How to Build a Mobile App for Your Business

Whether your business is a start-up, a small or medium enterprise or a large corporation, your team should recognize the importance of expanding your revenue and market reach with mobile apps that will support existing and new products and services.

In this article, we will review the steps to develop a mobile application, and give you a picture of the process and the most important considerations.

Some estimate that the global annual revenue for mobile applications is expected to exceed $190 billion USD. But if a business does not plan and execute well, that revenue can be elusive and the project can result in significant expense and perhaps even in failure. With the right planning and resources, you can succeed!

Your team must begin by laying the groundwork and setting standards and quality metrics for design and development to establish the foundation for success. Your strategy must include research about your target audience, customers or business users, your competitors, and the market, as well as metrics to measure success and the purpose of the mobile app.

This strategy will allow you to choose the appropriate mobile platform. Your IT consulting partner will be instrumental in this phase. If your strategy includes a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) to prove your concept or to use customer feedback to incorporate into the final product, you can find more information on this process in our article, entitled, ‘MVP Software Development: Everything You Need to Know (The What, Why and How).’

Requirements – This component of your strategy will allow you to define your business requirements for revenue, budget, schedule, etc., and what technology you will need to support the mobile application and the users. Here, you will consider questions like, what kind of training you need to provide and what you will need in the way of Return on Investment (ROI)? You will include detailed customer or business user requirements, i.e., what will the mobile application do?

This detailed requirements information will be a critical component of a Request for Proposal (RFP) for prospective IT partners. Include key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics to measure progress and completion, and plan for user feedback.

Competition – Your competitive strategy will include a review of your local or global competition. Depending on the size of the market, you will want to choose three or four competitors. Focus on market innovators. It is easy to compare your business to stale competition and decide that you are way ahead. But if you want to take your business to the next level, you should create a mobile application to serve current and future market needs. Look for the most challenging competitors and see what they are doing. Then, decide how you want to approach this competitive positioning.

Metrics – Your strategy must include measurable goals. Don’t just measure for the sake of measuring. Look for the key performance indicators (KPIs) that truly tell the tale of success. Focus on what matters. Most mobile apps fail because they a) do not solve any real user problem or market need, b) provide a poor user experience, c) do not have a clear strategy for monetization and revenue, or d) do not clearly illustrate a value. Your metrics should provide real measurements of value and market success.

Purpose of Mobile App – This element of your strategy is focused not on the ‘what’ of the mobile apps but rather on the ‘why.’ It is one of the most important factors in developing mobile applications. Ask yourself if the planned mobile application will have an impact on your customers or users, and whether your enterprise can support the application now and in the future. Does the mobile app environment provide the right channel and method to deliver your products or services?

Mobile App Platform – If the selected platform, frameworks, and tools are not appropriate to achieve the enterprise and/or customer or user requirements, or if the platform cannot be supported by the current or planned technology and resource availability, the project will fail. Your IT consulting partner will consider many factors before recommending a mobile app platform. These factors include all the information you have gathered and presented for requirements, the purpose, and goals of the mobile app and more. The platform you choose must be able to meet your long-term needs for future innovations, and to deliver patches, fixes etc. It must be secure enough to address any standards with which your enterprise must comply to mitigate risk for the company and for the customers and users.

With the right planning and execution, Mobile Application Development can address your unique business needs. Hire iOS and iPhone Programmers, Hire Mobile Application Programmers, Hire Android Programmers, and Build Your Software Team with dedicated resources. For a detailed discussion of Mobile Application Development read our article, ‘ Mobile App Development is Important to Business, So Are Mobile App Programmers.’

Explore the benefits and components of Mobile Application Development with these complementary articles: ‘Mobile App Development is Important to Business, So Are Mobile App Programmers,’ ‘Why Mobile Apps Are Good for Business: Here’s the Inside Story!,’ ‘Understand the Pros and Cons of iOS vs. Android, and Hybrid vs. Native Mobile App Development,’ ‘Skilled Mobile Application Development Services Are Crucial to Business Success.’ ‘ Mobile App Development is Important to Business, So Are Mobile App Programmers.’