Coding. Design. Marketing. Of course, for any company on the verge of initializing a new mobile app development project, these elements are highly significant. From a newbie enterprise to a Fortune 500 company, most of the mobile app development companies pay most of their attention to these elements. However, the one that actually distinguishes a leading industry player from a normal industry player is the attention paid to budgeting.

Despite mobile app development companies mushrooming in every corner of the world, only a few realize the significance of mobile app budgeting required to build an efficient app. Whether you are the Chief Technology Officer of an app development firm who heads the IT division of an e-commerce giant or playing the lead in a mobile app development project, keep your eye on the ball.

Here are the biggest mistakes that have been repeated time and time again, while budgeting for mobile apps.

The Back End Should be at the Back of Your Mind

A building’s foundation depends on the quality of stone and cement used in it. Likewise, the foundation of a mobile app depends on the quality of the back end and content management systems.

A loose back end infrastructure can, in fact, lead to you spending double as much as you would have to build the app all over again. Of course, you are offering a user interface that is better than anyone else’s, but, in mobile app development, a few nice screenshots will not help. Besides this, you would need to pay close attention to everything from little font details to the menu to the settings; all of which come under content management.

For instance, let us consider a mobile wallet app. A decade ago, when the internet was still new, people preferred to make payments in cash or with cheques. But, now, people log into their wallet almost 50 times a day. From shopping to travel, everything is done via mobile apps. In this case, your app infrastructure needs to be able to handle this kind of workload. Plus, you would need to make the app speedy too. Slower apps can turn off the users. Furthermore, to build this kind of app, you need to set a considerable slice of your budget for back end development.

While this is just an example, it demonstrates some of the common mistakes many companies tend to made during budgeting.

Why Not Opt for Third Party Integrations?

Now is the era of everything social. Social media is an inseparable part of every person’s life today, young and old alike. If you too are heading a mobile app development project in your company, integrating social media in your app is a must. But, now comes the question: how. Many companies shy away or, for some reason, tend to get help from third parties. This causes a huge time gap in developing the project.

For example, let us say that there is an app development company which has just stepped in the industry. They want to add some Facebook and Youtube plugins to their app. So, they hire a few more software developers, ultimately investing some additional time, space, money, and attention. Instead, they could have gone for a third party that is already an expert in developing such plugins in bulk. This could have saved a huge amount of their resources. Also, they could have focussed on their main unique selling proposition rather than what is common in all the apps.

Marketing Is a Must

This is perhaps one of the biggest mistakes that many mobile app development companies make. They fail to set aside a budget for marketing communications and an advertising strategy.

Marketing determines the success of your app, after the back end. In fact, marketing should be initiated in the early phases of the development and continued throughout. It is even more important if your app comes with a download fee.

Major points that come into the picture for mobile app marketing range from determining the Cost Per Install (CPI) in the pre-minimum viable product stage to everything from social media, features, and ad campaigns. Upon its launch, your marketing costs would depend on the chosen platforms and target audience. Suppose you have a mobile app like ColorNote or Viber that targets top business executives and CEOs; you would obviously require a strong marketing strategy. And, somehow, a larger budget.

Only Happy Customers Make a Successful Business

Extending the above point a little ahead, staying in touch with your customers is at the heart of every business. Of course, you do not want to let your customers “install and forget” your app.

Let us consider WhatsApp. Despite it being a hot app, it often surprises its users with unexpected updates. The updates might be a new privacy feature or simply a little change in the display. But, the bottom line is, they constantly remind their customers that they are working on improving the app.

This is an ongoing process. For this, you would need to roll out a long-term strategy for constant delivery. This requires an open vision to look at the market and plan the budget accordingly. But, perhaps, this is a way to stay ahead in the game.

The Takeaway

Planning your budget with a view to staying in business for long will give a big jump to your mobile app development plan. To leave a long-lasting impression in enterprise mobile computing, you would need to rise above the common mistakes mentioned above, even if it means padding the budget a little more.

Shishir is the founder of ChromeInfotech India Ltd., one of the leading app development company, globally. With an experience of over a decade, he knows how to manage both people and processes, effectively.