How to develop a winning business plan for your app business
When developing a business plan for your app startup, the first step is to determine the key success criteria for your business. What will make it a success? Or, as they say in business-speak: “What’s your unique selling proposition (USP)?”
An app developer has no one but himself to rely on – and the development team he assembles – when it comes to accomplishing his goal of creating an excellent product and making it a smart investment. And with regards to the latter, having all the elements necessary for doing so at hand certainly helps. The issue becomes even more complicated if you wish to launch an application not only on iOS or Android, but also on other operating systems such as Windows or BlackBerry.
This article focuses specifically on how app developers can find the winning formula for creating a successful business plan.
- Business context
One of the most important aspects of developing an app is its target audience. For now, you should determine who your targeted customers are and what they need from your app. Another equally critical consideration is to work out how or where your customers are likely to encounter, or conduct their initial research into, your app. What social networks will they use? Which media? Once you’ve identified them, create profiles that include relevant demographic data as well as psychographic information regarding their likes, dislikes, opinions/perceptions, product preferences, etc. You should also probe into why they’re looking for apps like yours in the first place, and why they would choose yours over and above the rest.
- Business model
There are numerous ways to create a viable business model. One of them is making money by charging for your app up front. Another is the “freemium” (free with paid options) model. This means that users can download the application for free, but some of its features or content can only be unlocked with a paid upgrade option.
So for example, if you develop an inventory-management app, you could charge customers $20/month to use all of the built-in modules, or allow them to use the app for free if they’re using only the basic modules. Depending on your target audience, this approach might end up being more profitable than simply making the app available for free and expecting ad revenue to cover your expenses.
- Competitor analysis
One thing you need to determine as early as possible is whether there’s actually room for your product in the mobile space, as well as if it makes sense to offer a mobile solution instead of desktop tools/software. This will also help you understand what your competitors are up to: what they do better and, more importantly, where they fall short of user expectations. Probe into their business models as well; be on the lookout for gaps that can serve as excellent launching pads.
- Market research
Once you have a solid grasp of everything discussed above, start doing market research by identifying the latest industry trends, the current state of the market, and key indicators for future growth. This will allow you to determine whether or not there’s room for your product – and if so, how big that room is – as well as whether your target audience prefers certain types of apps over others.
- Problem statement
The following step is crucial. In the problem statement you want to outline, as concisely as possible, the problem that your app aims to solve. This means defining its target user group, describing what needs this product fills (or how it can improve its users’ lives), as well as illustrating who has those needs (do they represent special groups such as youth, older adults, people with disabilities, etc.?). The clearer you are in presenting your project’s main aim and the needs it fills, the easier it will be for you to explain everything that follows.
- Business plan development
The final step in business plan development is writing it up into a succinct yet comprehensive document that encompasses all the elements discussed above: background info, success criteria, USP, business model, competitor analysis and market research findings. Keep in mind this isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach; it depends on how involved your app is and what type of industry you’re operating in. What we do recommend is taking advantage of a business plan template. By using a good one, you’ll save yourself a lot of time.
What does a mobile app business plan look like?
In general, business plans for mobile apps have a short development cycle. Unlike traditional software applications that can take months or years to develop and release, most new mobile app ventures only require a few weeks to complete their business plans before seeking significant capital funding from venture capitalists. The following is a sample template of a great business plan for launching your own app idea:
Executive Summary
Provide an overview of what you’re doing in three or four sentences. Give the reader an idea of how it will make money and why it’s unique. If you use other people’s words, they may not read further. Think about what would interest other entrepreneurs if they were considering investing in this idea.
1) Company description
Describe who you are, your location(s) and size, your role in the business, what you do now (if anything), plans for hiring after funding is acquired, etc.
2) Market Summary section
This should be a one-page summary of the market opportunity. Describe the total addressable market (TAM) – that is, how many people are likely to use this service or product. Provide at least qualitative information about possible barriers to entry. Identify any major competitors: Why are they bad? What threat does their existence pose to you? How will you deal with them? Answer these questions: Who are potential customers for this product/service/application? Why would they buy it? What’s keeping them from buying right now?
3) Market opportunity section
In this part, explain how you’re going to reach those customers. What channels will be used? Who are the relevant competitors in those channels? How much market share can they capture? Why is your product better than theirs? When will you launch the service/product/application and what steps do you need to take before that happens (e.g., build a beta or test market version of the software, conduct legal research, etc.)?
4) Product/service description
Describe what you’re selling, not how it works. Here’s where you put all the detailed information about your target customer base; their demographics (income level, occupation); psychographics (their values and lifestyles); geographic location; when, how often and why they would use your product or service.
5) Competitive analysis
This section should be a rigorous analysis of the competitive landscape. It’s critical to realistically assess the barriers to entry in your market, including both technological and nontechnical issues. Focus on what makes you unique in comparison with the rest of the pack. Be sure to include any intellectual property that differentiates your offering from similar products in this space (patents have expiration dates). List all major competitors – name them specifically so it’s clear who you’re talking about – and their strengths, weaknesses, strategies, financial health, etc. Identify trends within each competitor’s strategic direction based on recent corporate developments, newsworthy events or industry awards.
6) Management team section
Describe your management team and what the key qualifications are for each person. Briefly discuss how people work together and complement each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Don’t make it sound like a résumé; focus on why you’ve chosen this particular group of people to launch your business, rather than listing their past jobs.
7) Company financial highlights
Include financial projections from last year through the first three years of operations. If possible, add financial projections for the next couple of years to demonstrate that you have a plan to get from where you are today to profitability. Prepare separate charts for revenue growth by type of product or service being offered, expenses for personnel and monthly cash burn rate (monthly expenses – monthly revenues).
8) Company milestones
This should be a list of major steps you plan to take over the next few years. For tech companies, these milestones may be software releases or key development milestones. Alternatively, they can be revenue targets or partnership deals with other businesses. Detail what must happen before each milestone is reached and how it will affect the future of the business.
9) Appendix section
Here are all the necessary documents you want to attach as an appendix to your business plan: articles about your company/product/service, market research survey results, resumes for team members, etc.
If you’d like to know more about launching and running a successful app startup, visit our online blog. We have tons of helpful articles on all sorts of topics, including mobile app development.