How to open your own business developing on-line games. Business plan Mobile application development TakeItNow

Both when using mobile devices and in everyday life, the idea of ​​making things better often arises. This idea can lead you to the start of a promising and successful business project to develop and sell a mobile application. Applications can be used both to simplify the interaction between a buyer and a seller in a real business (food delivery, business catalogues, private advertisements, mobile stores, taxis), and for the sale of exclusively virtual goods (games, social media, dating services).

No need to hurry

If you have an idea, be prepared for the fact that the same idea was recently born in the head of another person. Not every idea leads to success, and even more so, you shouldn’t rush to develop a mobile application right away (this advice can especially be given to programmers). In every project, development must be preceded by a planning stage, consisting of at least two stages:

1. Business analysis – analysis of the needs of the target audience, collection of application requirements, formulation of project goals. This stage should give you an answer to the question, DO users NEED the product?
2. Business plan – assessment of the cost of development and commissioning, formulation of a monetization strategy, assessment of the return on investment in the project. This stage answers the question IF IT IS PROFITABLE to produce the product.

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What is included in business analysis?

Competitor analysis

Collect information about your competitors and analogues. The mobile application market is now very saturated. For example, according to data at the beginning of 2018, the number of iOS applications exceeded 2.1 million, and the number of Android applications - even 3.6 million. There is no need to analyze all applications of your topic; it is enough to select three or four market leaders for analysis.

After information about market leaders has been collected, answer the question:

How will my product be better?

Write how your product will surpass the market leaders, and by what extent target audience it is calculated. Prepare unique selling proposition(USP) for your users. Keep in mind that while you're inspired by your idea, you'll likely be biased in your assessment, so be sure to let other people read your business plan and take their comments seriously.

What features will the app include?

When selecting functions, follow a simple rule:

It is better for an application to perform one task perfectly than for it to perform mediocrely at all the tasks the user needs.

Write down all the functions that your application can perform, then sort them by frequency of use, and be sure to evaluate whether these functions are present in the market leaders, and whether they are “must-haves”.

What is the goal of your project?

The goal of the project is not just to perform certain functions by a mobile application. Try to formulate the goal of the project in terms of what emotions it will bring to the user. In the end, everything mobile games and most mobile applications are designed solely for the entertainment of users.

A project goal statement is important to ensure that all of your employees and contractors have a clear direction for their work. Remember that any builder can answer the question “what do you do?” – “I’m laying bricks” or “I’m building a palace”!

What does a business plan for a mobile application look like?

The business plan includes business analysis as part of it. In addition, the business plan must contain the following sections:

• Estimation of the time and cost of developing the first version of the application (taking into account the development of technical requirements for the mobile application and the server part), the so-called “beta version”.
• Estimation of the timing and cost of implementing a stable version. Please note that when contractors talk about development timeframes, they usually mean the beta version, since neither they nor you know what the stable version will look like. Therefore, feel free to multiply their estimate by two.
• Marketing plan - how you will promote the application in stores. Are you focusing only on the “organic” increase in downloads, or are you planning to use advertising for your application?
• Financial plan and assessment of return on investment periods. This block is the most important - the fate of the entire project depends on it, so do not let your optimism include unrealistic estimates in this section. Remember that by abandoning an unprofitable project at an early stage, you can save significant financial resources.

Who can help you write a business plan?

The author of the project business plan will most likely be you yourself. However, in order to avoid mistakes, it is recommended to involve experts in the field of development and promotion of mobile applications in preparing a business plan for a mobile application. Our company’s employees have significant experience in developing applications for Android and iOS, as well as promoting them, so they can act as reviewers of your document.

We can also help you formulate the goals of your project, which means that when you order the development of a mobile application from Headwind Solutions, our employees will already clearly understand the guidelines that we are laying as the basis for the project. As a result, you will receive a high-quality and successful mobile application that fully satisfies the needs of your users and brings you profit.

Mobile applications are already a part of our lives; we use them every day, not just once, but dozens of times a day.

This includes programs for smartphones - maps, games, traffic jams, programs to quit smoking, and so on. But not many of us thought that you can also make money from this. Let's consider a business plan for creating mobile applications.

IN modern world It’s hard to find a person who has never held a smartphone, iPhone, or tablet in their hands.

This article will talk about the types of applications, as well as the nuances of adding them to stores. Google Play(Android Market) and Apple Store, we will give illustrative examples and cost calculations, and talk about profitability and payback.

Most popular apps

1. Quest
2. Action
3. Action games
4. Information application (news, articles, etc.)
5. Application for everyday use (maps, traffic jams, translator)

And so let's look at the action movie. The very first thing we need is to find a developer (preferably one who knows how to write for iOS) if you know how, you can write it yourself.

But, it is best to create informational or applications for everyday use, since games can quickly get boring and people will not return to this game, and an informational application is suitable for both older people and minors, and download statistics will only grow and grow.

Read also: Pet store business plan with calculations 2018

Creating an Android application

First, let's talk about Android. It’s much easier to find a developer for it than for iOS, and so you’ve already decided on the genre of your application.

Creating an application for smartphones and tablets on Android

How much does it cost to create an Android app?

