Parija Rangnekar – Page 5

You are a start-up planning to invest in mobile app development and have envisaged a superb app idea as well. Sounds great! Nevertheless, the mobile app development cost is humongous and the market is highly competitive. So, it’s important to validate your app idea completely before you proceed to develop a fully functional application. So during the mobile app planning process, there are certain questions that businesses need to survey with the users to get the interest about the app idea like as below:

Do users need your app?
Does your app provide a solution to prevalent issues?
If so, is there an urgent requirement for the solution your app offers?
If yes, then is your solution unique enough to gain recognition?

After getting the positive response for the survey, the next step is hiring the required skills to execute your project. For this, you need to pick the right set of mobile app developers or a reliable mobile app development company to build a robust, interactive, and feature-rich app that conveys your brand’s perception. However, architecting apps involve several challenges and this is more so in the case of start-ups. Therefore, I have penned down the key factors that start-ups need to focus on while developing mobile applications for a business

But, before we move ahead, check out the probable app development mistakes that start-ups tend to commit.

Commonest App development Mistakes to avoid

If the wrong audience is targeted for designing the app; the app won’t get the success that is desired no matter how outstanding it is.
An app should impart a similar look, feel and exhibit consistent behavior across different operating systems. But, this aspect is often forgotten.
Start-ups often integrate too many features in an app leading to heavy battery drainage of the users’ smartphones; resulting in app uninstalls.
In a bid to make the front-end of an app attractive; beginners tend to ignore the importance of creating a robust back-end which slows down the app’s interface.

What Should a Startup Focus on while building a Mobile App?

Thorough market Research

Conduct exhaustive market research and examine customer reviews on social media to identify the following aspects:

The on-going trends and consumer requirements
Who your competitors are, their strategies along with success rate, and their strengths and shortcomings.
The unique selling point of popular applications.
Existing issues and gaps that need to be resolved.

After thorough research, you will come to know the market demand; gaps that your app can fill up; pain areas encountered by users; and mistakes committed by your competitors. Now, it becomes easy to define the app’s objective and figure out what features you need to integrate into your application for making it a bestseller. Remember not to repeat your competitors’ mistakes and ensure that you offer fresh and complete solutions. This will make your app stand out amidst the crowd.

Defining the app’s Purpose

Defining your app’s specific purpose via a confident elevator pitch is crucial for achieving success.

Decide on the business goals you are headed to achieve through the app. This way you will be able to communicate your mission very easily in just a few sentences to the potential investors or the mobile app development services you plan to hire.
Who your competitors are, their strategies along with success rate, and their strengths and shortcomings.

Establishing Brand Identity and USP

Create a digital brand identity and ensure that it is maintained throughout the app you create. The next important move that will help you to establish your digital footprints and fetch a notable position amongst the leading brand names is adopting a USP. USP or “unique selling proposition” refers to the marketing strategy of informing consumers about that unique advantage offered by a firm, service, brand or product; that makes it superior to its competitors. So, consider this feature to highlight the customer-centric product benefits.

App Monetization

Monetizing your app will expedite revenue generation and fetch you unprecedented profits. Check out the most trending app monetization business models.

In-app purchases
Sponsorships and in-app advertisements
Subscriptions
Paid applications
Apps that are free to download but a purchase needs to be made to access specific features.

It is advisable to choose the monetization model depending on your business objective

User-oriented Design

The way you design an app is a key factor that decides its fate. Here are the best design standards.

Focus on making the app design responsive asthe app would run on different devices of varying sized screens.
Do not clutter your design with too much unnecessary information.
Keep it simple as heavy designs consume a lot of device space and use up more data.
The user interface must be simple and easy to use so that users can effortlessly navigate through your app.
Follow the standards set by Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines and Google Material Design.

Other Noteworthy Factors

Consider factors like revenue, market share, and target audiences while finalizing the platforms and OS so that it harmonizes with your business goals.
Providing offline access to some of the features of an app is the current trend and user expectation. This keeps users connected to your app even during lack of connectivity.
While hiring a Mobile App Development Company; carefully examine their portfolio, work experience, past projects, proficiency, technology stacks used, etc. Also, ensure that the firm provides maintenance support post-deployment.
The user interface must be simple and easy to use so that users can effortlessly navigate through your app.
Keep updating your application with new features to keep up with changing times.

Are You Interested in Building a Top-Class Website or Mobile App?

Bottom-line

I hope the aforesaid tips will enable start-ups to choose the right path as they commence their journey to develop a mobile app.

Planning to hire mobile application development services! Biz4Solutions a high-profile mobile app development company would be your perfect technology partner. Our highly experienced developers will assist you to turn your vision into reality.

The evolution of money or currency is a fascinating read. The most primitive form of transacting was barter trade. Its premise was quite simple; the exchange of goods for goods. There was no set value for the items. Indeed it came down to subjective attribution of worth.

