Please introduce your company and give a brief about your role within the company.
The company was established in 2014 with Development center at Jaipur. Now we have our Branch Offices in other countries like UK, UAE & IRAN. Appiqo is Top Leading Company in Mobile & Web App Domain. Our main focus is in the mobile application domain (Native Apps, Hybrid Apps, and React Native) I am the Director of Appiqo Technologies & through my experience in this industry; I have been successful in providing the best-in-class services to our clients.
What was the idea behind starting this organization?
The main idea behind having our own start-up was the era that was rapidly advancing in technology. Since we belonged to the technical field and were experts in various technologies, it made perfect sense to have our own company which could take in new ideas of clients and develops mobile applications based on them. This led us to work on different projects including government projects as well.
What are your company’s business model– an in-house team or third party vendors/ outsourcing?
We have a complete in-house team of experienced and dedicated developers, Designers and QA. So, we do the complete development work in-house only.
How is your business model beneficial from a value-added perspective to the clients compared to other companies' models?
Our company is one of the most genuine and unique companies that a client will come across. We have dedicated developers with 5+ years of experience in the mobile application domain. We Provide Free Post Launching Support of 2 Years & offer flexible work timings to our clients. If a client is from some other country, we make sure that we are available for support at their convenient timings. Also, we provide 6 Months Free Marketing & Promotions & Free App Promotional Video and Creatives
What industries do you generally cater to? Are your customers repetitive? If yes, what ratio of clients has been repetitive to you?
The industries that we have catered to until now are from different industries such as Taxi & Travel, Fashion & Apparels, Automobile, Fine Arts, Food & Beverages, Hospitality, and Consumer Services, Finance, Utilities, Social Networking etc
I would say 90% of our clients have come back to us to work on a different project as well. Once they work with us, they either come back to us to work on another project or refer us to their friends and colleagues.
I would say 90% of our clients have come back to us to work on a different project as well. Once they work with us, they either come back to us to work on another project or refer us to their friends and colleagues.
Mention the objectives or the parameters critical in determining the time frame of developing a mobile app.
As every app is different, nobody can estimate an exact time-frame for an objective or parameter. So I have given weight to every objective and parameter based on how much time they consume in a development cycle.
Understanding of the Business Case: Understanding the ‘Why’ behind developing an app is a most important factor. If the business case is not well understood then the quality of the app and overall objective of developing the app will get hampered.
Features: We use function point estimate technique to divide the features into points if there are a number of points in feature than a feature is considered to be complex in nature and take time to implement.
Third Party Integrations: Third party integration is the subject of research; app stakeholders have to understand the various dependencies, implications of the implementation and some time it requires doing a proof of concept to avoid the last moment delays so performing proof of concept will increase the timeframe of the project.
Understanding of the Business Case: Understanding the ‘Why’ behind developing an app is a most important factor. If the business case is not well understood then the quality of the app and overall objective of developing the app will get hampered.
Features: We use function point estimate technique to divide the features into points if there are a number of points in feature than a feature is considered to be complex in nature and take time to implement.
Third Party Integrations: Third party integration is the subject of research; app stakeholders have to understand the various dependencies, implications of the implementation and some time it requires doing a proof of concept to avoid the last moment delays so performing proof of concept will increase the timeframe of the project.
How much effort in terms of time goes into developing the front end and back end of a mobile app?
We follow an AGILE methodology. So, we do not work on the front end and back end separately. We first prepare the wireframe and once 25% of the wireframe is done, we move to the designing phase. Once the client starts approving the designs, the front end developer converts those designs. And then, the functionality part is taken care of. The back end developer integrates the required functionalities of the website with the system. As soon as the back end and front end is done, the testing will also be done then we conduct UAT testing.
What are the key parameters to be considered before selecting the right platform for a mobile application?
Well, every app targets a certain set of users, which defines its user stories. And that set decides which platform to target. Generally, when the set is dominated by people in the high-income group, we go with iOS. For everything else, owing to its large user base, Android is a good place to start with when you want to target the mass market.
Which platform do you suggest your clients, to begin with when they approach you with an idea (Android or iOS) and why?
Android and iOS have both advantages and disadvantages. We do not put any abrupt opinion. It all depends on the business idea of our clients. We conduct a research in order to elucidate between the platforms and come to an intersection of client’s opinion and our research.
Android or iOS, Native or Hybrid — which platform is best to use to build your app? What are your recommendations?
Native apps are always recommended over the Hybrid apps - if the client’s timeframe and budget are flexible. For us, we use a lot of native features like GPS, interactive notifications, payment modules, etc.
Hybrid apps can be a good option when we need to deal with data and where user experience is not a major factor.
Hybrid apps can be a good option when we need to deal with data and where user experience is not a major factor.
What are the key factors that you consider before deciding the cost of a mobile application?
Cost of a mobile app development relies on scope, features, and functionalities of a mobile app. Apart from that, it rotates around complexities, efforts, selection between native versus hybrid, architecture, APIs, screen orientation, app security, regular updates, post maintenance etc. Another factor is the app idea of the client and their criteria to get the mobile app developed. This attitude and the aforesaid components with the help of comprehensive research help us to determine the cost of mobile app development.
What kind of payment structure do you follow to bill your clients? Is it Pay per Feature, Fixed Cost, Pay per Milestone (could be in phases, months, versions etc.)
We follow a milestone-based approach for payments. We follow the strict agile process in development, so what we do is based on the project. Suppose the project is more than US$ 10,000, so we charge 15% of that as an advance payment and then rest payment is divided into 4 or 5 milestones. So the client doesn’t have to pay all in advance or he has a nominal amount of money to be paid at every milestone. We are flexible with the advance payment structure if the client is not willing to pay 15% as the advance amount; we can go as low as 10%. So as long as we see that the client is genuine and has a true intent to make a mobile application we are very much adjustable to the payment terms.
We are comfortable working in both Fixed Price as well as Hourly contracts. This completely depends upon the complexity of scope and client’s preference as to how they wish to proceed, although we always give our suggestion as to what can be the best fit.
We are comfortable working in both Fixed Price as well as Hourly contracts. This completely depends upon the complexity of scope and client’s preference as to how they wish to proceed, although we always give our suggestion as to what can be the best fit.
Do you take in projects which meet your basic budget requirement? If yes, what is the minimum requirement? If no, on what minimum budget you have worked for?
You may call us a bit choosy over the type of projects we take. The low budget may not necessarily be an issue. It’s the scope of the project that influences our decision. An innovative project that challenges us and helps us develop & hone our skills even on a tighter budget has more chance of being accepted than a project on a liberal budget that brings no innovation or doesn’t challenge us. So, no, we don’t have any minimum budget requirements as such.
What is the price range (min and max) of the projects that you catered to in 2017?
We have worked on different projects ranging from the US $1500 to the US $18000.
Which business model do you suggest to your clients enabling them to generate revenue from mobile applications? Why?
It is entirely dependent on the client’s business idea. Although we even outline a monetization strategy for our clients in order to generate maximum revenue, we suggest an in-app purchase that has been reckoned with the help of comprehensive market research.
