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The IT-industry is a place of fierce competition. You can hardly name any IT-scope with low rivalry. The SaaS field is not an exception.

Some SaaS providers evolve and turn into whale sharks of business. Others stagnate and eventually reduce their chance for growth to near-zero level. Why do only a handful of companies succeed? How can you become one of them?

The secret is in the ability to stand out. Our data-driven world is literally flooded with marketing campaigns, websites, posts, videos, etc. You need to stay unique and innovative, to be unusual and surprise people. This is where marketing strategies enter the stage.

You have to keep your head above the water and stand out among competitors. Let's find out how you can do it with these 5 growth strategies for SaaS businesses.

1. Make Your Website Fresh and Engaging

Let's face it, the days of static Wikipedia-like websites are numbered. Today is the era of interactive and responsive web platforms. This is the primary reason you want a decent UI/UX.

Furthermore, a nice website is a sign that you care about user experience. The more people enjoy your company website, the better impression of it they'll have.

Post on Your Website Regularly

Modern web users are used to the word 'proof'. As it turns out, they need proof to verify your expertise and reliability. Regular posts, news releases and similar content on your website show your consistency, progress, and most importantly, your strive for growth.

This is why software suppliers that post on a regular basis succeed:

• They look proficient. Not only do these companies deliver decent software. They can write and explain how it works in simple words;
• They are lively. Regular updates are a great sign of progress;
• They are interesting. Quality copy always intrigues the reader, makes him want to find out more about the topic. This eventually converts visitors into customers.

A good example of this strategy is the Shopify Marketing Blog. You can find the most efficient ways to use the company's products there. This attracts the majority to a paid subscription.

Don't Stop at a Single Website, Create Landing Pages

Landing pages are an efficient tool for the promotion of your products. Usually, software suppliers create an LP for every major product they develop. Bright and colorful, these websites are perfect for increasing brand recognition.

2. Create Promotional Videos

We all know how engaging video content can be. Why not use it for promotional purposes? There are several rules you should follow to make a truly viral video.

All in all, here are the main principles you are to be guided by:

• Decide on your brand voice. Is it funny, full of sparkling humor or serious, filled with understanding?
  
• Relate to your target group. What are the issues your TG finds the most pressing? Cover them and offer a solution;
• Express ideas in a smart way. Witty phrases, whether said in official or casual tone, encourage loyalty and trust.
  

Want to create an entertaining animated video? Watch Crazy Egg's explainer video for inspiration. Decided to produce a serious success-story video? Check out Salesforce content.

3. Offer Product Trials

Product trials help to convert even more potential customers. By offering a trial version of your software, you demonstrate your client-oriented approach and openness.

Why Product Trials Are Crucial

It is not only a matter of giveaway as a friendly gesture. It is about giving people the opportunity to test your product. It's a chance to see for themselves that your software is worth its price.

Whether you offer a limited version or just provide time-limited full access, it's fine. As long as users can try out its functionality, you make a huge step towards conversion rate increase.

4. Create Your Social Marketing Strategy

Social media is a naturally low-cost promotion platform. You can draw the target group’s attention to your brand by creating relevant content.

It's not a comprehensive SMM tutorial, but here are the main points to bear in mind:

• Social networks are the entertainment. Remember this and form your post accordingly;
  
• Keep the right post timing. Research your TG and discover its prime activity hours;
• People love a freebie. Combine your SMM with free trials, add some special offers for subscribers.

5. Integrate the Referral Marketing

Referral systems are perfect for reaching an untapped audience. Basically, you offer rewards for bringing new customers to you. Whether there will be internal bonuses or even cash rewards, people would love to help you grow.

Play Big, Involve Content Makers

A popular referral marketing strategy is to offer special terms for youtubers, bloggers and other content makers. Give them a paid subscription for free in exchange for a review. You can also suggest some personal referral bonuses to entice them to work with you.

The Bottom Line

New SaaS businesses have several paths of growth. SMM, Landing Page strategy, viral promotional videos, and many other ways are waiting for you to implement them.

