Apps are an important part of the business world, but at the same time, apps are quite complex. The benefits of developing your own company app are extensive, and it’s important to make sure your company’s app meets your specific needs. Companies rushing into app development often make one of the following eight mistakes.

1. Operative Expenses

Your app will usually need to communicate with online resources. But it’s easy to forget that you might need to maintain servers just to account for this traffic. You want your app to make you more money than you’re spending on upkeep. Especially since people who use your app are going to be upset if you need to shut it down because it’s a financial drain.

2. Monetization

This issue often goes hand in hand with operational expenses. Your app doesn’t necessarily need to have a direct financial return. Direct monetization, such as a paid pro version or the use of advertising, is ideal. But your app can also serve as a monetization platform through less direct means like promoting your company’s own services. But your app must be monetized to at least some degree.

3. Ignoring the Competition

Companies are often so intent on their business plan that they can forget that the competition is something they can learn from. If a competitor already has an app then they’ve essentially given you free market research. It’s wise to learn from mistakes they’ve made before launching an app of your own.

4. Accessibility Concerns

When you’re in perfect health it’s easy to assume that’s going to be the case for everyone using your app. But take a moment to think about how well most apps would work if your eyesight or hearing was fading away. It’s quite common for people writing an app to instantly miss out on the portion of their customer base with vision or hearing loss.

5. Compatibility Issues

There are a lot of different form factors out there. From phones of various sizes to tablets and even smart TVs. Companies often make a mistake in only targeting one form factor, like recent phones, and thus lose a chunk of the market.

6. API Lock-In

APIs, such as map systems, can save you a huge amount of development time. However, companies often forget that APIs can become costly over time. It’s important to consider whether an API has become as much jail as an advantage.

7. Only Targeting One Platform

If you’re only targeting iOS then you’ve lost the Android market and the reverse holds as well. Each part of the mobile market is valuable and you’ll need to target them both.

8. Not Consulting with Experts

The biggest mistake people make is simply imagining that they need to do everything on their own. All of the prior points highlight the fact that app development is complex and requires multiple areas of expertise. Professional developers can handle any or even all of them to bring a company’s app ideas to life without any risk of making mistakes. By collaborating with a team of experts, you benefit from their collective experience and knowledge, ensuring a smoother development process.