A business startup is known to be not an easy job.  Many entrepreneurs know this first hand, and many started out with their dream, set out to bring a change on the market or in the entire world, but then saw that they have to obey a particular set of rules and to keep their balance between risks and benefits.  And if this applies to business in general, mobile app startups make no exception.  Definitely, you will need lots of hard work, a little bit of luck, some vision and clear winning strategies in order to survive on a market filled with similar businesses or apps. 

At the same time, as we have seen in the recent years, you can hit the jackpot in a short time with a mobile app startup.  Just look at the successful games (such as Clash of Clans, for example) and programs (like Skype) which have lots of users and millions of downloads.  For this reason, you might find useful our list of tips for mobile app startups:

1.  Make sure that your app is compatible with all platforms

Check which are the most popular platforms (such as iOS and Android) and make the app support them.  In this way, you focus on maximum reach, instead of looking at the low profit.  Currently, the best places to popularize your apps are Microsoft, Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook. 

2.  Never stop investing in the product

Of course, this doesn’t mean to exaggerate with the amount of money, but it is a wise step to pay attention all the time to your product.  Don’t make the mistake of creating it and then letting it go.  A great product will always attract an audience and will last in time, so the constant attention and improving will pay back.  There’s always something to be improved and a new feature to invest in.  Be aware of its flaws and take into account user’s suggestions, if any. 

3.  Set only one major goal

Your startup should ideally focus only on mobile apps if you want to have a say on the market.  It’s easy to try to include as many areas of expertise as possible, in the quest to achieve success, but the clearer and narrower your goal is, the more chances your app will have.  Even if you know how to do other things, focus on attracting just these mobile apps customers. 

4.  Don’t be afraid to try out your ideas

Yes, we all know that a startup has limited possibilities, so it would be great if, before committing to a particular idea, you experimented more.  The best way to do this is to choose a set of customers and test on them certain features or changes that you would like to implement.  If you do this to all customers, then there is the risk for them to complain publicly on the app store, which might lead to the death of your app, despite all your efforts. 

5.  Be informed

Nowadays information is the most valued possession, and since things are changing fast in this domain, the lack of it might bring you down.  The general tendency now is for the mobile apps to collect tons of news, facts, info and so on, so you might to catch up with the trend before it’s too late.  Always read about current tendencies, about what your competitors are doing, about what your customers want and be prepared! 

6.  Take care of your employees

Yes, we all aim high and don’t stop until we reach our goals, but sometimes it’s good to pause for a little while and to celebrate even the small victories.  In the context of 3 of 4 startups failing, those extra 100 users of your app may be worth celebrating!  You don’t have to make a big event out of it, but a simple dinner or lunch out together with your team, an activity carried out together or a night out might do wonders for the spirits of your employees.  And we all know that this translates to better productivity and a stronger team! 

7.  Choose your app to be responsive

Anybody who lives in the modern world knows that most users have various devices which they use for their apps.  Switching from tablet to phone or maybe to a hybrid between a tablet and a laptop.  This is why, if you want to gain more fans, you will have to adapt to all these various platforms.  Responsiveness is definitely a necessity right now. 

8.  Hook the user, then give him more

One excellent strategy to keep people hooked is to offer more quality content and to tempt them more.  If you have a free base product, they will see what your app is about without paying anything.  Then, your goal is to convert the free users to customers.  If you analyze the recent history in this domain, you will see that web apps have been based on this model for years in a row.  And even if you have a small percent of customers, it will still matter for your business. 

9.  Don’t think about money

Though it sounds paradoxically, since everybody with a startup wants to have success and to earn as much money as possible, it is important not to focus too much on this.  As previously mentioned, a freemium model proved to be much more successful than starting out straight with an app which you have to pay money from.  Nobody wants to pay for something they don’t know if it’s worth it, so give them a taste of the app first. 

10.  Face it when something is going wrong

Many people get carried away with the development process and they forget to actually analyze the status of their project.  Moreover, lots of entrepreneurs get attached to their plan, mainly because it was their own idea, they invested time, money and effort in it and they don’t want to quit that fast.  However, it can be counterproductive to hang on a dead end and ultimately to waste all your resources on something that will not give back anything in exchange.  As such, constantly monitor your evolution and see whether there is no chance of succeeding. 

Conclusion

All in all, though each of these pieces of advice is important, you can simply remember to be constant and dedicated to your plan.  If you don’t give all your best, why expect to have great results?  Mainly, all your app needs is to be taken care of, constantly monitored and invested in, so as to grow to a successful project from start to end. 

Also Read:

Building Startup Culture From Foundation To Finishing ! 

6 Online Games That Have Succeeded On Mobile

(Disclaimer: This is a guest post submitted on Techstory by the mentioned authors. All the contents and images in the article have been provided to Techstory by the authors of the article.  Techstory is not responsible or liable for any content in this article.) 

About The Author

Mehul Rajput is a CEO of Mindinventory, a leading mobile app development company that develops iOS and Android apps.  He does blogging as hobby and love to write on mobile technologies, Startups, Entrepreneurship and mobile applications.  He is a regular contributor for Entrepreneur Magazine, Huffington Post, Business.com, Tech Cocktail, Site Pro News, Biz Community, Inc42, Business2Community and many others.