The only thing you should keep in mind is the enormous amount of work this requires. It takes a considerable time to create multiple websites, program the referral system or redesign your central platform. You have to be consistent and motivated to cope with this task. Involving professional assistance is also a viable option.

Stay creative and smart, and then success will be just a matter of time.

In our day and age, founding a new business is not that hard. According to the statistics, more and more people are investing into new startups. For example, thanks to this fact the number of blockchain startups has risen more than 13 times in the last 5 years.

However, getting investors for a startup is still a difficult task. Especially if you’re new to the industry you’re trying to get into. No matter whether it is your first venture or not, we’re here to help you. If you have a unique idea and you’re asking yourself a question «Where can I find investors for a startup», this article is just for you.

Investment Requirements

A lot of people think that the way to find investors for a startup business is simply to present a profitable business plan. Although the numbers side of any business idea is important, there are many more requirements to a startup and its founders out there.

The first impression of an idea is made by the person presenting it. The best way to find investors for a startup is to be charismatic, well-informed in your field, ready to share your experiences and principles and to have an idea about where your project is going.

How To Find Investors For Your Tech Startup?

Although the amount of tech startups funding deals is slowly going down, it is still among the most popular places to start for a young company. And it is no wonder – with the rates at which the technological advancement is going, there can be many fresh ideas that can be used to create a whole new branch of industry.

If you already have such an idea or you think you can do better than an already existing company, you should start your own business right away. The next question is how to find investors for a startup? If that’s the only question stopping you from making an independent company, take a look at these steps you need to take to answer it.

1. Ask  for referrals

Referrals are something often used to acquire new customers, but they undeniably can be used as a way to find private investors to startup a small business. Whether you have a tiny company and you want to make it bigger or you just have an idea and want to make it real, this method is among the most relevant ones out there.

In order to ask for a referral properly, you need to be somehow connected to the person you’re talking to. Whether it is a satisfied customer or an investor that already works with you, make sure that the person trusts you and is glad to be working with you. Ask to be referred to the people they like, be friendly, and try not to miss the opportunity given to you.

You may also ask a developers’ team for referrals if they possess such data. For instance, we at Axisbits offer to start promoting a product on the stage of its development on the turn-key conditions, which is a promotion model preferred by many large-scale projects that require the most consistent approach in every aspects. This way, you can stumble upon some tried-and-tested investors in the field.

2. Create a clear vision of how you are going to promote your startup

Marketing is one of the most important parts of what makes a business successful. If you’re wondering how to find investors for a startup in the US, the only thing you can be sure about is that you probably won’t find anyone if you don’t have a clear and effective marketing plan.

Know your target customers and create a unique identity to send them a message. These two steps are the most basic thing you need to create a strategy. Furthermore, they are the most effective ones. Come up with a detailed plan and be ready to present it.

3. Create your startup upgrading plan

Marketing is not the only way for you to grow your business. If you want to learn how to find investors for your startup, you need to explore as many of them as possible. Make sure all your customers are satisfied, keep your team motivated, and be ready for your business to grow and change – investors will definitely pay attention to you.

Talking about the customer satisfaction, make sure to constantly check customer feedback and monitor which features they would like to be implemented, customized or corrected the most. This requires a team of developers ready to figure out the project at once and make all the necessary corrections. Having a solid experience in the fast adaptation of projects to the market situation, the Axisbits team can help you with that.

4. Start implementing the plan

Now that you’ve decided what needs to be done, it’s time for action. Be sure to pay close attention to your progress every step of the way. This way you will know which actions work and which could be improved upon or got rid of.

After you’ve tested the first set of strategies, analyze the results and set off the cycle once more. Don’t be afraid of change, try out different tactics, even the ones that seem less viable. Being experienced and curious is a helpful tip if you’re wondering how to find investors in for a startup.

Wrapping Up

All in all, if you have an idea for a startup – you have to find someone who would pay you for it. If you don’t know how to find investors for your startup business – your business is dead. However, if your idea is unique and you’re ready to work hard for it – you won’t fail. Hopefully this article helps you to answer the question how to find investors for your startup and you will succeed.

