Well to say that there are billions of apps out there would be redundant! Every business is looking to cashing on the mobile app market and rightly so. However, before a business or a start-up company ventures into the mobile app territory, there are a few things that need to be evaluated. Leading mobile application development companies do a lot of groundwork and research before they build an app and some of the things they look at are the competition, whether an app is suitable for the particular business or product/service in question, cost involved, time to develop and so on. We have compiled a list of top questions to ask yourself and consider before you jump into building a mobile app; read on.

#1: WHY SHOULD YOU CONSIDER GOING FOR AN APP?

Knowing the whys and the wherefores can come in very handy and will also lend clarity. What was it that got you started about building an app for your business? What is the idea behind the mobile app? Is there a problem that is being addressed via the app or do you simply wish to tap into the mobile app market segment? Having a clear idea as to these will help you understand your motivation behind going for an app.
Getting all these cleared and having a clear picture will help in the long run and most mobile app developers swear by this and recommend that businesses consider these questions before opting for a mobile app.

#2: WHY DO YOU THINK YOUR APP WOULD BE WORTHWHILE?

Is there anything different that is being done with your app? Are you bringing anything new to the table? Are there any differentiators between your app and what is already available in the market? Answering these questions will help you market your app better, focus on providing the right features in your app and improve its chances of being accepted in the App Store and Play Store.

#3: ARE YOU ASSUMING ANYTHING?

There are always assumptions with roadmaps, milestone plans and ideas. Thinking about what you consider as a given and listing those down will help you get the air cleared with mobile app developers. Suppose you assume that server hosting cost will be borne by the company developing the mobile app or your assumption that your app will work on multiple mobile applications platforms, etc. need to be discussed initially before you dive into app development. Listing your assumptions down will help you interact better with your development team.

#4: IDENTIFYING STAKEHOLDERS AND COMPETITION

Deciding upon the stakeholders and finding out more about competition will be of great help. If you need people to invest in your app, you need to consider pitching your app idea and marketing it to them. In this case, you would also have to consider metrics and analytics that will help analyze your apps’ performance and this can be one of the things to pitch to your stakeholders and impress them.

If on the other hand, you are going to finance your app, you still need all of these while also working out the cost associated with mobile app development, thinking of advertising, freemium upsell, revenue generation and so on. Identifying competition can lend your perspective on all of these and what you have to battle in the market to gain customer attention.

#5: DECIDING UPON YOUR APP’S CORE FEATURES

Having the fundamental features of your app right is as important as having a roadmap. Mobile app developers typically require the functional and non-functional requirements to be sorted and prioritized. This will help them work out a schedule for the app development and structure their work accordingly. Having your requirements sorted this way is called having a product backlog and this would be the reference point for all the development work that goes into your app.

#6: MARKETING AND BEST TIME TO RELEASE THE APP

Deciding upon marketing and branding strategies, time to release the app and a maintenance plan post launch is essential for your app’s success. Marketing requires a lot of work from study of the market, competition and a plan for getting customer attention. It also requires you to work out platform specific details, branding strategies, creating a buzz before launch, providing offers, money to be spent in that direction and so on.

Similarly, timing the release of your app is very important – getting the right window is crucial to its initial popularity and success. A maintenance plan and support plan post release is just common sense when you think about it! What if you have bugs post release (which happens with almost every app), when are you going to release upgrades, what if there are performance issues – all of these questions get addressed with a proper maintenance plan.

We’ve shortlisted some of the important questions and things to think about before start-ups go in for mobile apps above. Answering the questions raised here and pondering over them will surely help start-ups gain perspective and decide upon whether or not they should go for a mobile app.