ideas are attractive, they will be of no use if you do not conduct complete market research to establish a target audience. Understanding the market and creating a product that fits your customer’s demands will help you get no risk of failing. This includes:
- Case study of failure apps
- Rivals in the market
- Users’ demographic and engagement
- Country-specific research
2.2. Plan
You are involved in a competitive market with a huge number of apps, which makes it difficult for your start-up app to get a wide presence in a short time. There are several similar apps in the same category, you need to plan to present your app in a way that is different from another one already available before. To have an appropriate plan, you should follow these steps:
- Surveys and questionnaires
- Monetization Strategy
- Check for Google Trends
- Use Analytics, especially SWOT analysis
2.3. Develop & Test
The next step is the development process, which requires you a mobile app development team. The development team may include:
- Project manager
- UX/UI designer
- Mobile developer
- Backend developer
- QA tester
- DevOps
You generally get two options for building an app:
- Hiring an in-house team of developers
- Partnering with a team of remote developers through a technology outsourcing vendor
To ensure that your raw ideas could generate a successful app, you need to take careful consideration in choosing an appropriate team you will collaborate with. Do you want to hire an in-house team or a remote team? Your answer is based on your business needs.
The app development process is virtually unending. During the building phase, it is possible to experience and define your app’s most important features before launching it in the market.
MVP (Minimum Viable Product) is “a version of a new product which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort.”
Eric Ries, The Lean Startup
You also need to define your team’s technology stack when you start a mobile app.
2.4. Launch
Understanding how to launch a mobile app is also a crucial step to facilitate installation and ensure user loyalty and performance. Don’t forget to collect users’ feedback, you can choose any form of feedback, such as email, forums, polls, app store reviews, etc.
After all, you can turn to the final stage to start a mobile app business.
3. Must-have features
A well-designed app, which is used easily and fulfills users’ needs, will keep consumers coming back and engaging with the company. The features below are shared by Forbes Technology Council’s 15 tech industry experts.
3.1. “How-to” Screens
Not all users are the young generation who can adapt quickly to technology, so it’s best to present a “how-to” screen after the initial download and updates. This could help you engage the customers to use your latest updated feature.
3.2. Chat Support
If a customer finds a chat support function, it means that he/ she tends to complain about the app’s errors. Instead of giving no chat support that could force customers to go to other websites, having this feature will help you receive users’ feedback and solve them quickly to engage your customers.
3.3. Search Options
As people have varying tech skills, a search option could make it simpler for users to “navigate to what they are searching for and ensure they won’t lose interest in your app”.
3.4. Push Notifications
Push notifications are simple and attractive messages that are easy to respond to, with an intention of reminding users of particular activities, journaling, daily tasks, etc. This feature could help businesses promote their products through timely and relevant messages.
3.5. Multi-Device Synchronization
“How many times have you started to fill in a form on a mobile app only to discover that it is either too complex to fill in or that you would prefer to do so on a website?” This would be the time you realised that multi-device synchronization is a critical feature.
3.6. Scalable Text
Scalable text provides more flexibility for users to enjoy the experience in their own way. By adhering to the system-level preferences of the user, you bypass the need for options within your app, and much like the default device language and dark-or-light mode, you are meeting the user where they are.
3.7. Data Caching
Make sure your app saves as much data on the device as possible. For instance, with an e-commerce app, make it useful for customers to browse, add items to the cart and tap the buy button while they are outside and connected to the internet.
4. Tech Stack
- Front-end development: ReactJS, Angular
- Back-end development: Node.js, Phyton, PHP; database – Postgres, MongoDB, MySQL
- Mobile development: iOS – Swift, Android – Java
- Multiple payment modes: PayPal, Braintree, Stripe
- User location tracking and map integration: MapKit, Google Maps API, CoreLocation
- Push notifications: Twilio, Push.io
- In-app messaging and calling: Twilio
- Cloud environment: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google, Microsoft Azure.
5. Time & Cost
Creating an app requires money and time, so understanding thoroughly before starting the work is critical.
Starting with a mobile application for its new startup is very profitable compared to other companies. The mobile application can be built for a price as low as less than $2000.
Time for each step will depend on the size of the app. At a high level, you want to keep around 10-12 weeks for a small app, 23-25 weeks for a mid-sized app and 35-38 weeks for a large-sized app.
6. Why Outsource your Mobile App with a Remote Tech Team?
While your own team would communicate with you more rapidly and have an insightful observation of your product, outsourcing projects is a good decision for any start-up because it is difficult for them to invest in hiring in-house developers when they have a small budget. Hiring a dedicated developer team from a trusted outsourcing vendor would help startups focus their money on core activities and let the outsourced team with highly skilled developers do it for them.
Before hiring an outsourcing company, make a shortlist of potential partners, take deep research on their portfolios and contact them to ask for more information. These activities could help you choose the best-fitted technology partner for your start-up.
Do not forget to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement Conclusion
Conclusion
“How to start a mobile app for start-up?” is not an easy question, you need to take the right step to ensure that you could achieve long-term success and stability. Creating an app is just your first step in building a business, getting customers to engage with your app consistently is the hardest part.
AgileTech is an excellent choice if you want to work with a trustworthy partner who knows how to create a popular mobile app with a high return on investment, as one of top software outsourcing companies in Vietnam with detailed evaluations, ratings, and scores based on our portfolios of work and clients, as well as reviews from Tech Reviewer, TechTIQ Solutions, The Vietnam Software Association, Goodfirms, and Clutch. We have experience developing mobile apps and a professional team that will be delighted to assist you in bringing your idea to life. Feel free to submit a form and collaborate with us today!
Select a reliable software outsourcing partner with proven track records such as Elinext, Xenia Tech or AgileTech Vietnam for guaranteed success. As one of the top software outsourcing companies in Vietnam, we have an extensive portfolio, as well as reviews from aggregate sites such as Tech Reviewer, TechTIQ Solutions, The Vietnam Software Association, Goodfirms, and Clutch. With over 9 years of experience crafting elegant and scalable mobile app solutions, we are more than eager to transform your ideas into reality. Contact us today to receive free consultation from a team of industry experts.
>>> Read more: Top 13 Outstanding Software Outsourcing Company in Vietnam