When an app is reported in the media to have reached a certain record like a million sales in the first month, there’s the assumption that the app developers or publishers are making millions. That’s not true because we all know there’s the development costs that have to be covered from such sales and even so, the proceeds from the sales will only be released after the normally industry accepted 30% of the retail price has been deducted by the app store, and the money might be released after a few days or after a month. But whilst the app is being sold and before it was on the market, heavy costs are being or would have been incurred already. Ultimately sales don’t mean that all the costs of the developers or app entrepreneurs have been covered. It really is like any other business even though most people fail to see it or appreciate that fact.
How can app entrepreneurs cut their costs to survive for longer than a mere six months?
There are simple ways to cut costs that any developer can consider before letting their creative imagination get in the way of profitability. These are:
- Define non- functional requirements early so no time is wasted on them.
- Focus on the core-functional requirements of the app without stretching them too far that the end user will end up confused.
- Put together a strict configuration management process in place. This includes coding and data documentation so the testing process is simplified, otherwise time is wasted on modification and time is money.
- Testing during the design and every stage of the apps life cycle – less time and resources won’t be wasted on correcting errors after the whole app has already been finished. Also ensures the areas well upgrades should be focused on more are identified and noted.
- Higher efforts on riskier areas of the app –taking time constraints into consideration, it is crucial that every developer tests the riskiest parts of the app first and do corrections on those first so that under time pressure to launch, the problems won’t be so major.
- End – user in mind at all times. It doesn’t matter how amazing your app is, if the user can’t find their way around it or have to spend more than ten minutes trying to understand the app, then it’s not a good app. Simplicity yet top quality, high responsive rate – it’s all about pleasing the user even if it feels too simple.