Smart phones and mobile connectivity rule the day. People are more conversant in using mobile apps for their day to day use. Millions of apps are promoting businesses in the Play Store and App Store on a day to day basis. Mobile apps are a force to reckon with as they have penetrated the entire digital world that has transcended into billions of users lives. To think of a day going without using a mobile app seems next to impossible for the mobile friendly population of today.
Conversationally speaking, mobile app development is not everyone’s cup of tea due to its incredible high cost of development. Large businesses have hordes of budgets and can easily bear the cost of mobile app development. They are rapidly doubling their profit ratios by promoting their business through mobile apps. But what to say about startups that have limited capital resources but still need to have a mobile app for furthering their business ideas and goals. Though there are umpteen mobile app development tools and companies, one of the major hurdles is shouldering the cost of designing, developing and deploying the mobile app on the World Wide Web.
If you are a startup, there isn’t any reason to lose heart so soon, as there are 6 simple steps through which you can reduce your app development costs:
Step 1: Outsourcing the mobile app development to an offshore location
The normal cost for getting a mobile app can be anywhere around $150000 - $450000 in US. Outsourcing the said development project can curtail the cost to somewhere around $10000 - $75000 depending upon the offshore location country, design – simple or complex, required features and platform of choice. Outsourcing helps in both time & cost savings, and opens a wide panorama of offshore talent potential.
Step 2: MVP Prototype Release
Minimum Viable Product or MVP is a testing prototype of the mobile app having all the core features and functionalities of the final mobile app. This is a cost friendly version that helps to sample user experience with the mobile app. It helps to get user feedbacks so that appropriate additions, alterations and corrections can be effected well before in advance. The MVP can serve as a beneficial tool for companies with limited budgets to gather monetary support from customers to aid in real time mobile app development. Companies such as Uber, Dropbox, Airbnb, etc. initiated an MVP release before implementation of the full scale mobile app version. They effected changes to the MVP as per customer feedbacks and saw rapid growth due to its enriching user experience.
Step 3: Cross platform mobile app development
To contain mobile app development costs, it is advisable to go in for cross platform development instead of native app development – it not only saves money but also saves considerable development time for rewriting code for the other version – Android or iOS. Cross platform development is very feasible as the highly reusable code can be used any number of times on different platforms. PhoneGap, Sencha Touch, Xamarin, etc. are some popular frameworks which are beneficial for cross platform development of mobile apps. Hybrid apps are cost saving options and a sensible approach for mobile app development.
Step 4: Simple UI/UX
Though it is the smart phone era, but there are still many who may be technically novices and would naturally bypass opening a mobile app if it is cumbersome and too complex to use. The mobile app should be developed with a simple UI/UX keeping such users in mind.
Step 5: Maintaining regular testing
Quality assurance is one of the major stages of a project development life cycle. An error and bug free project is necessary before project deployment to the client end. If the quality assurance tests are initiated just before deployment and if some major bugs are unearthed at that time, it will unnecessarily scale up project expenses and time schedules are bound to go awry in the said process. It is advisable to maintain a regular testing environment on every stage of mobile app development to avert such an eventuality at the final stage. This will help in curbing sudden cost escalations and the mobile app development will also be completed in a smooth manner.
Step 6: Agile Methodology
The mobile app development project is bifurcated into various small divisions and bifurcated as tasks, sub-tasks and module development to different developers. Regular communication between them helps the small tasks to be managed efficiently. A day to day rundown is initiated between the developers and the client for updating the process, issues and progress. This assists in getting a good quality app, meeting time schedules for deployment.
Conclusion
Outsourcing to an offshore location, MVP release, cross platform mobile app development, simple UI/UX, maintaining regular testing and agile methodology are some of the major factors that can contribute in cutting down on app development costs for startups. By following the above, startups can strategize on getting mobile apps developed without burning a hole in their budgeted plans.
So if you are a startup and interested in getting your mobile app developed and deployed on time, Netiquette Webservices is the right choice to make. Give us a call or login to our website
