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October 21, 2019

How to Succeed as a Social Media App Start-Up Founder?

When it comes to a social media app creation, a good idea is not enough. To succeed as a social media application creator, you need to think way beyond just launching a simple service. There are essential things you need to keep in mind when starting with social media app creation.



Most successful social media start-up founders emphasize the effective planning at the formative stages of the development process. With proper planning, you won’t waste time, resources, and efforts on ideas that don’t work and drive the application development in the right way. 

Tips for Creating Successful Social Media App Start-Up

Now, that said, what exactly should you do to ensure success as a social media app start-up founder? Check out the following helpful tips.

Develop an Effective Business Plan 

It is a fact that you need to have a business plan for your social media start-up. Studies have shown that companies with business plans are 50% more likely to grow into successful long-term products, secure loans, and access investment capital. 

A well-thought-out business plan will basically communicate the future of your social media start-up. In this document, it is vital to specify what you want to create and the way you plan to do it. Usually, the business plan describes the first three to five years of your app performance. It will provide you with a guide on how to do some of the important things mentioned below. 

Look for Funding

An adequate starting capital is what will help you get your idea off the ground. The amount you need for your social media app start-up solely depends on the complexity of the project and time frames for the development process.

To give an example, if you want to create a small social media application, the cost may vary around USD 50,000 to 100,000. However, some start-ups may need millions in seed funding. 

Where to get the money? The bulk of start-up funding money comes from personal savings and credits. Friends and family come in as the second source, followed by venture capital, angel investors, banks, and finally, crowdfunding. 

One thing to note about banks is that they rarely provide huge loans to start-ups as such establishments have no income or assets. If you manage to find one that is ready to bankroll your project, you might discover that banks charge an exorbitant interest rate. As such, it is advisable to check out other sources mentioned above before settling on a bank loan to finance your social media app creation and maintenance.

Find the Right Professionals

You can’t go about the launching of a social media app start-up on your own. Besides a well-built development team, such experts as a legal professional, accountant, and finance expert will come in handy at various stages of getting your social media business off-the-ground. For instance, you will need the assistance of a finance expert to manage your tax obligations and learn how to organize your venture. When it comes to law matters, you will need a lawyer in your business. 

Find the Right Place for the Office and Create Your Site

Your social media start-up will require both a physical and an online address. Regarding a physical location, you will need to choose between operational leasing space or buying a place. With time, the former proves to be way more expensive. 

Once you are done with planning and setting things up, it is time to create a website or the social media app directly. You can’t wait until your social media start-up is renowned by users without the product itself. That said, to ensure that you get more and more people to know about your social media app, you need to build a presence on other social media platforms. It can be on professional ones like LinkedIn (News - Alert) or those for socializing like Facebook and Twitter.

Develop the Minimum Viable Product

The minimum viable product is the simplest form of software that contains the essential functionality only. It is essential to highlight the main features your social media app should contain and emphasize the core system development. At this stage, you work most time with your professional software development team that knows how to make a social media app from scratch. 

It is one of the longest periods of your social media app development, and the minimum viable product will not bring you money. Instead, it is what you will use to learn where you need to tweak your product to meet the needs of your target demographic.

Acquire Beta Users

These will be your first clients. The users will test your social media app before the launch to help you to improve/change/remove different features. You can find and engage a few potential clients or ask your friends that fit into the target audience to test the product. After that, you have to collect feedback from them to help in improving your minimum viable product and finishing the social media app. Note, you don’t need hundreds of beta users; instead, go for ten at most. 

Get Other Customers

While the beta users are quite helpful, after implementing the necessary changes, it is time to roll out the social media app to the rest of society. It is the trickiest part as you have to make people use the software you provide. Online advertisements, landing pages for sign up, and reviews from influencers work best for promoting a social media app and making it popular shortly. 

Final Thoughts

While it may seem like a farfetched dream, it is possible to develop a social media app start-up that will rise to the heights of industry like Facebook (News - Alert) and Twitter. You can implement the tips highlighted above as part of your application development strategy. And who knows, you may be the next revered social media application founder. All the best in your endeavors!



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