So, the initial costs for a developer are about 30-50 tr, provided that we need an application that does not have the most advanced graphics and capabilities.

Next is creating an account in the store. Android games(an account in the game store costs $25), everything is not so complicated here, you need to register and confirm documents and a bank account (if the application is paid) if you connect advertising, you need to register in the account of the platform with which you will place advertising (the developer must be warned that you you will embed advertising).

How much does it cost to develop an Android app?

For voice acting you need to find people or order professional voice acting which will cost about 20-30 tr.

You will also need music, for which you must also have funds, the price here varies depending on your preferences (you can buy music from Britney spears, which will cost about hundreds of thousands of dollars).

You also need pictures, screensavers, logos for the application, unfortunately you also have to pay for this, unless of course you don’t have skills in Photoshop, if you have it you can draw it yourself.

Read also: Business plan for a bathhouse (sauna) with calculations for 2018

This seems to be all, but this list can be expanded endlessly depending on your budget.

Creating an iOS application

Applications for IOS. Everything here is much more complicated, both from the technical, financial and legal sides.
Let's start with the fact that developers for iOS are valued more than for Android, and the first point will already be an order of magnitude more expensive.

Creating an application for iPhone and iPad

How much does it cost to create an application on iOS?

1. A developer costs around 50-70 thousand rubles and it is not so easy to find him, because the demand for them is quite high.
2. Next comes creating an account in their application store; it costs $50 for a year, but you need a lot of documents that you will have to tinker with quite a bit.
3. Advertising in their store should be quite aggressive, since there are a lot of high-quality applications; in order to get to the top you will need to work hard and apply a fairly small budget to it. To start you need at least 200 tr.
4. Just like Android, you will need voice acting, music and general sound.
5. But the most important thing is the content of the application; anything inappropriate will not be allowed into the store, and you can wait quite a long time for publication; deadlines can reach up to 1 year, and in rare cases even more.

In fact, IOS is a rather capricious system and there are many, many pitfalls; before you start, you need to familiarize yourself with all the nuances in detail.
But, nevertheless, if you do everything correctly, approach it responsibly, you can achieve very good results. All top developers started somewhere.

* The calculations use average data for Russia

Interview with an entrepreneur:

With my own experience of opening my own “from scratch” successful business Entrepreneur Evgeniy Ponomarenkov will share with us on mobile applications.

Evgeniy, tell us about your business. Are there any differences between running a mobile app business and others?

I've only been in the mobile business for a year. I realized in time that it was worth moving in this direction. In my city, no one had yet worked on mobile applications, and I became, one might say, a pioneer in the market. And I still have no serious competitors.

Business on mobile applications differs from the usual one primarily in that the entry threshold is extremely low. In addition, you don’t need any equipment at all, you don’t need a large staff, you don’t need to rent premises... This is a virtual business, in a new modern format. If you like, this is the business of the future. And no other type of business can compare with it in terms of ease of implementation and minimal costs.

Still, business is serious. Not everyone decides to just take it and open their own business. What could you say to those who are just dreaming about it?

Yes, that's right. Almost everyone, probably in this life, at least once thought about opening own business, but few people end up opening it. And further less people then it stays afloat. The “area of ​​ignorance” is too large, because, in fact, this is not taught anywhere. The market is developing too quickly, and not a single educational institution is able to provide real, not outdated knowledge.

And here again business on mobile applications has an advantage. If you buy a franchise, you receive a full set of all the necessary tools: marketing materials, a business plan, a ready-made website, a designer for creating mobile applications, business development training, consultations.

That is, you are no longer tormented by doubts about how and what to do. You are not left alone with your problems. There is a clear scheme, a plan for your movement. Therefore, even absolute beginners in business can use mobile applications.

And at one time I did exactly that. Before that, I had little experience - I ran a small store, but had to close due to unprofitability.

How did you come up with the idea of ​​starting this particular business?

Ready ideas for your business

I often travel abroad and always keep an eye on what is happening there. Still, we are still a couple of decades behind them in terms of technology development. I saw a very promising niche and I wanted to do it here in Russia.

I saw a huge need for mobile applications. After all, we can no longer imagine our life without mobile phones. And a business that doesn't take this into account simply won't be able to stay afloat. And I, having bought a franchise, solve this problem - I help various enterprises create their mobile applications using a very simple designer.

What difficulties did you encounter in the initial stages of doing business?

As I say, we are a little behind the West. People don't yet fully understand the capabilities of applications. They don’t see the future, they don’t understand the prospects. And now I’m not talking about ordinary people, I mean businessmen. Introducing something new is always worth the effort.

Therefore, I had to tell and show a lot, and meet with clients a lot. Being first to market is great, but it takes time for people to realize these new opportunities and want them. Essentially I had to implement new idea to the masses, and this process is not yet completed.

Here, of course, it is very easy to “merge” at the first stage. People don't know what apps are, why they are needed, or how they can help them. It's great when you can show a demo version right away - it always has an amazing effect. It’s one thing to try to explain something on your fingers, and quite another to show it live on a mobile phone.

Human consciousness resists change. Many companies don’t even have a website and don’t want one. They don't understand the value of internet marketing. It is almost useless to talk to such people. You can't prove anything to them.

Why, exactly, are these mobile applications needed, and who are they for?

Mobile applications increase company income and make business more efficient.

Well, for example, I make mobile applications for restaurants.

Ready ideas for your business

A person who has downloaded such an application will be able to order any dishes from this restaurant to their home in a couple of clicks. Get a discount. Find out when the restaurant is running a promotion. See the route to the establishment on the map to make it easier to get there.

That is, the restaurant client receives a convenient and useful service. This means that he becomes a loyal customer who will definitely tell about it and attract even more customers to the restaurant.

Mobile technologies are developing extremely quickly and are already ahead of personal computers in many respects. If a businessman wants to provide himself with the fastest communication channel with his customers, then mobile applications will help do this.

However, the businessman himself will not be able and will not want to bother with the creation of such applications. And my task is to solve this problem. I make applications for a specific company and then charge a monthly service fee.

All more features and we transfer work from a computer to a tablet or smartphone. And we do this not under the influence of fashion, but because it is convenient and practical, saves time and increases efficiency in general. Every day the range of mobile applications is growing and expanding, making our daily life. Increasingly, we use our phones or tablets to view email, work with documents, plan meetings and our own affairs, communicate with colleagues, and so on.

Ready ideas for your business

A company that creates a mobile application for its business will actually bind the client to itself. Will always be in touch, at hand.

According to your estimates, what is the minimum amount with which you can start this business today? What equipment will be needed?

Perhaps this is the minimum entry threshold. Buying a franchise costs 50-100 thousand rubles, plus payment for registering the application on Google Play or App Store(up to $100 per year). Of course, you also need a computer and Internet access.

That's all, actually. What other business can match this accessibility? At the same time, the payback is incredibly high, even if you make the bare minimum of body movements.

Do you need any specialized knowledge or skills to open such a business?

I’ll be honest, I didn’t have programming skills in IT technologies, but here’s what was good - in addition to the business itself in the box, I was also provided with detailed training with video materials, which clearly showed how to create applications on the platform.

There is also an extensive Knowledge Base in which you can find answers to almost any question about working with the service. This Database is constantly supplemented and updated.

In addition, when I had questions, I simply called technical support and received an answer. I admit, it is very convenient. No one advised my first business, and I simply did not have enough knowledge. And here there is constant help, and trainings are also held regularly.

In short, I quickly figured out the application designer and created my first application. I liked it: something on computer game Seems like).

Are there any additional administrative requirements (for premises, experience of specialists, etc.)?

Basically, you don't need any of this at all. Your office is on the Internet. You are working with the mobile application designer on your computer. You don't need an office or employees. Then, if you want to expand, you will need an assistant, plus a sales manager, but it’s quite possible to handle it yourself.

However, you can immediately hire an assistant. This will stimulate you - additional responsibility will also discipline you. The assistant will be able to take 90% of the routine off your hands and free up your time.

At first, I was interested in understanding the designer, but when I designed my 20th application, it became a chore. Clients ask the same questions and ask for endless adjustments. Everything needs to be agreed upon, discussed, and controlled for the hundredth time. So I hired an employee and my turnover immediately increased. And my interest in business did not fade; I was already getting additional drive from closing deals.

And my advice to you is to have a couple of assistants on hand. At least potential ones. Don't do everything yourself, it's very bad for business.

Your employee can sell for you, draw up and send documents, look for clients, work with freelancers, carry out service control, make cold calls, and support the website.

And without delegating your work, you will never rise and will not be able to scale your business. You should be above the business, not in it.

Another tip - while you're just starting out, you don't pay anyone anything. You take a person on probation. You give him the task of finding you an order. If he finds it, you take it, and you have something to pay your salary from. If you can't cope, you hire the next one. Be prudent, otherwise you will not see success. At the same time, learn how to fire people. There is no way without this. And people will work better knowing they are not the only ones.

The task of an entrepreneur is to organize the process, and not to do everything himself.

What can you save on and what should you not save on?

You can try to register the application yourself and not pay specialists. However, both Android and iOS applications have a lot of specific requirements, and it’s not so easy to figure them out right away. So I don’t recommend saving here. You'll just waste time.

Well, you can save on employees. As I already said, at first this is possible. But again, if you want to develop quickly, it is better to hire an assistant and pay your salary upon completion of tasks. But not in advance.

How long did it take you to recoup your initial investment? What are the prospects for this business?

The investment pays off within the first month. Amazing, right? Income from 35 to 70 thousand rubles for each application created! Plus you get subscription fee monthly for servicing all created mobile applications.

You can also charge for consultations, for help, for promotion of a mobile application.

What can you say about the competition in this business?

There are practically no competitors. Only provides the maximum functional range in this area. Gives clients the maximum possible. But the need for mobile applications is simply colossal. Even in large cities, more than 95% of businesses remain unreached. They need mobile applications for development, to strengthen their business, but practically no one offers them such a service.

So you don’t have to be afraid of competition in this type of business for at least another couple of years!

Based on your experience, what advice would you give to those who are just planning to start this business?

