Tag: software solutions
Does Your Business Need a Mobile App?
Mobile apps have increasingly become an integral part of the digital landscape. For many businesses, they are an indispensable asset and for others, the question still remains: “Should my business be utilizing a mobile app?” This article discusses a few things to consider before jumping into the world of app development and will give a better understanding of things to consider when deciding if an application is necessary for your business.
- Your audience
- The value of your app
- Your competitors
- Long term app support
- Current website
Your Audience
Consider who your audience and ideal customers are. Here is a great article from HubSpot that breaks down exactly how to figure out who your target audience is.
The Value of Your Mobile App
An app should add inherent value to both a business and its customers. Here are a few ways an app can add value:
- New Revenue
- Selling goods and services
- Process payments, track orders, and manage inventory
- Sell a new product
- Offer follow-up goods
- Build Relationships
- Connect to your customers through push notifications about new products, services, special offers, and events.
- Collect customer feedback and build relationships
- Better customer service
- Reduce Expenses
- Can help save time
- Answer questions
- Automate processes
Long Term App Support
Apps require maintenance of follow-up features and updates. Once an app is developed, there may be bug fixes to keep up with along with improving basic functionality of the app as time goes on. Consider the time commitment and cost associated with keeping an app updated.
Current Website
When deciding if you need a mobile app, consider whether you are able to accomplish what you need by adding small changes to your website. A well optimized website can provide many of the same functions as a mobile application. If you already have a website, think about the additional benefits a mobile app will provide and ask yourself the question, “Should my business be utilizing a mobile app?”
All in all, developing an app can be a very positive addition to your business when it adds value and helps you connect with your consumers. If you are interested in looking at the next steps, talking with a professional app development company is a great place to start in order to assess your business needs and determine if an app is right for you.
What Software Does, Software Solutions Explained
Before I started working at a software company, I would drive down the freeway flying by billboards advertising some sort of techy product or past industrial complexes sporting a name like “Blah Blah Software Solutions”. But one day I finally paused and asked myself, “What exactly are software solutions”. I know what software is and I also know what a solution is (I assumed in this case the term “solution” referred to a fix for a problem rather than one of those soapy liquids people spill in chemistry class). Simply put, a “software solution” is when a computer app is used to to do a task.
The Vegas Waiter and Software Solutions
A software solution is a little more involved than the above definition, but I have a really good example. I use to be a server in a restaurant in Las Vegas. I would jot our guest’s orders onto a paper pad and then I would take that paper over to a computer and I would enter it into a “software solution”. The name of our software solution was “Aloha”. Aloha was great. Using this software I could see all of the tables in the dinning room. The software enabled the computer to show me which tables had guests seated, which tables were closed out and which tables were being worked on by another server or manager. Not only could I see the status of tables, but I could enter a table’s order, call for refills, split the check, close the check, clock in, clock out, enter my tips and activate gift cards. There was so much I could do with Aloha.
Chaos Hits
When the pandemic hit in March 2020 and the whole world screeched to a grinding halt, software solutions were employed to get the world moving once again. Technically, we had the technology, long before the pandemic, to work remotely, however it was utilized in full force during the outbreak in an attempt to keep people home and slow the spread of disease. At the time, and still today, employees are using software solutions like Zoom to conduct quasi face to face meetings and other products to complete reports and send data right from the comfort of their own homes.
Nothing Exotic
Before I actually stopped and thought about it, I would hear terms like software solutions and automatically think I’d need a degree in software engineering in order to understand what it was. But a software solution is nothing exotic and usually isn’t even difficult to use. What is a software solution you use on a daily basis? What are some software solutions you think need to be invented? If you have an idea for a useful app, contact us and let us help you build it!