There is a $350 billion market opportunity right under your nose. Its name is global parcel delivery. It is completely up to you whether to take advantage of this opportunity. If you do, this article is for you.

Fortunately, we are not living in the stone age. This is why people cherish their time, comfort and convenience. This is also why consumers are becoming more and more demanding – once they find a company that is better at caring about their convenience, they switch to it without a second thought.

It matters in any industry. So, if you deal with on-demand parcel delivery, you need to make your services as convenient for customers as possible. One of the best ways to achieve this is to keep everything in one place – i.e., in an app. Yet, while anyone can build a regular app, it takes a special approach and understanding some specifics to build a good one specifically for parcel delivery. Let’s find out how.

How Does It Work?

Let’s start with the basics. An on-demand parcel delivery app has one primary purpose – allowing its users to track their parcels in real time and manage some details if necessary. Apart from this, the app can be built for a variety of services:

• traditional postal services;
• traditional courier services;
• on-demand delivery marketplaces that allow users to find other users willing to deliver their package;
• package tracking aggregators where you can keep track of all your parcels regardless of the service provider.

You can always discover your own niche in any of these four categories. For instance, there are on-demand services that specialize in delivering food, medications, or even medical marijuana.

Let’s take a closer look at what makes any app of such complexity tick. First of all, in case with parcel delivery tracking apps, you will need to include the following functionality with the help of web services:

• pricing – providing the information on the cost of the delivery and available delivery services;
• contract & non-contract shipping – creating shipments for businesses and customers;
• tracking – tracking the parcel location in real time and confirming its delivery to the final destination;
• find a post office or a driver/courier – listing the nearest post offices (in case of postal service apps) a drivers/couriers (in case of courier service apps) based on the user’s current location;
• pickup – requesting picking up parcels;
• returns – creating shipping orders for returns.

As for the functionality, the full list of features depends on your needs, requirements, time and budget constraints. However, there are some basic things you have to include in the app because otherwise it will not make sense.

First of all, the system itself consists of three apps: the customer one, the courier one, and the store owner one. The thing is, each of them has its own target audience – customers need a particular set of features that are irrelevant for couriers or store owners.

Let’s take a closer look at the basic features of each app.

Customer App:

• registration and login;
• user profile (address, preferences, etc.);
• settings;
• integration with payment services;
• order pick-up (the user can register their parcel for delivery);
• real-time parcel tracking (the location can be displayed on the map with the help of GPS or described as a list of statuses);
• parcel management (changing the recipient’s address, name, delivery time, etc.);
• delivery history;
• push notifications;
• feedback system (ratings, reviews, customer support, etc.).

Courier App:

• registration and login (couriers should be approved by the company);
• user profile;
• settings;
• orders available for pickup;
• booking the order;
• changing the order status (accepted or rejected booking, picked up, delivered);
• booking history.

Store Owner App:

• admin panel (viewing all the orders and couriers, approving new couriers, etc.);
• edit menu in the courier app;
• conditional order placement;
• payment processing and history;
• ratings and reviews.

6 Unique Features Of An On-Demand Delivery App

While some features described above are the same for any app (like the registration and login pages), there are several features that make an on-demand delivery app stand out. We’ve decided to list these distinctive features because the future success of the on-demand delivery app for package tracking depends on how well they are implemented. So, before and during development, pay attention to:

• finding the nearest couriers using location services;
• assigning orders to the nearest couriers automatically;
• tracking order acceptance;
• integration with maps for tracking parcels, pinpointing the pickup location and the final destination;
• updating the delivery status in real time;
• estimating the time required for finishing the delivery

How To Integrate A Package Tracker In eCommerce Store

If you run an eCommerce store, the chances are you are sending hundreds of packages monthly or even weekly. If you still don’t have a package tracker on your website, you are losing potential customers – they are less likely to trust you if you don’t guarantee to track their packages. It may seem as if you are no ready to take responsibility for the package not getting lost or as if you don’t care about their convenience enough.