As the wise saying goes, if you try to talk to everyone at the same time, you will not talk to anyone. Determine a specific niche (area) to work on and concentrate your marketing efforts on it. In Russia, as elsewhere, there are a lot of types of small businesses, which in fact turned out to be very profitable clients for mobile application developers (for example, restaurants, law firms, real estate agencies, and many others). Choose the right area and focus on it, and then your efforts will be rewarded.

In addition, you need to constantly pump yourself up, always be up to speed. And don’t reinvent the wheel, don’t invent new methods - everything has already been tested a long time ago, and several really working methods have been developed. You don't want a prize for originality, you want profit. So take advantage of other people’s successful experiences for your health.

And constantly learn. You can’t study something and stop there. And he constantly conducts training - gives the latest developments in world trends. It's very cool and incredibly stimulating.

Our world is changing, and the rules of doing business are also changing. Today to start successfully new business or scale an existing one, you need to play completely differently than before. Conditions have become different: buyers are more sophisticated, sales methods are more complex. Now, when we need something, we increasingly turn to the Internet.

A successful businessman will be the one who keeps up with the times, which means the one who uses all the latest business opportunities.

Therefore, try to figure out who in your environment needs a mobile application, sketch out an action plan for yourself for the next month, make a list of the first important steps to create your new business and move forward to success! I'm sure everything will work out for you, just like it did for me.

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Technological developments nowadays make it possible to use powerful tools from mobile platforms. Smart calendar, professional text editor, access to documents from anywhere in the world and many other features of mobile applications make life much easier for modern entrepreneurs. We have prepared for you the TOP 10, according to users, useful applications for doing business.

TOP 10 mobile applications for entrepreneurs

In the era of smart gadgets, the number of applications is growing every day. Among the countless number of programs, there are some that can significantly simplify running a business. In this article we will look at the TOP 10 applications that will be useful for both established store owners and those who are just planning to open their own business.

The criteria for compiling the selection were:

• Maximum number of downloads
• Russification of the application
• Cross-platform (the ability of an application to run on more than one operating system)
• Highly rated by users

Planning your time

Google Calendar can easily be called one of the leaders in this area. Plan the time of product deliveries, interviews, meetings with suppliers and partners - with Google Calendar all this is more than simple. By default, the program is installed on many devices initially. Both Android and iOS are suitable for its correct operation. The application is available for download on Google Play and AppStore.

About the benefits:

1. Ability to customize the calendar viewing mode (by days, weeks and months)
2. Automatic synchronization with Gmail. If you reserve a table or book a hotel, the information will be automatically duplicated in the calendar
3. Ability to set reminders in the same view as the event
4. The ability to set a goal for yourself (the planner will help you find free time to achieve it)
5. User-friendly application interface

Nice bonus:

– Synchronization with Google Fit makes it possible to schedule sports activities, as well as track progress

About the cons:

1. Some users attribute the lack of a watch to them
2. You should also always take into account that changes in one event entail changes in related tasks

Clouds

The program for automating the work of a Business.Ru store helps save time due to the fact that all data about goods: prices, descriptions, characteristics, warehouse balances are stored in the cloud. This way you can access information anytime, anywhere.

Cloud data storage is actually an archive that allows you to access company documents (invoices, contracts, acts, certificates) from anywhere in the world. The only condition is that you have access to the Internet. Products from Google and Yandex corporations are very popular in Russia.

Yandex's product is installed on more than 5 million devices. Google drive was significantly ahead of its brother in the number of downloads, by this moment Its download count is approaching 1 billion.

About the benefits:

1. You can perform any operations with files stored on the virtual disk
2. There is a sharing function. There is also the possibility of limiting powers.
3. File change history

Bonuses:

Ability to scan documents using the device camera

Minuses:

Perhaps the main disadvantage is the lack of ability to sort files into folders. Each file on disk is stored separately

Control

The favorite in this direction is the application created by Bitrix. The application is absolutely free and also cross-platform. Available for download on the company's official website.

About the benefits:

1. CRM management from any available location mobile device.
2. Works like with ready-made forms, and with files
3. Allows you to communicate with colleagues
4. Contacts from the phone book are automatically copied to the application's address book.
5. There is a video calling function.

Bonuses:

– Availability of a live communication feed

Minuses:

– Used only in conjunction with Bitrix CRM.

Legal support

Legal support will never be superfluous, especially for an entrepreneur. If you have a large company, there will be no problems with legal assistance; most likely you have a personal lawyer or even an entire legal department.

If you are the owner of an individual entrepreneur or just a small business, for example, one or two stores, instead of hiring a lawyer, you can get by by installing the “Consultant Plus” application. At the moment, the program has established itself as one of the most reliable. Current laws, regulations, examples of solutions to certain situations - with an assistant installed on your gadget, all this will be at hand at any time.

Bank in your pocket

Today, perhaps, every self-respecting bank has a mobile application. The functionality of the applications is almost the same. All of them make it possible to control finances, make transactions on accounts, send payment receipts, receive notifications about changes in accounts, make tax payments, open new accounts, etc.

One of the most popular applications at the moment it is Sberbank Online (according to statistics as of January 1, 2018, 60% of the Russian population are active clients of Sberbank).

Bulletin board

Search for premises, purchase Supplies, promotion of your goods and services, recruitment - all this can be done on one site. These sites are called bulletin boards. One of the most popular resources in Russia is Avito.

