Business Plan Development

As I finish up my mobile app business plan, I wanted to take a look back at the resources I found and wrote about in my previous post.  I’m finding that the advice given by the individuals is very relevant, and I will be able to incorporate it into my mobile app plan and any business plans in the future.

Tim Berry gave the advice that you need to be able to adapt, and as I do more and more research I am finding this to be true.  The mobile app market is strong now, but will this trend continue?  And what about the poor performance of Facebook’s stock?  I think finding projected statistics compiled by professionals would be one way to help my plan, and then devising contingency plans would help to show that I’m ready for things to not go the way they are expected to.  As for the mobile app market, all signs point to continued growth, but I feel like the bubble with burst at some point.

Ellen Rohr advised selling your product before your pitch to demonstrate salability.  I agree with her advice, but it might be difficult to incorporate into my business plan for a mobile app.  I could possibly have a free version of the app out first, track the downloads, and then present those stats to investors for the paid version.  Or I could create a landing page with a submission form on the website as a means of measuring interest.

Bryan Howe mentioned Kickstarter as a means of funding projects through peer-to-peer networks.  I looked at Kickstarter to see what they had for mobile apps, and there are quite a few projects that are raising funds for apps or mobile device related projects.  This could possibly be tied to demonstrating salability as well – if we have a successful Kickstarter campaign, we can show that people are interested enough in what we have to offer that they will donate money to see it happen.  Peer-to-peer funding wasn’t as organized in years past, but I think the advent of social media networks has changed that.  I also think donation site like Kickstarter are helpful because if you do get a project funded, you will have an initial and eager fan base ready for you once you get your project off the ground.