Mobile app development startups in Singapore and across the world face a lot of challenges on the path to success. From the actual development of an app that users can easily connect with to getting the necessary funding for the entire endeavor, it is quite easy for a developer to easily get overwhelmed and lose his focus of where his effort should be placed.
Below you will find a list of some of the main challenges that you, as a startup, might face as well as the solutions that would likely work in your favor. 2018 shapes up to be a very interesting year with a lot of new trends catching by quickly, so being prepared is definitely going to give you a head start. Those challenges were defined at Rioks, strategic marketing consultancy, while speaking with several of our start-up clients.
1. The Market is Crowded
According to the most recent data, there are over 6 million apps across the different platforms. In other words, the market is crowded. This is something that you have to keep in mind from the beginning. Developers are coming up with brand new and innovative apps by the day. One of the biggest challenges for a startup company is creating an application which will stand out from the crowd. Creating the best app in a category, however, is no longer enough. If it gets swamped by the competition it might not ever reach its true potential.
Marketers first, developers second.
This has set forth a very interesting tendency. As Aldric Chang, CEO of one of the leading Singaporean mobile app development companies Swag Soft points out, startups in the field ought to be “marketers first, developers second”. In order to make your app pop out, you ought to be able to deliver definitive answers to the public and position yourself in the best possible way. What does your target audience look for? What problems will you be solving for them? How easy it is for your users to recommend your app?
2. Funding
A recent guest blog on TechCrunch by AppVee and AndroidApps former CEO Alex Ahlund, a survey amongst 96 mobile app developers revealed that the average cost to get an app developed is $6,453. Other resources point out that a relatively uncomplicated and “small” application could cost you between $3,000 and $8,000 while a complex app could cost anywhere from $50,000 to $150,000 and beyond.
In any case, you need to have a strategy for funding your application. Regardless of whether you will approach your circle of friends and family for the seed round of funding or you will work with the right investors, you need to make them understand the overall dynamics of your application. Lay down the main advantages and the problems the app solves. Thankfully, there are quite a few platforms such as Kickstarter and Appbackr which would enable you to get crowdfunding. What is good about them is that you also get the word going in front of a lot of people, hence helping you overcome challenge #1.
3. Device Compatibility
According to the latest surveys, in 2017 there were 2.32 billion smartphones out there. The tendency is for this number to grow. Of course, the major names on the market are Samsung and Apple. Both companies have their devices run on different platforms and, as such, developers face a challenge when it comes to choosing whether to code for Android or iOS. What is the solution?
Thanks to advanced technologies used in mobile app development, agnostic applications are your best bet. These are apps which are designated to run equally smooth on each platform they are developed for. However, make sure to place the focus on responsive design. This is the main way for you to adjust to the various platforms which are available when it comes to mobile apps.
4. Mobile App Marketing
Let’s set aside the fact that your app will be a very small fish in a really huge ocean for a second. Startups also face a challenge when it comes to pushing the app through the market. This is because there is serious competition coming from developers with the bigger budget, more experience, stronger teams and whatnot. This makes it really easy to get lost in the market, even if you have a truly spectacular app but don’t have the right penetration strategy.
All digital channels need to be working simultaneously.
The best solution would be to engage a professional with the necessary experience in successful app marketing before. As Georgi Georgiev, Managing Director Rioks Intelligent Marketing Solutions points out, “all digital channels need to be working simultaneously”. In other words, your marketing efforts have to be consolidated towards achieving a common goal, regardless of whether it is penetrating a certain audience or obtaining a larger market share.
5. Navigability
A lot of applications are built from the perspective of the developers. However, don’t forget that things that appear simple to you might not be the same for your target audience. What you see as a simple app interaction might actually be a rather complicated and unfriendly one for the uneducated user.
The trick here is to be as simple and as clear as it’s possible. You can include helpful and easy to follow tutorials and instructions within the app itself. UX/UI design needs to be user-friendly and seamless to navigate. What is more, don’t be shy when it comes to adding icons as well as thumbnails which would substantially improve the navigation ability and the overall experience of the user.
6. Battery Life and App Performance
The majority of the app startups are facing the challenge of making sure that their newly developed application performs well for the benefit of the end user. What is more, the difficulty stems from the fact that your app needs to be running flawlessly while, at the same time, consuming as little battery life of the device as it is possible.
Make sure that the app performs well on all of the target mobile devices. A lot of the startups would target flagship smartphones using iOS and Android such as the iPhone or the Samsung Galaxy Note and S-series users and they forget that the wide majority of the market doesn’t have access to these rather expensive devices. You need to ensure that your app would run as efficiently and smoothly on older phones as well.
As you can see, there are quite a few things that have to be carefully thought out prior to beginning a challenging undertaking of the kind. Of course, there are other daunting tasks such as cross-device and cross-platform testing, market analysis and forecasts, financial planning and a whole lot of administrative work that has to be handled in the process. Yet, the above seems to be the most relevant and common issues that startups find most challenging.
The bottom line is that the right strategy and its implementation are fundamental for the proper positioning of your app on the market.