The first coins came from the Chinese people in 770 B.C. In 700 CE, they introduced paper money. Mobile payments made an entry in the 21st century.

Then came the newest entry, a digital or virtual currency, in 2009. Thanks to Satoshi Nakamoto, Cryptocurrency took the world by storm. The technology behind cryptos is blockchain. It has had far-reaching effects on all industries, and the jewelry industry is not exempt. Let’s explore the influence of blockchain on this specific market.

Jewelry Traceability with Blockchain

When you buy an expensive piece of jewelry, how can you determine its authenticity? One of the best ways is to trace it back to its point of origin. Let’s take the diamond jewelry industry as an example, to explain our point.

Even with a basic understanding of the industry, you can agree that the supply chain is quite complex. The stones pass through many hands before it gets to you, as the final customer. It comes from the mines as a raw, uncut stone.

Companies or individuals buy them and pass them on to diamond cutters. From there, jewelry designers buy the pieces. Out of these are products like stud earrings, wedding sets, and engagement rings.

The same applies to the best lab-created diamonds. From the labs, they will pass through the same supply chain. Along the way, there can be cases of document tampering. Someone can switch the products with fake ones, and you end up buying.

Blockchain is a perfect type of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). Think about it like decentralized databases in the shape of linked blocks. So, the lab or mine is a block. Secondary buyers are another block. Diamond cutters are a different block, and so on. Each block has participants that manage the information within.

The hash or immutable cryptographic signatures ensure no one can alter information. To do so, you must have user privileges. The blocks make it easy to track the diamond’s journey back and forth. Since data tampering is impossible, it becomes possible to authenticate the diamonds.

Greater Transparency and Quick Access to Information

As we stated above, any information that goes into the blockchain is immutable. In other words, it is unchangeable or permanent. The participants within each block can input data without relying on a third party.

The lab-grown diamond creators add information as it pertains to the production process. The following stakeholders in the blockchain do the same, and so on. Secure keys ensure no one within the blocks can tamper or change information. But, they can access the data anytime and anywhere.

Those within the supply chain have the liberty to verify information at any time they need to. They don’t have to pass through third parties to do this. It enhances transparency while ensuring quick access to information.

Further, there is greater efficiency with virtual documentation. No more paper invoices from each stakeholder in the supply chain. Instead, you get tamper-proof, traceable transactions at every stage of the supply chain.

Establishing Trust amongst Customers

Customers who buy high-value jewelry base their decision to transact with you on trust. Think about it for a minute. You are shopping for a diamond engagement ring. The budget will cost you thousands of dollars, which you are ready to spend. How likely is it that you will walk into a jewelry store and leave your money behind?

We can bet the answer would be quite unlikely. You will do thorough research on retailers and read tons of reviews. You may also base your decision to buy on a referral. Indeed, a solid industry reputation is key to the success of jewelry companies.

Blockchain technology provides a way to further earn trust. The transparency the technology affords is critical for the authentication of high-value jewelry. You don’t, for instance, need to rely on the seller’s word that you are buying a Rolex. You can demand access to information in the blockchain to establish the truth of the matter.

Providing such information to customers also passes on another strong message. It signals to the customers a willingness to develop close relationships with them. Indeed, you are letting them into what happens behind the scenes. Talk about a powerful marketing tool without focusing on the product attributes.

Addressing Ethical Issues with Blockchain

The jewelry industry has come under a lot of scrutinies over the years. This is especially true with regard to the diamond industry.

There is an ongoing concern about unethical mining practices. Questions around unsafe work conditions, child labor, health, and fatalities clog the industry.

Blood diamonds have become the reference to war zone diamonds. The proceeds go towards financing insurgencies and warlord activities.

Lab-grown diamonds have also raised some issues. Unscrupulous individuals perpetrate fraud by classifying lab-grown diamonds as natural mined diamonds.

Without transparency in the supply chain, overcoming ethical concerns can be difficult. There will be no way to trace the source or movement within the opaque supply chain. Blockchain provides a fantastic solution for overcoming such limitations. Transparency from the origin, journey, and final destination is clear to see.

No one can interfere with information thus giving more credibility to their records. The permanence of the communication means the data is always available. It doesn’t matter how many hands or marketplaces the jewelry goes through. Anyone who has an interest can refer to the virtual reports. Indeed reports are so specific that they apply to each diamond.

Diamond industry leaders like De Beers already have the Tracr Blockchain technology. The company positions the blockchain software as tamper-proof and provides assurance right from the source.

Are You Interested in Building a Top-Class Website or Mobile App?

Final Thoughts

Blockchain technology within the jewelry industry has so many advantages. Virtual documents provide efficiency, transparency, and quick access to information.

The jewelry industry can establish the authenticity of its items. It provides a fantastic way to get customer trust and loyalty.

Parija Rangnekar, Page 5 Author

What are the Key factors a Startup should Focus on While Developing a Mobile App?