How to launch a Startup in IT with your own application

To implement a successful project in the IT sphere, financial investments are necessary. Funds are needed both for the development of the product and for its promotion. The desire of entrepreneurs to reduce expenses is understandable, but not always justified.

Saving money on development and unreasonable cut of expenses on promotion may turn to problems. Competent development of a startup means a rational use of resources at each stage, and a demanded high-quality product at the output.

Start with analysis

Every startup starts with analytics. This is not even the first stage, but the zero stage, which should answer the most important questions.

• Who is the product being created for?
• What problems does it solve?
• Are there similar solutions on the market, and what exactly do competitors offer?
• What makes your offer unique?
• What advantages will your product have? Analytics allows you to study the market, its volume and growth dynamics. It is based on the analysis that determines the functionality of the product, which will be needed by the target audience.

But it is important not to rush here. Trying to implement all the planned functions at once is a mistake which leads to an unjustified expenditure of funds.

At this stage, it is more important to determine the needs of the target audience and understand whether they need such a product in principle.

A prototype, concept or MVP (minimum viable product) can be used to check. The MVP is the optimal choice among these options. But its launch requires funds. That’s why if you don’t have own capital or investments you can start with a prototype and use it to get a budget for MVP implementation.

It is convenient to group all the data obtained as a result of the analysis into one document – Product Vision. This document will become a compass at all stages of project development, defining the goals of the project and the desired result. In the short term Product Vision can be used to define the functionality of the MVP.

Create the MVP

Developing an MVP is a crucial step for any startup. MVP stands for minimum viable product. It is a software product with minimal set of functions. Its main purpose is to test the project idea. Having proposed such a software product to the target audience, you can understand how much the consumers are interested in it, what they like and what functions are missing.

Based on the feedback, you can determine the exact direction of development. Or to understand that consumers are not interested in such a product (this is also possible). But to do it with minimal loss of time and money.

Pros of MVP

You can launch the MVP in 1-2 months. Its development will cost at least 2 times cheaper than the creation of the full version. And its advantages are not limited to this.

It is a minimum viable product:

• Participates in marketing activities, increasing brand awareness;
• Provides feedback, helping to gather feedback, on the basis of which a further development strategy is built;
• Not only helps attract investors, but also shows them the key benefits of the startup right away.

Choose MVP development technology

When the MVP features are defined, you need to choose the technology to implement the project – native or cross-platform development.

Native implies creating separate apps for each of the popular platforms – Android and iOS.

In cross-platform development, a universal code is created, which can be used on different operating systems. Cross-platform development provides time savings, so this option is recommended when the project needs to be launched as quickly as possible. 

In addition, cross-platform development is suitable for situations where:

1. It is important to ensure the recognizability of the application, its identical appearance in Android and iOS;
2. The application does not require using the device’s resources to the maximum extent;
3. Material Design standard is used, which is not a problem for Android developers, but not so easy for iOS. Cross-platform technologies provide access to UI components of any platform, which greatly simplifies and speeds up interface development.

There are no perfect solutions, of course. And cross-platform development has limitations. It is not recommended for heavy applications that overload the processor and RAM. For example, for augmented reality applications and mobile games.

Native development is preferable for any complex applications. That is, requiring high performance, fast response, involving a significant part of the computing resources of the device for a long time. Complex interfaces and animations are also reasons to choose native development.

Promote your startup

If you just develop MVP and hope that users will find it, you may not get the desired effect. Promotion is an important part of a startup. Don’t limit your marketing strategy to one-size-fits-all recipes. And remember that copying other people’s success stories may not work in your case. Be flexible, try different promotion channels and don’t give up the opportunity to test new ways.

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What is important for successful promotion?

Monitoring and analysis

The foundation of a successful marketing strategy is analysis. Yes, yes, it is again. You need to analyze not only the market, target audience and competitors, but also all the channels you use, the response to each of the promotional messages, the reaction of customers. Analytics will help to correct mistakes in time, to consolidate successes. Thanks to this you will not only attract new customers, but also increase the loyalty of existing ones.