About the benefits:

1. Possibility to refine the search by parameters of interest.
2. Management of posted advertisements.
3. Ability to track new advertisements.
4. Ability to communicate with sellers and buyers via text messages.

Calls

The leader in the field of Internet calls is undoubtedly Skype. Using it, you can communicate with subordinates, suppliers and partners for free, even while abroad.

About the benefits:

1. Ability to create group chats
2. Minimum traffic consumption when making video calls.
3. Possibility of organizing group meetings with video call function.

Additional functions:

– Making calls and sending SMS to mobile operators(at extra charge).

Office on your phone

Another assistant for an entrepreneur is Microsoft Office Mobile applications. With their help, you can work with documents from anywhere in the world and at any time. Working with tables in Excel, text files in Word, and even creating presentations in Power point - thanks to Office applications, all these functions will become available on your gadget.

About the benefits:

1. Familiar interface, convenience and ease of use of applications
2. View, edit and create documents on the go
3. Ability to store files in the cloud
4. Preservation of document format when working on a PC and laptop
5. Ability to send documents via e-mail in the form of attachments and hyperlinks.
6. Office apps are supported on most phones and tablets.

The program for Business.Ru stores will speed up the issuance of documents and eliminate possible errors when filling out. Allows you to automate tax and financial statements, and also control cash flows in company.

Document scanner

A store owner deals with documents every day. Working with papers within the office walls is not a difficult task. But what if you are on the road, and documents urgently need to be scanned and sent to the recipient? A document scanner will help you cope with this task.

One of the simplest and most multifunctional programs for scanning documents is Genius Scan. Images are saved in JPEG/PDF format in maximum resolution, the saved file weighs about 1. If the document turns out to be too heavy, it can be lightened, but with a loss of quality.

About the benefits:

1. All created files can be sent to cloud storage(Box, iCloud Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive)
2. Ability to send documents to social networks (Facebook, Twitter)
3. Sending documents by email. By mail or fax.

The basic version is available for free on both iTunes and Google Play. However, most of options become available only after purchase full version applications.

Of course, there are a lot of applications for entrepreneurs. However, you have to start somewhere. Try a few of the apps described above and you'll see how much easier it is to run your business, especially if you do part (or all) of it remotely. It is worth noting that each of the applications is absolutely free for the user.

Read articles about retail trade:

You will learn:

• What mobile applications will be useful to your company's customers.
• Where to order the development of a mobile application for your business.
• How to promote a mobile application for business.
• How to grow your business through internal mobile applications.

Does the average entrepreneur who has no idea about mobile marketing need business applications? Today, a significant number of people (more than one third) in the post-Soviet space are active users of modern digital gadgets: tablets, smartphones. There are even more such people in the West and Asian countries, and the mobile application market is developing at a tremendous pace.

All mobile applications used for business can be divided into two groups:

1. Programs that meet the internal needs of the company.
2. Applications that solve business problems: increase in sales, increasing loyalty, marketing goals, branding.

The most common are internal applications, for example, for business automation (restaurant and hotel business, shopping centers) or optimization and increase in the efficiency of collective activities:

• applications that allow you to share work documents;
• programs for internal communication: messengers, trackers;
• mobile versions of corporate social networks;

The most common mobile applications for clients

1. Mobile loyalty program. Such applications are increasingly being used as a replacement for loyalty cards.
2. Applications to complement the company's online services: mobile showcases, online catalogues, shops; applications for purchasing tickets; online banking; trackers of goods delivery statuses.

The usual schemes that work on websites and in traditional online stores, unfortunately, are not applicable in the mobile sphere. This is the main barrier to actively using apps for marketing, branding and increasing sales.

It is unlikely that a client will download a program to his phone with business card companies, when all this is easy and accessible in a mobile browser. This seriously complicates the work of many enterprises wishing to develop in the IT field.

When is it time to think about developing a mobile application for your business?

Of course, not every company necessarily needs mobile applications for business. However, some niche markets will benefit greatly from smartphone software in increasing customer loyalty to increase sales. These are areas such as:

• tourism (search for hotels, resorts, booking tickets, interactive maps);
• medicine (online appointment with a doctor, list of services and price list, calling a doctor at home);
• automobile business (rental, car wash, dealer networks);
• catering establishments: restaurants, cafes, etc. (promotions, menus, ordering delivery);
• beauty industry (appointment with specialists, interactive price list, information about services);
• delivery services and stores (product catalogs, ordering, price list);
• services sector;
• fitness (class schedule, prices, online registration, reviews);
• leisure (maps, online applications for tickets, rooms, tables, etc.).

Before ordering development mobile business application, you should calculate whether it will bring the benefit you expect. After all, such a program can either help the development of your business or not bring any results.

If you are sure that a mobile application will help increase sales, then you should carefully approach the search for a contractor. Answer the questions:

• Why exactly do you want to develop an application?
• Will the clients of your business be interested in it and will they use the application? For example, it is unlikely that mobile applications will work if the majority of consumers are pensioners.
• Will you be able to recoup the costs?

Just developing a mobile application for business is not enough. No less important role plays his promotion.

In other words, you will need to actively attract customers' attention. To do this, you need to plan costs.

