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Having an app idea is simple. But planning the business needs is quite tedious and crucial!

If you choose to develop an application without doing the research, then while characterizing the audience, and planning use cases and features that will interest that audience, you risk developing a product you assume individuals will need, but in reality they don’t.

Therefore, having a business plan for a mobile app is crucial. A business plan not only helps in the initial planning and discovery phase of a project, but also acts as a reminder of all the critical aspects that should be taken care of during the mobile app development. 

So without further ado, lets move on to our main discussion “How to build Business Plan for a Mobile App Startup” or “How to Write Business Plan for Mobile Application Idea?”

Steps To Create a Business Plan For Your Mobile App

1. Detailed Summary

You have to start somewhere! Thus, a short overview of your detailed mobile app business plan is something you must pay special attention to, since this is going to be the first thing that the potential investors will encounter. 

Things that make this section ideal are – convey more while writing less, refrain from mentioning the working of the product, and so on. Instead, focus more on market scenario, targeted users, and make sure you implement the below mentioned steps–

• Focus on problems addressed

‘Problems’ are something that always prevails. Meaning, there is always room for improvement and innovation. What you are supposed to do here is analyze the problems users are facing with the existing solutions and find out –

1. The needs and demands of the users at the moment 
2. Problems users are facing with the products similar to yours
3. why these solutions fail to satisfy – what are they lacking that you can provide in a better and different way.

• State your proposed solution

Try not to divert from the path of the problem while explaining its solution, i.e., do not go into the functioning and features of your app, rather stay focused on the problem and the ways in which your app addresses them.

• Unique Value Proposition

This is where you can boast of the things that differentiate you from other organizations and solution providers, something about your app that is unique in itself. Not just better but definitely different. For example, the USP for Domino’s Pizza is “You get fresh, hot pizza delivered to your door in 30 minutes or less or else it’s free.”

• End objective of your app

After everything’s said and done, it all comes down to this – The goals you plan to achieve with your app. 

You MUST state the vision of your app’s future, i.e., how many downloads you are initially expecting on your application, how much profit you are expecting, and much more. It is best to visualize your short-term plans and then improve your answer through metrics.

2. Company Introduction

The next step while making a detailed and convincing business plan is to prepare your company’s information. Since the future is unpredictable, the things you have mentioned in the above section may not be as appealing to the investors as you may conjecture. 

Firms like Y Combinator, TechStars, to name a few, are known to select startups for funding based on the team and the founders. So, you see how crucial this section just became for you. Moreover, it would add as a plus point if you could provide information about the MVP or a prototype you have developed.

The things you should cover here are –

• Provide an overview

There are some questions that you need to address in this section to help investors understand your organization and develop trust in it.

1. Type of entity – Are you an LLC or privately owned organization? 
2. Location – Where is it housed?
3. Duration – When was the organization established?
4. What is the team size of your company?
5. Do you operate off-shore as well or not?
6. What are the problems your company is currently going through?
7. What is the ultimate goal of the company?
8. What is your vision?

• Take it from the top

Like a novel, you must tell the story of your organization while briefly touching on all the preliminary motivations, business app ideas, problems, etc. that you encountered at the time of its inception.

List everything about the history of your company that is worth knowing, since it could be a lot damaging if any crucial information is withheld from the investors and is revealed later. It can include the locations you have operated in, early hires, major pivots, product launches, and such.

• Management team

Remember each and every person in your company is an important cog in your organization’s machinery. This is why you are required to mention the names of all the members of management with all the relevant information related to them, i.e., qualification, professional experience, expertise, KRAs while mentioning the organizational hierarchy.

• Advisory panel

Almost every mobile app development company is backed by an advisory team. The panel consists of industry experts with years of experience under the belt. More often than not, they are the makers of some successful apps. Creating a list of such advisors can immensely improve your brand image and credibility, boosting the chances of getting funds.

3.  All About the Industry

Essentially, your end product is going to target a particular industry. Hence, it is obvious for you as an entrepreneur to know every grain of major information, from market history to current trends related to your targeted industry.

• Market size

The most basic thing that you must know and also showcase in your app startup business plan is the size of the market. This includes – total available market (market demand for the app), serviceable available market (number of users you can target say in 3 to 5 years), and serviceable obtainable market (the segment of your initial users in 6 to 12 months).

If you are wondering how to do so then, you can always refer to the credible data provided by some trusted third-party platforms, namely, Sensor Tower, App Annie, and Statista.

• Keep updated with market projections

You need to understand the market’s past and present to gain insight into future predictions. The best thing to do here is to compare and analyze the market size of the past 5 years, mention the number of new entrants in the industry, the number of total fundings, and so on.