
There are around 500 million mobile applications on Google Play and App stores – 96% of which are free. While this speaks volumes about immense competition in the field of app development, it also displays the acceptance for more and more applications and their lucrativeness.
If you too are in NYC, there will be no better time than now to start an app-based business. Firstly, NYC is at the forefront of digital transformation. It’s contributing to global business automation. Plus, the region offers hundreds of opportunities in the technical development industry. There are different ways to invest in the domain, diverse niches to choose from and thousands of tech heads you can hire on economic rates despite startup-related budget constraints. Here is a quick guide to help you start, establish, run and scale your app-based business.
Generating App Business Ideas
To pursue your interest in app-based businesses, you can choose from multiple options:
- Appreneur: become a full-time app entrepreneur.
- Venture capitalist: fund an app development project, invest, recover and invest elsewhere.
- App partner: pitch your idea to an investor, receive funding and earn in partnership.
- Developer: bring the app ideas of clients to digital reality and earn hourly rates or monthly subscriptions
- Agency: create a team of developers, designers, testers and QA members, business analysts and business developers. Land projects, complete outsourced applications, deliver and earn project values.
Choosing one of these options depends on your current skillset, the amount of time and energy you want to invest in the business, the learning curve you are ready for and your interest in programming and coding. Know that as a technical programmer, you can save human resource cost. As a non-techie, you may have to partially or fully outsource your project – and that definitely determines the major part of your app development project.
Most Lucrative App Niches
Once you know how you would like to pursue the business of app development, here are the top 10 trendiest niches to choose from:
1. Marketplace apps
Launch an online marketplace like Amazon and Alibaba. Or, you can go niche-specific like TeachersPayTeachers, Etsy and TeeMates.
2. Ecommerce stores
These are for specific companies, brands and products with limited seller profiles. Examples are McDonalds, Nike, and Walmart.
3. Blockchain
It can be an NFT development project, a marketplace, a digital wallet, a trading card fantasy app
4. Augmented and Virtual Reality
Go for VR stores, and AR workout apps.
5. Gaming
NFT games, play to earn games, puzzle and real time strategy, educational games and quizzes.
6. AI and ML
Chatbots, online companion and image recognition apps are trending in AI and ML.
7. Healthcare
Fitness and sports apps, disease management and pill reminder apps, mood trackers and nutrition apps
App Development Process
Typical app development agencies and companies with full-stack teams have the following workflow in their app development process:
1. Plan
The planning stage is basically the discovery stage where an appreneur or a developer comes up with a product idea. App niche, monetization strategies, development platforms and budgets are considered at this stage.
2. Design
This step includes designing the wireframes, prototypes and other design assets of the mobile app. These prototypes are then used to pitch to potential investors or utilized in creating app screens. Design usually follows the user journey mapping – which some companies do as part of proposal and Level of Effort discussions.
3. Develop
Development stage is technically dividing into three tiers: front-end, bac-end and API development. These are used for connecting the server sides of the app with the client side, then simplifying coding efforts via APIs. All features specified in the discovery and design stages are added during this part of development. Development ends when the app becomes responsive and is ready for testing and quality assurance.
4. Test and QA
Test and Quality Assurance include identification of logical, experiential and technical errors. These errors could range from undue user journey to data leaks to app crashes. During this stage, an app is tested for factors like performance, loading time and speed, navigation, bugs and viruses, accuracy of data and content, data retention, security and strength against security breaches.
5. Launch
Launching happens after app store approvals and deployment. This requires submitting the app on stores with accurate information about contents of the app, titles and description, pricing plans and packages and earning models.
Appreneurs also choose to soft or hard launch their applications. Hard launch is usually done when it’s a unique concept and is fully functional in terms of features. Nowadays, most people go with soft launching via websites, social media pages, Medium blogs and community on Quora.
Hiring A Development Team
This is one of the most important parts of the success of your development project. While making a hiring decision, know that you can contract with an independent freelancer or with an app developer in NYC from a reputable agency. Both have pros and cons.
While a solo freelancer offers seemingly low rates, they might not be committed to timelines and dedicated to your project. While a team from an agency cost higher per hour, you won’t have to hire other staff members for different parts of development process.
After this, consider the costs of app development, the app launching and submission facility, maintenance time after app delivery, payment structures, legal copyright of source code and design assets and development timelines.
Conclusion
An app-based business is not a challenging venture anymore. But it certainly is time taking and requires an entrepreneur to dedicate energy and financial resources. The success, however, lies in the right planning and timely execution. During the development and business processes, make sure to monitor your milestones closely and take reporting. Start marketing your website on relevant channels, take user reviews seriously. Build a community online and seek feedback from real users on the navigation and performance of your app. Work with a vision and stay on your toes until you see your epic idea turning into a world-changing digital reality.