What Successful Businesses Do Before Building Their Mobile App

Having an app idea is good, but before taking any steps, you should pause. 

Successful businesses don’t start immediately building an app. In fact, they start preparing for it to be done right.  

Because the most impactful mobile apps are built to solve real life problems, you should consider many factors before starting the development process. In this blog post, we’ll cover what smart businesses do before they build their mobile apps 

1. Define business objectives clearly 

Many businesses lose focus on the main reason why they want to build an app.  

You should ask: 

• What specific business goals will this app serve? 
• Is it to increase sales? Improve retention? Make operations simpler? 
• What will success look like and how will we measure it? 

2. Know your audience in detail 

Identifying your target audience using terms like ‘young people’ or other generic terms is not enough.  

Instead, you should: 

• Research customer behavior 
• Analyze how users interact with competitors’ apps 
• Run surveys or interviews to validate their needs and problems they encounter with other apps. 

Based on this extensive research you will be able to identify who exactly will use your app and what needs or problems your app will cater to or solve. 

Research is not optional or a waste of time. In fact, it saves businesses from building the wrong app for the wrong audience which results in wasting money, time, and effort. 

3. Study the competitors and differentiate 

It’s important to conduct a competitor’s analysis that looks at 

• What features the other apps have  
• What users love about the app and what they complain about in reviews 
• How they market their apps 

After doing research, you should come up with insight on what is missing in these apps that you could include in your own. In addition, how can we make it better and unique. 

The goal isn’t just to copy what works. It’s to spot the gap and fill it in a way that aligns with your brand. 

4. Validate the idea 

It’s not about guessing if an app is going to be successful. It’s about validating it. 

This can be done in different ways, including creating a landing page to test and see if people would be interested. Another way this could be done is by running a pre-launch campaign to measure  

This is an extra step that will help you avoid building and launching an entire app that nobody ends up using in the end. It’s a way of market testing before the actual entry 

5. Determining or mapping user journey: 

Start building a user flow. This includes  

• What’s the first thing users, see? 
• How do they navigate from A of the app to B of the app? 
• Where do we want them to take action (buy, book or request, contact)? 

This looks at the functionality of the app and how simple it should be because if users don’t know what to do or finds it complex then they’re more likely to leave  

6. Plan a full marketing strategy: 

Launching an app without a marketing plan is not possible. You need a strategy for: 

• Generating pre-launch buzz 
• Getting downloads at launch 
• Retaining users long-term 

Whether it’s going to be through email, paid ads, influencer partnerships, PR, and app store optimization (ASO), or other digital marketing activities to get visibility. 

7. They choose the right tech partner, not just the cheapest 

The wrong tech partner can sink your app. It’s important to choose the right tech partner and not just the cheapest one. 

8. Thinking beyond launch 

Building a mobile app is just the beginning and smart businesses do think ahead: 

• How will we update the app based on user feedback? 
• How will we scale? 
• What features should be added next? 

Conclusion 

The best apps are the ones that solve an actual problem or cater to a specific need. It also helps grow the business, not just look good.  

If you're thinking of building a mobile app, start by thinking like the most successful businesses do with a clear plan, not just a good idea. It’s not about just building an app, it’s all about building the right app 

Have an app idea and want to get started? Contact us now!