Starting a mobile app development company

[AS22]

Hi Everyone,

Your help is really appreciated!

I am currently writing up a business plan for a specific app for the motor industry and instead of giving the job to a development company, I was wondering why not start my own app development company.

Having no experience in the IT industry but the money to invest, I would require a business partner with the experience and know-how of the mobile app industry but not the money to invest.

What would be the profile of such business partner? Who should I be looking out for?

Which and how many roles will I need to advertise to run a small mobile app company?

Unrelated question:
How do MOT apps access the DVLA database to know when the MOT or road tax is due? How do they gain and produce your vehicle information when giving them your registration number?

Thank you.

 

[Mark T Jones]

To answer you key question, you'd need to start by clarifying how your app development company would differ from the 42000 others out there?

 

[fisicx]

How do MOT apps access the DVLA database to know when the MOT or road tax is due? How do they gain and produce your vehicle information when giving them your registration number?

They pay for it.

DVLA Database API Pricing | UK Vehicle Data

Full pricing page for the DVLA API and VOSA API. Choose multiple packages or individual data sets.

ukvehicledata.co.uk

 

[AS22]

Thank you Mark, but I feel this is unrelated

They pay for it.

Thanks!

 

[AS22]

To answer you key question, you'd need to start by clarifying how your app development company would differ from the 42000 others out there?

Thank you Mark. My company may not be so different from those other companies out there. I am just asking what criteria should I use when selecting a potential business partner from that industry. I doubt a recent graduate would be of any help.

 

[Mark T Jones]

Thank you Mark. My company may not be so different from those other companies out there. I am just asking what criteria should I use when selecting a potential business partner from that industry. I doubt a recent graduate would be of any help.

Your niche and market position will play a key role on choice of partner - or rather in their choice of you.

 

[brandvine]

Have you looked at sites like: https://bubble.io/
It's pretty incredible what you can build with these no-code development sites. You won't need a technical founder at least in the beginning when you are testing your concept.

A couple of weeks on here and you will have the skill set to build your own minimum viable product that you could then take to your target market and get user feedback.

If it's well received, you could go out and find a technical partner once you have established the product market fit. The quality of the candidate you attract will be much higher than at the idea stage.

Everyone has an idea. 99% don't follow up with action.

 

[Uwe (Invoiceberry)]

You first need to consider what sort of app development company you want to start.

As @brandvine pointed out, one of the popular no-code tools (bubble.io), there are 100's of no-code and low-code tools that are being used by app development companies these days.

Do you want to offer only apps in a specific niche/industry, or only utilise a specific programming language or no/low-code tool? etc. etc.

There are a number of questions, and once you answered those to yourself, you will have a better idea who to look for in a business partner. It really can vary a great deal.

 

[fantheflames]

Hi @AS22

Have you done extensive research of other app development companies?

There's a lot of technical decisions you'll need to make, which you might not have the foresight for - so I'm guessing that's one of the reasons why you're looking for an IT partner.

You'll need to think about the maintenance of your app, which will give you a better picture of who you need in your app development team.

Remember there's different practices in app development, and different platforms, so you'll need to do some research yourself to get a better idea even if you don't know all the answers.

My IT guy has said that most people browse the top rated apps on their phone, so how you define your app from others to increase your opportunity when people are browsing outside of top rated.

There will be consumers wanting specific features - whether that's improved functionality, less ads, customisation etc.

Look through the reviews of your competitors to find out what they are missing.

 

[fisicx]

My IT guy has said that most people browse the top rated apps on their phone, so how you define your app from others to increase your opportunity when people are browsing outside of top rated.

Not sure what that means. Surely people use the apps that they want on their phone? Just because an app is top rated doesn't mean people have it installed.

 

[fantheflames]

Not sure what that means. Surely people use the apps that they want on their phone? Just because an app is top rated doesn't mean people have it installed.

Of course, you can search for ANYTHING on your app store and be recommended apps from new apps with no reviews to high ranking apps.

Although top rated, editor's choice and high rating are most preferred by app consumers.

But as I said, even the most top rated apps have issues and then people want something different.

That triggers people to look more deeply into the app store for something new/better/aligned with what they want.

 

[Deleted member 325090]

It seems that you're trying to add a very difficult problem to a reasonably difficult problem.

Writing a 'app' and starting an app development company are two distinct and non-trivial tasks to do successfully.

My advice would be if you've got a good idea for an app, team up with an existing company, get them to sign an NDA and perhaps come to some profit sharing or equity sharing scheme to pay for the development work.

Finding a company who will advise you correctly - and not just take your money and do what you ask them - could save you money. For example, one common mistake I see is people often think they need a native app, when in many cases some form of mobile friendly website might work just as well and can usually be developed more quickly and at a lower cost.

The advice about doing some legwork yourself with a lo-code MVP is also good. Since most ideas come to nothing, failing quickly and cheaply is usually preferable. If you can do this without involving others, then all the better.

However, in my experience the success or failure of an idea like this is not usually technical; it's normally that you'll struggle to achieve any kind of traction in the marketplace, since it's highly likely that someone else has done something similar, or perhaps your idea wont be as popular as you think, or is difficult to monetise sufficiently.

Regarding finding a business partner for an app development company, my advice would be don't. Before I'd start any business venture with someone I'd want to know them very well.

I've started a number of ventures of this nature and in each case I've worked with my co-founders closely for several years beforehand; helping me to determine that they're honest, share my core values and all involved understand how much time and effort will be expected of them and what role(s) each person will assume in the new company.