You can improve your brand reputation if you integrate a package tracker – and it’s not as complicated as it may seem. All you need is an API of a package delivery tracker app. APIs, in their essence, allow two applications exchange data between each other and display it to the user in one single interface.

While APIs make the developers’ lives a lot easier as they don’t have to reinvent the wheel and write a web app from scratch. However, no API is created the same, and a considerable amount of coding is still needed to let your users enjoy the new feature.

So, if you want to integrate your store with an already existing API, make sure you have a developer that can do it for you onboard. If you want to have a custom parcel delivery system represented by mobile apps and on your website, you’ll need to build an API to integrate it with the store.

How Much It Would Cost

The development cost is an investment that will pay off in the future. Still, you need to know how much you should expect to spend if you prefer to make wise financial decisions.

With that said, there is no way to predict how much your particular project will cost up to a dollar. The cost depends on the scope of features you want to see in the app, the developers’ hourly rates, the technologies used, etc.

Nevertheless, we decided to give you an idea of the development cost in case of an on-demand parcel delivery app. These are not precise quotations but rather estimations that you should prepare your budget for. Let’s start with the number of hours required to complete every stage:

• documentation – approximately 40 hours;
• user interface and user experience design – approximately 60 hours;
• front-end and back-end development – approximately 400 hours;
• quality assurance and testing – approximately 80 hours.

Now, the cost depends on the hourly rate. It may vary from as little as $40-50 per hour to $150-200 per hour. It depends on the qualification of the developers and their location (developers from Eastern Europe and Asia ask for lower hourly rates than the ones from the US and Western Europe). With these rates in mind, we summed up the final costs in the table below.

Hourly Rate $40-50 $150-200 Documentation $1,600-2,000 $6,000-8,000 UI/UX Design $2,400-3,000 $9,000-12,000 Front-End/Back-End Development $16,000-20,000 $60,000-80,000 Quality Assurance $3,200-4,000 $12,000-16,000 Total $23,200-29,000 $89,000-116,000

As you can see, the development costs can be as little as $23,200 or as big as $116,000. This is why we strongly suggest you turn to a development company and request a quotation for your particular project.

The Bottom Line

Developing an on-demand parcel delivery app is no piece of cake. There are tons of features to consider. However, keep one thing in mind – you are making an app for users, so make sure it is exactly what they want and even better than they expect.

Are you willing to take advantage of this market opportunity? Reach out to a development company that can bring you the app you could only imagine so far.

Technologies are transforming our lives in every way imaginable. Decades ago we couldn’t have dreamed of having a smart device that would fit into our pocket and be our everything, from a camera to a bank. And now, technological progress affects every industry out there, so there is no way it could go past education and learning. So let us talk about edtech and how technologies shape education methods and approaches.

What Is EdTech?

Technologies have already changed the way we study and learn. You can find countless online courses to study on your own. As for formal education, computers are already used during certain lessons, textbooks can be downloaded to a tablet PC instead of being carried to the school or university, and these are only a few examples.

Education technology (or edtech for short) means using any technological advancements (in the form of hardware or software) to facilitate learning processes. It can include developing apps for studying (e.g. Duolingo for learning languages), gamification of studying processes, using virtual or augmented reality technologies, etc. Also, edtech is mostly mentioned when discussing the future of education. It has the potential to significantly improve the results of corporate training, self-studying, etc.

Why is this topic so hot? Well, edtech solutions have many benefits:

• they increase learners’ engagement;
• they encourage collaboration between learners;
• they make learning more accessible;
• they cut costs;
• they make learning more efficient thanks to visualization and more opportunities to introduce personal approach.

4 EdTech Trends To Keep An Eye On

Any industry related to technologies is changing rapidly. More and more new technologies find their use in transforming learning processes. To make sure you don’t lag behind the main trends, check out the 4 main edtech trends that are going to be all the rage in 2018.

1. