Startups, who have few products to sell initially, do not hire large developers for other mobile application development. Instead, they ask their in-house developers to work on all projects to avoid unnecessary costs. So, here you will find some ways to scale down the mobile app development cost, which are necessary at the initial stage of business.
Before you start any business or startup, you need to consider several factors that will benefit you from all perspectives. Among all such perspectives, budget is one of the most crucial concerns which plays an important role. So, being a startup, you need to invest your money carefully.
Startups cannot invest too much money. This is the reason they need to develop a mobile app within an affordable budget. But, at the same time, they also need to maintain their quality to create good relations with their customers. But, first, let’s have a look at some of the common approaches.
Key Approaches to Mobile App Development
Create the Product Requirements Once
The first and foremost rule that comes in the way while scaling down the mobile app development cost is to plan the product requirements. Then, you can manage your budget according to the needs of the mobile applications. You can add only those super necessary for your mobile app and can eliminate the unnecessary ones.
So, this means you need to spend carefully on your mobile app, wherever possible and mandatory. And in this way, you can scale down the mobile app development cost.
In the product requirement planning stage, you need to create a product requirement document known as PRD. This document consists of all the necessary features of your mobile app. Following are the PRD components:
- Project objectives and product idea
- Company background
- Timelines
- App features
- Platforms
- UX and UI design (or requirements for it)
- Project execution milestones and control points
- Budget estimates (could be made by the development team)
You can also keep or share all the necessary product requirements with your in-house developer through the mail. But this proper official document helps a lot to go through the individual condition. You should make this document as concise and specific as needed, as this will help in reducing the app development cost.
Outsource or In-House
Choosing the type of mobile app development staffing structure is a critical stage of your project planning. Your final decision will influence budget costs, workflow structure, and even the product maintenance concept.
This outsourcing or In-house is one of the other significant questions while planning for any mobile app development project. The reason behind this is that both these kinds of developer hiring cost different. If you outsource your app development, it will be going to cost less as compared to the in-house developer.
This is the reason why businesses go for outsourcing. However, being a startup and specific to your requirements and budget, you should hire in-house developers.
According to research by Deloitte, it is estimated that more than 31% of app development is being outsourced worldwide. But still, all companies do have in-house developers. So, now, we have to decide how outsourcing can reduce the cost of any website or mobile app development.
Outsource development helps eliminate the cost of the product by cutting down on office rental and equipment costs, minimizing internal workflow, and choosing employees from the global talent pool.
Quick look
- It cuts down office rent
- Minimize internal workflow
- Choose employees according to PRD
- No need for constant experts and programmers
Choose your Cooperative Model Wisely
The cooperation model is another thing that should be taken into mind while planning for a mobile app development budget. However, let me tell you that the cooperation model system is applicable only in outsourcing. And there is no such cooperation model that can reduce all kinds of outsourcing risks. Still, you have the option to choose the wise one.
In-house task execution involves providing employees with working space, hardware, and software and paying them according to time spent in the office.
There are two main types of models:
The fixed price model
works for – companies who prefer a detailed PRD, small projects, MVPs
In the fixed-price model, the client pays a fixed price amount to the outsourcing team for the final delivery of the product. This fixed Amount is finalized at the initial stage of the project while discussing the project’s requirements. Thus, the Outsourcing development team or freelancers gives you a proper fixed budget regarding the whole software development with a possible timeline.
The time-and-materials model
works for – long-term projects and startups with dynamic workflow
This model revolves around the whole idea where you, being a client, have to pay for the hours the development team spends on your project. Here the Amount and the payment are not fixed and are flexible according to the time taken by the project. Here, you also need to pay for the things used in the software development like software, equipment, subscriptions, and licenses.
Use of Credible Technologies
The use of technology stack is all about using programming languages, frameworks, and digital tools used by the developers and the other experts. Therefore, They are involved in the development process.
The selection or the use of technology plays a vital role in the average cost of development. The reason behind this is that the tech stack helps determine the business flow, like the style and complexity of app maintenance, increased costs and the level of commercial risk.
You can reduce your development cost by using programming languages like LAMP, Python-Django, MEAN, MERN, .NET, or Ruby on Rails. These tech stocks are beneficial for startups and MVPs as they keep broad knowledge and can quickly get numbers of developers on these programming languages.
Decide the platform
The cost of the development also depends on the kind of platform you are planning to go for. Mobile app development runs on all platforms like Android, iOS, Windows, and others using all devices. All platforms do have their features and functionalities. But you need to choose the platform carefully for what is most suitable for your project.
There is no doubt that cross-platform mobile app development saves a lot of money as there is no need to hire and develop again for another platform. But you can go for cross-platform mobile app development only if your mobile app is not that complex and doesn’t have any hardware integration.
So, before starting the process of mobile app development, you can talk to your developer about whether your mobile app is suitable for cross-platform or not. If your mobile app is ideal for cross-platform mobile app development, then you can save your money.
Keep It Customer-Centric
All people like to add all features in their mobile apps, but to keep our budget maintained, we need to add only mandatory features which are customer-centric. Therefore, there is no need to implement the latest or costly technologies like artificial intelligence or IoT.
To keep your mobile app customer-centric, you can check out your competitors. You can find how your competitors are making their customers happy by fulfilling their requirements. If your competitors lack somewhere, then you can discover how to fill that void. More users in your mobile app will automatically recover the development.
Simple and minimal attracts
High-end user interfaces, graphics, and animations are all so attractive, but these all things cost a lot of money. Moreover, sometimes, these features slow down the speed of your mobile app. So, there is no need to spend on all features if you plan for a simple and good mobile app development. Instead, keep your mobile app professional and straightforward; it will save you money!
Final Words
While we understand that there is no single way that guarantees a reduction in cost alongside maintaining good quality, we have tried our best to explain the process. Let us know your thoughts via comments. And if you have more suggestions, please let us know that too.
I have tried to cover all the necessary information and ways to save a lot of money if you are a startup. So, it is suggested to keep these ways in mind if you want to scale down the mobile app development cost.
