The mobile world has reached a whopping 2.6 billion smartphone subscriptions globally! In fact, the Mobility Report by Ericksson is saying that by 2020, globally there will be 6.1 smartphone users led by a huge growth in less mature markets. So taking business on mobile application is on everyone’s mind. The pressure of jumping into the mobile pool today is so much that many companies and startups get into it without a plan or a strategy.

Lets not forget that you are dealing with an unforgiving user base where only 16% users give an app a second chance. Here’ s a list of do’s and don’t’s–

Do’s of taking business on mobile

Gauge your mobile app users: You need to think like a customer before planning to take your business on to a mobile platform. Despite that everyone wants the convenience of a mobile application, think if your customers will like your product or service on mobile. Why would they use it? How will it add to their convenience? This will help you understand the need for a mobile application for your business and you will be able to chalk out a winning plan.

Test the waters: One of the greatest things is to know what other businesses in your domain are doing. This means you need to gauge what’s working for them and what’s not. This will help you contextualize what’s most relevant to your business. You will be able to then plan your mobile app design, colours, navigation etc more logically.

Get professional mobile app development: Never think that your existing team is fit for mobile phone foray too. If you haven’t been on mobile application yet, meaning you need professional help. Professional mobile app developers will not only help you in the technical development, they will also use their market insights to help you build an application with a user empathy. You need a winning mobile application design. According to Search Engine Land, 90 per cent of local mobile searches result in a purchase.

Prepare to sell: If you think your online business was a success and so mobile application would sell like hot cakes, you couldn’t be more wrong. Do you remember how companies try to get customers to download their applications? You will need that too. However, with a killer strategy to sell your mobile application, you will need a forethought.

Don’t’s

Getting carried away by too many ideas: Since you are switching or extending to mobile application now, you will most likely love all the ideas floating around. You will find yourself changing your mind often every day. While changing strategy isn’t wrong but making a strategy purely on what others are doing spells disaster. Understand that you have done business before on your own USP, the same goes for mobile phone application too.

Ignoring platform understanding: Often businesses extending to mobile phones don’t think of which platform is best for them. More often than not, their decision is based on what’s available and faster. It’s important to take advice from experts and see which platform will help you get initial traction FIRST. Then think of developing it on another.

Feature-heavy mobile application: If too many features hassle the user, he/she may abandon it completely. One of the biggest things why mobile apps click with users is simplicity. Understand that the BIGGEST feature of a mobile phone application is convenience.

Mobile phone application development is a completely different ball game altogether. However, it still requires your age-old business acumen and marketing skills.