It's not just the design and functionality of your app that matters. The quality of the product and service provided must also be at the same level. Pay attention to advertising, don’t let customers forget about the product, improve the application regularly.

It's no secret that many users are often annoyed by regular updates, because they complicate the work with the program. You should conduct a thorough analysis of whether your product specifically needs business application development.

5 cool apps for a creative leader

Read the review of five cool creative apps that will be useful for any manager in the article electronic journal"CEO".

Mobile application development as a tool for business development: advantages

Increased sales

Any business is created for the purpose of making a profit, and marketing tools also serve this purpose.

Mobile applications for business are aimed at increasing company sales by attracting and retaining the target audience. Built-in features such as a loyalty program or sending push notifications help in motivating customers to buy your products or services. In addition, they can notify you about discounts and promotions.

When leaving home, a person tries not to forget about his keys, phone and wallet. This way, the business ends up inside the customers' phones and stays in their pockets. The company's contact with customers occurs due to the fact that they use the mobile application. The scale is surprising. Never before in human history has advertising been so accessible.

Detachment from competitors

Many companies use a variety of means to advertise their business: flyers, radio spots, SMS newsletters, websites, social networks. If we look at the App Store and Google Play, we will most likely find no more than ten business applications in one city or entire region. Competition in this area is practically zero.

Let’s say a resident of Voronezh wants to arrange pizza delivery to his home from his phone. Google helps him find a mobile application, which is automatically downloaded to his smartphone. Through a computer this does not happen as quickly (due to higher competition) as through a program on the phone. The Yandex company announced its readiness to set up advertising packages in Yandex. Direct" for mobile applications.

Promoting a business using smartphone programs can occur not only through various marketing activities on the Internet.

To expand the number of its consumers, the company can give special bonuses for the fact that the client uses the application. Few people use such a tool, but people are very interested in bonuses and discounts. good attitude, everyone loves them. The vast majority of the population today has mobile devices. Using the application, promotions are launched, which helps to compete with other enterprises and increase loyalty of the target audience.

For example, to attract attention, a company gives a lifetime discount of 10% on its products or services to anyone who installs a mobile application. Another bonus could be a free cup of coffee in a cafe in exchange for demonstrating an application downloaded to a mobile device. In this case, all parties remain happy: in a cafe, the buyer is likely to order something in addition to his coffee, which will bring profit. In addition, the consumer will be grateful for the gift, and the company will have one more loyal customer.

Loyalty

How to win the sympathy and trust of clients? The secret is simple: be useful and indispensable to your customers. Loyalty programs can help develop various bonuses and gifts - customers, as a rule, love this very much. This will contribute to sales growth and stimulate repeat sales. So, for example, a cafe can host a variety of promotions such as “Every fifth cup of coffee is free”, “Every 10th dinner is free”. This will force a person to visit your establishment again and again in order to receive the coveted bonus. The smartphone program will begin to record visits, and the cafe will increase the number of loyal customers.

Another advantage of a mobile application for business: you no longer need to fill your wallet with numerous customer cards. The necessary program is in your phone, which is always with you.

Building customer trust through push notifications

Step-by-step development of mobile applications for business

Stage 1. Business analysis of the target market. This stage is intended so that the customer can understand for himself and determine why he needs an application for business, for what purpose he will use the mobile tool for communicating with his clients. Even before creating a technical specification for the program executor, the customer should think about some important questions:

• What is your main goal in developing and launching a mobile application for business?
• Are you planning to make sales using your business app?
• What exactly does your target audience look like? Who can join its ranks?
• Is there competition in the industry in which you want to work with the application, and how serious is it?
• Are your customers already using any apps? Customers of your competitors? Are there apps that both use? Will customers be ready to switch from their programs to analog?
• How much money do you need to spend on creating and promoting your business application?

Stage 2. Development of an agreed solution. An important step at the initial stage is the preparation of technical specifications. If the customer does not have a ready-made technical specification, then the contractor can provide him with a brief for filling out and further work on this document. The next step is to prototype and create user profiles for evaluation. finished product. After the technical specifications have been prepared, the tasks have been agreed upon with the designer, and the profitability assessment has been carried out, you can begin the actual process of developing a business application.

Stage 3. Preliminary assessment of development costs. At this stage, an assessment is made of how long it will take to work on the application and which specialists need to be contacted.

The final price will not necessarily coincide with preliminary calculations. In the end, the cost of the application may be either more or less than expected. The terms of reference can help determine the amount for developing a business application as accurately as possible.

After all the preliminary steps, the process of creating a program is taken under control by a responsible specialist who monitors the progress of the work and answers all questions.

Stage 4. Prototype design. To demonstrate how the program works, you need a prototype, or, in other words, a model of the application. It can be static or interactive: with active buttons and transition capabilities. This is the job of an analyst. His task is to think through the logic of the program’s functioning and the user’s role in it (user story). Marketing department will help you make adjustments to the idea in accordance with the characteristics of the target audience and the tasks that will be solved using the mobile application.

At the end of his work, the analyst discusses the models with the customer, corrects some points and passes the baton to the designer. The latter’s tasks include choosing the style and design for the application.

