Are you a business owner who has decided to develop an application? Well, you are on the right path, as developing an app is a business idea with tremendous potential and an even higher ROI rate.
However, as a business owner and an investor, you must know that developing an application isn’t a piece of cake, as a lot goes into the actual development process and even before that.
This is especially common amongst non-technical startup owners, who aren’t aware of the how-tos of app development. Simply stated, if you want to develop an app for your business but don’t hold any technical expertise in the same, you need to be wary of certain risk factors.
However, despite this risk, many business owners are going for app development and are taking their business operations online. Ever wondered why so? Let’s take a look at why developing an app is becoming a popular business trend.
Why Is Business App Development Gaining Popularity?
Owing to the advent of digitalization, the number of people relying on technology for their everyday tasks is increasing. Applications are one of many such technologies that are used for their convenient nature and extensive usefulness.
Speaking factually, an average internet user spends 4.2 hours daily on applications. One may use an app to browse through social media, order items from e-retail stores, or even book movie tickets.
On the whole, developing an application is an excellent business opportunity, as almost everything can be done and is being done through mobile apps at the present time. Owing to this factor, the businesses are shifting from their traditional, offline mode to a more advanced, online medium.
To add to that, applications are useful for not just a business’s customers but also for its own self. One can use an app to automatize various business operations, from customer support to inventory management and staff management.
These are a few reasons why business app development is onsetting rapidly in numerous business segments. However, developing an app is easier said than done. The process is highly complex and involves a lot of stages. As a result, the chances of making mistakes while developing an app are only natural and common, especially amongst non-technical business owners.
However, if a business is aware of some of the most common mistakes that other start-ups make while undertaking app development, they can significantly avoid them and even add to their app’s value. This will reduce the business’s chances of failure, and save time and money, which could otherwise have been lost.
Therefore, let’s take a closer look at some of the most common app development mistakes that non-technical start-ups make to avoid them in the future.
10 Common Mistakes Startups Make While Developing a Business Application
1. Choosing the Wrong Development Approach
There are various OS platforms for businesses to choose from while planning app development. Depending upon your target market, you can choose to develop an app for one, two, or even multiple OS platforms.
Based on how many OS markets you are targetting, your app will be developed with either native or cross-platform approach. However, businesses often fail to understand their target market’s requirements and presence and end up choosing the wrong approach.
This is because each approach has its impact on the development timeline, budget, app’s functionality, and performance. Therefore, planning everything thoroughly and still choosing the wrong development approach can cause your app to fail.
2. Selecting Unsuitable Development Team
There are various ways to develop a mobile app for your business. Primarily speaking, you can either build an app by yourself, hire an in-house team, or outsource app development.
Every application is unique, and therefore, there is no ‘one solution fits all’. It is the business owner who has to make a choice regarding the development method while planning app development for their business.
Start-ups often fail to understand the concept of each approach and make the wrong choice, resulting in massive failures. However, outsourcing app development, especially to an agency, is the most widely chosen option with the highest success rate.
3. Overlooking User Experience
Undoubtedly, user experience is one of the most critical factors in determining an application’s success. However, this factor is often overlooked by new start-ups as they are unaware of app development trends and practices.
It is common for start-ups to merely launch an app without focusing on how it will perform and how the users will interact with it. However, one of the most common reasons for an app’s failure is a low-quality user experience.
Application’s speed, performance, layout, and functionality are the core factors that determine it’s UX and, therefore, should be critically evaluated when undertaking app development and testing.
4. Using an Inefficient Design
In the last point, we talked about the app’s layout being a determining factor for user experience. Factually speaking, mobile applications with an inconvenient design and high complexity have higher chances of being uninstalled by the users.
This is because User Experience (UX) is directly related to the User Interface (UI) of the application. The better the UI of an app is, the better experience the users will have while using it.
Therefore, it is essential for start-ups to focus on creating an aesthetically appealing, functional, and user-friendly design that users find pleasing to interact with. This will be especially helpful for e-retail apps in increasing their conversion rates.
5. Overusing App Features
Features are the building blocks of an application and are the founding stone of an application’s success. However, adding too many features to an app and unnecessarily increasing its complexity is the perfect recipe for disaster.
This is because while features add to the app user’s benefits, adding too many of them decreases the app’s functionality and negatively impacts the user interface.
Moreover, too many features might give a cluttered appearance to the app’s design, therefore further degrading the UX and increasing the chances of users uninstalling the app.
Not just that, the more features you will add, the higher your app’s development timeline and cost will go. We have provided the solution to this problem in the later section of the blog, so keep reading the blog until the very end.
6. Prioritizing Downloads Against Retention Rate
One of the most common mistakes of new app owners is that they focus on the number of downloads more than the retention rate of the application. However, even though once downloaded, the users can always uninstall the application.
The key here is to focus on retention rate, i.e., retaining the users on the app and reducing the chances of them uninstalling the application. Here are a few of the top reasons why users uninstall applications.
