Have you considered creating an app for your small business?
Apps offer immense potential to reach new audiences. However, professionally-developed apps can be a large investment, both in time and money.
Clutch, a B2B IT research firm, conducted a survey of 102 app development companies from around the world to help businesses understand the app development process and its potential costs. Clutch asked the companies to give the cost of various app development stages based on one app completed in the past year.
If you own a small business, thoroughly understanding how app development costs add up is critical to maximizing your budget for an app project. Read below to understand the main steps of the app development process, and how costs are calculated.
1. Pre-Research/Discovery Stage
You may think that contracting with a professional app development company only involves producing the app. However, most app development companies want to conduct a pre-research or “discovery” stage with a client before designing or writing a single line of code.
Nearly 70% of app development companies require this stage, according to Clutch’s survey.
During the discovery stage, companies will work with the client to set specific objectives for the app, conduct market research on the competition, and determine if an app is actually the best method for reaching a business’s goals, among other activities.
Given the complexity of many apps, the discovery stage’s specific planning and scheduling is key to improving your app’s likelihood of success.
“The early days of app development were more about what we could do than what we should do. These days, brands and startups need to be far more strategic. Where will their app be able to create value in the lives of their target users? How will they be able to measure and demonstrate that value?’” said Drew Johnson, Co-CEO of App Partner, a mobile app design and development agency.
The majority (51%) of app development companies report this stage as costing less than $5,000.
2. Production Stage: Design and Development
Once an app is thoroughly discussed and planned out, then an app development company can begin producing the product.
No one wants to stare at an ugly app. We’ve come a long way in online design, and users expect a clean and easy to use mobile app. Thus, there is a design stage.
The cost of the design stage heavily depends on the number of screens your app requires, as well as those screens’ complexity. A higher number of screens, or higher levels of complexity, means an increased cost.
Design does not include just looks – companies will also consider user experience design (UX) design. UX design involves thinking about how users will interact with your app, and how to make that process easier and more efficient.
The largest percentage of app development companies reported the design stage as costing less than $5,000.
Once the app is designed, then you can begin developing it. The development stage can heavily influence the app’s final price tag, depending on the number and complexity of features the app requires.
You may think you can assign a feature a somewhat set price, and expect it to remain consistent across projects. However, even the simplest of features can heavily vary in cost, depending on your app’s specific requirements.
Clutch asked companies to record the cost of certain features, and though there are trends, some features have very wide ranges for their estimated costs. So, for example, while 70% of app development companies reported push notifications as costing less than $5,000, one company said they cost $25,001 – $50,000.
“Every project is different. The underlying process and layers of complexity required to deliver each particular feature will determine the cost just as much as the total number of features,” explained Johnson of App Partner.
For all but the simplest of apps, it’s nearly impossible to accurately estimate the full cost of features without engaging with an app development company.
3. Testing, Deployment, and Maintenance
Glitches can seriously hinder an app’s success. To avoid them, app development companies conduct thorough testing of an app before its launch.
“It is increasingly important for an app to be well-designed and executed to stand out in app stores,” said Nik Sanghvi, Head of U.S. Sales and Business Development at Robosoft. “Users want an app to function in a certain way, not to have any glitches or too much lag.”
Together, app testing and deployment costs between $1-$10,000, according to 63% of app development companies.
Investment in your app doesn’t typically end at deployment either. Regular maintenance is critical for keeping your app running smoothly, and for staying competitive on app stores.
The company you engage to build your app may be a years-long partner that helps keep your app running smoothly with regular maintenance. Be mindful of this fact when searching for an app development company.
4. Marketing Stage
You built your app, and you think it’s pretty great. Now, how do you convince everyone else of that fact?
If you do not reserve a significant amount of budget for marketing, your app may fail, no matter how well-built and maintained it is. If users don’t know about your app, they can’t reap its benefits.
“I’ve seen a lot of startups develop mobile apps to break into the MVP [minimum viable product] stage. Then, they suddenly realize that they are out of money, and they can’t start marketing activities before their budget is consumed,” said Pawel Josiek, Co-Owner and Vice President of Future Mind (link is external), a full-stack software development company.
The cost of marketing your app depends on which channels you choose to focus on. The largest percentage (37%) app development companies recommend using social media to market your app. They also recommend paid advertising (28%) and app store optimization (21%).
Marketing is just as important as developing your app. “If you don’t have a marketing budget at least equal to your development budget, you need to rethink that,” said Randall Cross, Founder at app development firm Ethervision.
Conclusion
Apps can be a large investment, but they can also provide great success.
Understanding the app development process and its costs sets you up for a greater chance of success if you do choose to engage a professional mobile app development company.