Stage 5. Development of the first product release. In accordance with the terms of reference, the developers release a pilot project of a mobile application for business. If it is complex, then it is best to first create an MVP - a minimum viable version of the program that will allow you to understand how customers will react to your product. The analyst will help you understand the required set of functions for the application. If necessary, you can create a control server and an API service to transfer data between the server and the program.

Stage 6. Testing. Testing a business application is a necessary step in the creation process quality product. It can be performed on simulators and on real devices. the main objective This stage: make sure that the operation of the application with the hardware and software platform will correspond to the planned model.

Stage 7. Publication. A new application is published, as a rule, in the personal account of the customer of Google services Play Market and App Store. To create an account in Google Play Market, you need to make a registration fee of $25. It will cost $99 on the AppStore and will take 2 weeks to confirm your registration. Additionally, the App Store fee is annual.

Stage 8. Technical support. At the customer's request, additional services can be provided: technical support for the application, release of new versions for updated mobile OS, marketing and advertising services. In addition, you can place applications in the App Store or Google Play on customer accounts. All this is done for a fee.

• How a mobile application speeded up the work of employees and the company

Where is the best place to order business application development?

There are different options for where you can turn if you want to order the development of a business application. This could be a company specializing in such services, or an individual freelance specialist, or you can develop the program yourself. What to choose is up to you. All of the above options have both advantages and disadvantages.

Finding a freelancer for such work is no more difficult than finding a specialist to create a landing page. It is important that he knows how to program using the platform code. By working with a freelancer, you can significantly save your costs (from 20 to 40%). But at the same time, there is a high probability that there will be problems when fulfilling the order: freelancers do not always strictly adhere to deadlines and work requirements.

A specialized company will handle the order perfectly, but it will cost a lot. Refinement of any element or making the slightest changes will also be subject to a fee. And this activity cannot be done without them. As a result, you will get high-quality services for a lot of money.

You should expect approximately $10,000 (at a rough estimate) to develop a full-fledged business application. The customer pays:

• work of specialists on technical specifications. It is important for both parties to understand exactly why the application will be created;
• product appearance;
• programming and creating a working model of the application;
• product testing. Work to correct possible errors.

The final cost of the project will be determined by the scale of the issues that must be resolved when using the program.

In addition to all the options mentioned, there is the possibility developing a business application using the designer. This method is more suitable for simple programs with a small set of functions.

1. Flipcat.net (Russian).
2. Mobiumapps.com (Russian).
3. Russia.ibuildapp.com (Russian.
4. Brightmobile.ru (Russian).
5. Goodbarber.com (English).
6. Appmakr.com (English).
7. Kickappbuilder.com (English).

All these services are paid: English ones are more complicated and more expensive, Russian ones are simpler and cheaper. Each site offers a free trial option, so you can experiment and determine which of these resources is right for you.

What to consider when developing business applications

1. The cost of services for creating a mobile application for business is much higher than for developing a web application or website. And, as a rule, websites pay off better than mobile programs.
2. Mobile applications for business are investments with an eye to the future. It may seem that such programs do not play a decisive role in terms of competition today. But keep in mind that the mobile device market is developing very quickly and it is important to keep up with it so as not to lose your leadership position.
3. Statistics show that on average, each mobile device today has approximately 26 mobile applications, 10 of which are social networks, instant messengers, weather and email services. The remaining places are for your programs or competitors as games and other services. As you understand, business card applications have no chance.
4. A mobile phone today is the user's personal space. Just as people don't want to fill their pockets with junk and useless materials, they don't want to load up their phone's memory with information ballast. Therefore, develop high-quality and useful product in order to gain the trust of your customers.

Based on the results of these points, we can build a logical chain: Clients love free applications → Programs provided free of charge will pay for themselves through advertising → You can invest in the creation, development and promotion of useful and free branded applications for business that will not contain third-party advertising.

For example, supply companies drinking water You can order a calculator to determine the water balance in the human body or a fitness program. Anyone who sells children's products may want to think about creating a product with useful information for parents or educational games for children.

If we talk about the quality indicators of a business application, these are the following points:

• no failures;
• number of daily and monthly audience;
• retention.

The last point can be considered the most important, since it shows how many customers will be willing to use the application on a regular basis. Not easy to achieve high level this index. Typically, about one-third (26%) of people are not interested in an app and delete it from their mobile device. Even if half of the users continue to work with the program, this will be considered a good result.

How to promote a mobile application for business

Method 1. Optimization according to market requirements.

Optimization refers to the exclusive name of the application and the presence of keywords in its description. In addition, to get to the top, the number of downloads and place in the customer rating are important. Don't forget to update your business application promptly: outdated versions are removed from both search and catalogs.

• integrate advertising into popular programs;
• divide your target audience into categories based on interests, choosing the most famous and popular applications;
• install your banners on them.

Google AdWords will help you cope with these tasks.

Method 3. Content marketing. Tell the world about yourself. Find out which resources your customers spend the most time on and post your guest posts there with information about the advantages and features of your application. To do this you need:

• post a video,
• create audio podcasts,
• shoot videos for special purposes,
• be active on social networks.

Try to use content marketing thoughtfully and comprehensively, using the various opportunities it has: guest posts, SMM, video marketing, etc.