By focusing on these reasons and creating an app that balances visual appeal with functionality, a business can not just increase its retention rate but also boost the number of downloads.
7. Not Testing App Pre-Launch
All types of applications are prone to bugs and errors, which need to be eliminated before the application has been launched in the market. One can achieve this objective by thoroughly testing the application before launching it for timely identification and removal of bugs.
Two of the most prominent testing methods are Alpha Testing and Beta Testing, which are necessary to create a bug-free and seamlessly performing application. It is worthwhile to know that many businesses skip the testing phase to cut down on app development cost and timeline but often end up failing in the market.
Moreover, agile methodology is another popular and highly efficient form of testing an app, which we will discuss in the later section of the blog.
8. Choosing Incorrect Development Technology
There are numerous technologies available out there, and more are being developed every day. Therefore, it often becomes challenging for app owners to choose the right technology that suits their business’s requirements.
One way to make the right choice in technology is to study the competitor’s applications and find out which technologies they have used in their application. However, it is also true that the technologies that have worked for them might not work for you.
In this case, taking expert assistance is necessary to make the right choice and create a tech stack that is at par with your app’s requirements.
9. Inadequate Research & Planning
You might have realized from the above-mentioned factors how important it is to conduct ample research and planning before undertaking application development. Speaking factually, market research and app planning are the foundation of an application’s success and help determine critical app features.
Neglecting market research or not giving enough time to it will leave you with a limited understanding of the consumer’s requirement and, therefore, will reduce the overall market acceptance of your application.
As a result, it is highly recommended to thoroughly research the market, consumers, and competitors to create a top-quality app.
10. Neglecting App Store Optimization
App Store Optimization (ASO) is a crucial part of an application’s market success. This is because by implementing optimum ASO strategies, a business can make sure that its application is gaining market visibility.
However, most of the business start-ups just launch an application and do not focus on optimizing it on the app store. As a result, the investment they have made in developing an application yields no results.
By implementing the latest App Store Optimization strategies, one can ensure that their app is getting a higher rank in app store search results, therefore directly increasing its download rate and market success.
This was it for 10 of the most common mistakes made by new and non-technical businesses going for business app development. However, there are many more mistakes than these. Now the question is, how can one avoid these kinds of mistakes? Well, all you need to do is choose the right development team to develop your application and follow the latest practices in app development.
Following these practices will ensure that you deliver an efficient and high-quality application to your clients.
How to Make an Efficient Application: Best App Development Practices
Outsource App Development to Agency
Outsourcing is one of the most popular approaches to developing a mobile application and has numerous benefits. Speaking factually, 70% of businesses prefer outsourcing app development. You can choose an app development outsourcing agency from anywhere in the world and get a high-quality app developed for your business.
One of the most popular trends in app development outsourcing is to hire an agency located in Asian countries like India. This is because, in these countries, the development charges are as low as $15/hr, and the developers hold expertise in various latest technologies.
Go for Native MVP Development
Earlier, we discussed how developing an app with too many features can be a risk to the business. One can overcome this risk by launching the application with only the most essential, i.e., MVP features. This will allow your business to digitally reach its customers without incurring a high financial risk.
Moreover, launching a native MVP application is a great way to test your ideas in the market and get validation on them. Once you are certain that the users are liking your application, you can always add new features to the app.
Follow Agile Methodology
Agile methodology is one of the most efficient approaches to delivering a seamless and bug-free application. However, this approach and often overlooked by the business owners and, sometimes, even the development team.
In agile methodology, the app is developed and tested in chunks. Simply stated, as each section of the app is developed, it is simultaneously tested and rectified for bugs and errors. This reduces the burden of testing the complete app at once and ensures that the errors are timely rectified, therefore increasing the overall quality of the application.
Automatize Testing
Manually testing an application involves human effort and can be a time and labor intensive task. To overcome this challenge, the latest app development trend is to automatize app testing.
In automated app testing, the application is tested by tools and software, in contrast to the manual method. This approach not only reduces the cost and time it will take to develop an app but will also improve the quality of app testing. As a result, automated testing is highly useful for delivering user-friendly and high-performing business applications.
This was it for some of the best tips to consider while planning app development for your business. Moreover, it is worth knowing that most of the app development outsourcing agencies already implement these strategies in their app development process. This makes outsourcing to an agency one of the most widely recognized and popularly adapted approaches to app development.
A Quick Recap
This was it for some of the most commonly made mistakes that start-ups make while undertaking business app development. By taking note of these mistakes and working on avoiding them, you can surely develop a seamless and highly functional mobile application for your business.
Moreover, the tips provided at the end of the blog will further enhance your application’s quality and will ensure that you are delivering an app that is at par with the market’s needs. This way, you can most definitely develop a business application for your start-up in less time and budget.
Read also: 5 Ways To Manage Your Mobile Application Development Cost