If you are planning to develop an app but the big money involved in the process of application development is stopping you, need to relax and read the article. Yes, it is going to help you because; application development project can be pursued with a small budget.
In this article, you will learn how to cut the budget in the development of your application and enjoy the product within minimum expenses.
So here are the 5 ways. Scroll down and read on:
The first thing you have to do is set your goals. When you have already defined your goals, it becomes easy to stick to the budget. The following points can help you in defining or setting goals for your upcoming development of an application. You must ask yourself and the team the following questions:
- Who is your target audience, who will be interested in buying your product?
- What is the need for your product and will it attract the customers?
- Who are the competitors in the field with similar applications?
- What are the exact functions that will be performed by the app?
- What are the expected results you wish to achieve after you launch the application?
- How you and your team are going to make it unique from the existing apps or what are the unique selling propositions of your product?
The essential five Ws and one H will help you define your goals regarding the app development process.
Now when you are done with the above-mentioned questions and you need to do the following things:
- First of all, do the first round of market research and make a survey for the target audience.
- Create a list of features you want to have in your application and prioritize them.
- Define a strategy on how you are going to monetize your application.
- Select the appropriate App Development Pricing Model. For that, you need to decide if you are going to pay hourly or there will be a fixed budget. Since you are on a tight budget, having a fixed rate of the app development project sounds good.
Be open about the budget and talk clearly about the financial restrictions. There are many app development companies that can provide affordable options according to your budget. They offer the development of applications at competitive rates for the start-ups without lowering down the quality.
For that, you will have to streamline the requirements regarding the specifications so that you get the insight into the essential things that you have planned to include in your application.
After you are done with the initial planning, you need to make a detailed plan with the accurate specifications. Now when you are done with the basic detailing, you need to outline the budget and set the priorities. A reputed application development company will always guide you on how to cut the budget without compromising with the quality of the project.
Also, you must be frank with the budget right from the start. After you are done with the details mentioned in point number two, you should take a clear look at the factors that shape the cost of the application development for your project in particular.
Understand the factors that influence the price of application development. The major factors that influence the price of app development are as follows:
- Platform for which you are making the app, these can be Smartphone, Desktop, Wearable gadgets or Apple TV
- The type of Smartphone platform and the rage to which the application is going to support the range.
- The type of product it is going to be, for this, you can compare the MVP and the full-featured product.
- The main features of the application product and the technologies involved in making it.
- The expertise, experience, location, and reputation of the app development company you are going to hire for the process of application development.
After you go through the above-mentioned points, you are good to go, in order to cut the cost.
Now you must follow a single platform and a limited device range. You can cut the expenses by not following the multiple platforms and focusing on the limited range of devices. Start With an MVP.
A minimal viable product (MVP) means that you don’t rush into building a complete app from start and instead, choose to launch a product with truncated functionality before investing more money into development. You must start with the MVP as it gives you a chance to get the enhanced feedback by the users, confirm the early assumptions with real users, examine the market demand of the app, and pitch your product to investors.
By doing this you cut the risk of putting a hefty amount that might not get you the expected return on investment. Going through this process is going to save your time and money.
Last but not the least; never rush into developing a Hybrid Application. Most of the people looking for budget-friendly application development settle for hybrid apps. No doubts it is a cheaper option but as far as business is a concern, it is not going to take it to a long way.
Some people believe that a hybrid mobile app is a substitute to an MVP; however, it is not going to allow your app to have advanced features like streaming of videos. Also, the final product that you will get will also lack stability.
You will be paying a less amount initially if you opt for the hybrid app, however, continues improvements in the app is going to cost you a lot. Also, if you need to upgrade your application, it is going to be an expensive deal. So decide well before you settle for the application development.
Final Words
Apart from the above-mentioned points in the process of making low budget app development, you must consider the expenses involved in the maintenance of the application. Also, you must avoid working with freelance app developers or a team of a novice. They might quote you a very low budget, however, you end up collaborating with unprofessional people and working with them will waste a lot of unnecessary cost and time involved in the making of the app. As you see the long term association, this is going to be a long term venture which will turn out to be an expensive deal.
The best decision is to find a reputed midsized mobile app development company with ample experience of the app development. Make sure to research well when you search for such companies. After shortlisting your search make sure to check their professional backgrounds and area of expertise.
You must also check the online reviews and testimonials written about them by their past clients. It will give you an idea of how they work and deal with their clients.
Also, it will show you their level of professionalism. Make sure to ask about their portfolio and if they have worked on the application development projects like yours in past.
Most importantly, make sure to discuss the budget in advance. Let them know about the purpose of your application and the budget you have set for its development.
Author Bio: James Grills is a technical writer with a passion for writing on emerging technologies in the areas of mobile application development and IoT app development. He is a marketing advisor — currently associated with Cumulations Technologies a mobile app development company in India.