How to Calculate the Budget for Developing an On-Demand App?
On-demand applications aim towards solving problems faced by a common person in his day-to-day life. Example of such a case is UBER. It has revolutionized the traveling economy. This is the reason on-demand businesses are based on the Uber for X business model, where X can be any service or product that is delivered to the customer. The on-demand economy is totally based on transparency that is achieved with the applications used to access those services.
An idea about app development costs
Before we actually evaluate the cost factor, it is rather necessary to know by which method application is to be developed. Taking into consideration all the necessary aspects, the development of an on-demand app would take approximately 2000 hours and more. To figure out the cost, you can simply multiply the average hourly rates with these hours. However, the variations in development time and cost depends majorly on the features required and the resources hired.
An on-demand app can be developed by three different methods:
- Hire an agency
- A resourceful in-house team
- Recruit a freelance developer
The cost of application development highly depends on these factors. However, before you ask a freelancer or an agency to work for you, have a clear idea about what you need.
Figure out your application specific requirements
Initial ideation is the core of a successful on-demand business. After some brainstorming sessions, you must have decided the niche that you want to work on. If we talk about application-specific requirements, it’s important to have a clear idea that you may need multiple apps to serve the purpose. It may include an app for the end users, business management app for admin to process orders and an app to facilitate delivery tracking. However, with advancements, the need of having multiple apps developed has shrink and most of the on-demand businesses now need two apps to handle the processes efficiently.
An on-demand app for customers
This application will have all the features you want the customers to access such as login, sign-up, offers, selection, and payment integration.
An app for Service Provider
This application is like an admin dashboard to manage inventory, orders, cancellation and return requests, payments, offers and discounts, track deliveries and more. For instance, the service providers in the Uber are the cab drivers and they can access limited information related to cab booking, driver availability, vehicle tracking, customer details, maps, notifications and payment integration.
Now you know what features your application should comprise, it is time to contact a freelancer, or an agency, to inquire the actual costs from them.
Working around what you have!
If you are into a retail business and use a Point of Sale (POS) System for day-to-day transactions, you can always ask your POS vendor to provide third-party APIs to the developers. Without API access, the line of code increases substantially and hence the cost. Therefore, using your own resources can help you maintain the budget.
Some facts
- The average time taken to develop an app, according to the research, is 8 weeks.
- A simple app costs $4800 in India, whereas $48,000 in the US.
- A complex application might cost $38,000 in India and $250,000 in US. That is why many app development projects are outsourced to India.
- More than 22.4 million consumers spend around $57.6 billion each year on the on-demand apps – according to Harvard Business Research.
Investors too look for unique and innovative on-demand business ideas
If you own a business that works as a bridge between service providers and receivers, you must venture in on-demand application development without giving a second thought. Even if you are a startup and you are trying to come up with some unique ideas to impress investors, develop that idea across the on-demand model, leverage on the big boom of on-demand economy, and ultimately raise funds. The investors who felt left out when the uber economy was budding few years ago are now prepared to grab opportunities for the next big thing in the on-demand arena.
In fact, the maximum number of businesses that invest in on-demand applications are startups. Competition can always be a roadblock, but if you move past it, you have a successful business right ahead of you. The food and grocery delivery app is an exciting space to start with despite an immensely competitive market. To learn what it takes to develop an on-demand app, talk to our experts.
