HR cloud app

[ciubotaruoa]

Hi everyone,

Yesterday I learned that a friend of mine wishes to develop an HR app, meaning Timesheet (check-in&check-out), Absence/Vacation, Activity Reporting, later Evaluation + Career path Gamification. Of course, he knows about existing solutions like Workday. His intension is to target small business with a solution that is very easy to configure by the SMB without requiring training or maintenance. Should work on internet browser, android and ios. The price would be per seat, per month, hopes to go with 1-2 USD per seat per month.
Actually he started working on the design of the solution.

Personally, I know there are solutions like this. I am in security industry but I work with workday but also use some very easy to use app for Absence (only thing that it does). I would like to tell him that maybe he invest effort in something else, as I do not think he will have customers. I am sure he did his own research but I remembered about this forum and said a question would not hurt.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

Thank you!

 

[fisicx]

There are two components:

1. A website for managers

2. An app for staff.

It needs to be focus on UK business (payment in sterling) and comply with UK legislation.

The hardest part is going to be marketing. There are hundreds of apps, websites and other services all doing the same thing. You will be spending a lot of time and money making people aware of your product and then a load more cash convincing people to sign up.

It could be the most brilliant HR app. But if no one knows it exists it will fail.

 

[Newchodge]

There are a number of similar apps out there, so your friend would need a unique selling point for their app.

There is, currently, a huge gap in the market related to holiday for people working variable days/
hours. Not just calculating holiday entitlment but also holiday pay, which is based on a 52 week average pay. If that could be included that may be a USP that could work.

You have mentioned a price point in US$. As this is a UK forum, a price point in £ would be sensible. It would also reassure UK users that the app is compliant with UK employment law.

 

[ciubotaruoa]

Thank you for answers. Exactly my point. The app might be brilliant ( I would use it) but the market is so full of them that the effort to make it visible might be immense.

 

[fisicx]

…. the effort to make it visible might be immense.

Not might be, it will be immense.

 

[IanSuth]

we previously were devloping an app for measuring and tracking wellbeing in the marketplace and (as it was in covid) doing remote H&S assessments of peoples home working environments with a proper audit trail.

The sheer complexity and cost of ensuring something is both open and assessible to all workers easily on various OS whilst also being sufficiently secure (not just security secure but in terms of permissions of who can view what info etc) to have the kind of info needed in it is immense, even before you get into the cost of marketing. There is no way you will get many HR clients unless you can 100% demonstrate you are keeping all that personal info secure and making their life easier whilst also saving them £.

As Newchodge said - stick with something niche and "easy" then if he still wants to do the original system leverage the existing customers later on to launch the big app

HR have decades of experience avoiding recruitment agencies so are a nightmare to sell to

 

[ciubotaruoa]

Thanks everyone! I will let him know all this and hopefully takea into consideration before throwing a lot of money in there.