Long-Term Strategy

Does it make sense to plan for the long term if even tomorrow’s events cannot be predicted? Yes, it does. A long-term strategy makes business development consistent, focused and systematic.

Success does not come instantly. To get to it, you need a step-by-step plan with clearly defined results for each of the intermediate stages. As for the risks, they have always been and always will be. They also need to be analyzed and taken into account when making plans.

A strategy is not something static and does not change under any circumstances. On the contrary, it needs regular adjustments, taking into account the current market situation. You should make such adjustments about once every six months. But with any changes, it is important to keep the focus on the main goal.

Top 5 dangerous situations to kill a startup

Raw idea

Any idea seems great at the beginning, and criticism is hard to take. But it’s better to endure a torrent of criticism in the beginning than to incur losses later. Consult with business owners and make a business plan.

Determine your audience and the benefits for it. For example, your audience is girls and guys, 18 to 35 years old, who play sports. Use your mobile app to help them find the right fitness club in their area by reading reviews;

Do a competitor analysis. It’s not hard, you just need Internet access. Type the essence of the idea into a search, such as “mobile app to order a cab” and see the results. You may have too many strong competitors to be outmatched. For example, the promising startup Sidecar could not compete with the monopolists Uber. They sold the company to General Motor, which is generally not a bad outcome. But it’s worth thinking about before creating a new Uber or WhatsApp. Still want to give it a try? See point 2. “An inflexible idea.” Or come up with a strong competitive advantage for your project;

Think through your monetization model in advance.

Find out how you can make money from your idea. There are several types of monetization for mobile apps. Read more about them in our blog.

An inflexible idea

Be prepared that your idea will be refined, changed, and sometimes transformed into something completely different in the process. For example, PayPal started with data encryption software and Flickr started with an online game. Adkeeper, an app for adding ads to bookmarks, turned into an e-commerce site called Keep, where you can save your favorite items for later, after a failed launch. The result you arrive at may be different from the initial stage. The main thing is not to be afraid of change and make adjustments in time.

Stealing an Idea

Howard Aiken said, “Don’t be afraid of people stealing your idea. If it’s original, you’ll have to drive it with a sledgehammer into their heads.” This statement is true for innovative, abstract ideas. A promising plan with the ability to easily turn a profit is at risk. About 30% of our clients are startups with the idea of developing a mobile app. Non-disclosure of the idea is one of the main issues that arise in communication. It is solved in 3 approaches.

• Non-disclosure agreement when hiring employees. No one discusses work moments outside of the company;
• The confidentiality clause in the contract with the company equates any information about the project with trade secrets. If you’re not ready to sign the contract yet, but want to evaluate the project and are worried about leaks, there’s another clause;
• Non-Disclosure Agreement. Signed by the parties prior to the start of work and discussion of the project.

Standard practice to avoid stealing an idea.

Incorrect team composition

The team is your intellectual capital. A technician needs the support of a business partner with knowledge of economics and advertising, and vice versa. A great example of the division of responsibilities in a team is the historic duo of Jobs and Wozniak. Single-sailing is a difficult and sometimes impossible task for a startup. Create a team where everyone complements their partner.

Part-time employment

Did you come up with an idea, invested in it, and now you’ve burned out and let things go on their own? At the initial stage of development, the startup may not bring the expected level of profit, but instead take all your money and time. This is a difficult period. Do not give up, remember that success directly depends on your efforts. Don’t stop halfway. Publishing an app in the storerooms is just the beginning. Counting on instant popularity and organic downloads is a detrimental tactic. The app needs to be promoted, and it’s best to start before the project launches.

To implement a new idea means to follow an untrodden path and overcome difficulties. In addition to hard work and talent, the founders of large companies had boundless faith in their own project. Only faith in the workability and usefulness of your own idea will help you convince other people and achieve success.

To summarize

The development of a startup starts with a comprehensive analysis and launch of the MVP. It is quite natural to want to give the application maximum functionality at once and make the project profitable as quickly as possible. But it is better to abandon this strategy in favor of a minimally viable product.

Analyze, develop and launch. Show your product to the world and develop it by listening to what your customers want. This approach is sure to bring results.