Method 4. Working with opinion leaders. Opinion leaders can be great help in promoting your product. Any audience has multiple people to point of view and value judgments which the majority listens to. In this case, it is important for you to get a high rating for your application from opinion leaders, and then naturally, thanks to their stories and impressions, many others will quickly learn about your product.

Method 5. Promotional website. Official representation on the network (whether it is an independent promotional site or separate page inside the company’s main resource) will be of great help in promoting your mobile application for business. The effectiveness of the program will be affected by the type of program: a startup or an information element of a large company.

Thanks to the promotional website, you will have new opportunities to promote your mobile application. For example:

• visualization of application features;
• creating instructions for using mobile programs;
• contextual advertising; social media targeting;
• WOW effect.

Today there is no shortage of ways to promote mobile applications for business; it is very important to use them wisely.

How to develop a business through internal mobile applications: 3 successful examples

Example 1. Retail trade.

Chain grocery stores "Vkusvill" developed a mobile database and "1C:Enterprise" and implemented it into an automated system. The pilot version of the program was created within 2.5 months, and it took exactly the same amount of time to finalize the working version.

The application is used in stores to send reports. For example, in a situation of some kind of malfunction, an employee of a retail outlet takes a photograph of the breakdown and sends it to the main office.

Thanks to the presence of the image, any explanation becomes unnecessary. The program also allows you to control product quality, returns, write-offs, etc. Using a mobile application scanner installed in the goods receiving warehouse, information is sent directly to the database.

The owner of the network claims that thanks to the use of this product millions of rubles are saved per month. It was also possible to save on the development of the program due to the fact that it was created on the basis of 1C. In another specialized company, the application would cost much more.

Example 2. Production.

The AtomEnergoMash Technologies plant installed an application based on iOS and 1C: Management manufacturing enterprise", which is used by about 100 people working in the workshops. The company produces, among other products, components for nuclear reactors. These are huge products, reminiscent in their dimensions of a very large truck. The manufacturing process is fully automated, but for safety reasons workers cannot use computers directly in the workshops. The solution was a mobile application for business. It is capable of finding components by barcode, scanning, providing access to technological maps. Using this program, employees receive tasks and report on their completion.

Example 3. Wholesale trade.

The medical equipment sales company CS Medica Povolzhye uses in its work a mobile application based on 1C: Trade Management 8 and 1C: Enterprise Accounting 8. In particular, this program is actively used by sales representatives of several divisions of the company. The application performs various functions: reserving products in the warehouse, receiving and registering orders, filling advance reports. The implementation of the software product allowed sales representatives to conduct 20% more meetings with clients.

Another example of the successful implementation of a mobile application for the internal work of a business

Alexey Svetishchev, Head of Directorate information technologies Velobike company, Moscow

Our company’s work is aimed at ensuring that there are always bicycles and empty seats at stations. More bicycles - more customers, more stations and free places on them - more satisfied consumers who do not need to travel extra kilometers in search of a station with free space.

In order to solve our main problems, we needed to work to improve the logistics of bicycles and identify the optimal ratio of the number of bicycles and free places at stations. We managed to cope with this with the help of delivery drivers. They have been using a mobile application for business since 2016, which saves time and improves the quality of the park’s work. I will share with you more information about our application and the features of its functioning.

Each driver is assigned a specific city sector. His tasks include driving around the bike stations inside this zone, inspecting and visually assessing the bikes, putting them in order, and washing away any dirt or inscriptions. Those bicycles that are damaged should be sent for repair. The driver can also move the bikes from one station to another as needed. Each of the listed operations must be reflected in the driver’s report.

Before installing the application based on 1C:Enterprise 8, we used Excel table and accounting program. But previous reporting methods did not suit us, primarily because they could not cope with large volumes of information. Mobile app based on Android was installed on special data collection terminals, which in size and set of functions are very similar to a smartphone. The device is equipped with a scanner for reading barcodes and a built-in navigator function. The cost of one such terminal is about 35,000 rubles.

Before starting his duties, the driver receives a terminal from the dispatcher, enters the application and logs in. While at the station, he selects in the program the operation that he will perform.

If this is a standard operation like “get the bike in order,” then the driver simply selects it from among those listed in the application. For extraordinary tasks (for example, “get a drowned bicycle”, “find a bicycle abandoned in the city”, etc.) there is a special section “outside the station”.

For example, a driver works with the “move” operation: he picks up a bicycle from one station and transports it to another. After selecting a task in the application, it scans the barcodes of the bicycles it will move. Already upon arrival at the desired station, he marks the operation “set up” and again scans the barcodes of the bicycles. In this way, information about the location of specific bicycles is stored in the database.

Database updates occur every five minutes. This process is error-free, fast and convenient.

Absolutely every bike, station and car is equipped with barcodes. We needed them for the operation of previous terminals - analogues of the current ones. We used them only in the warehouse to record received or issued bicycles.

The impact of the application on the quality of business performance was reflected in the following results.

1. The speed of decision making has increased. Information from the terminals is transferred to a database used by the dispatcher. In addition, there are two maps showing the number of all bicycles and the location of the drivers. Until recently, information was received twice a day, now everything is clear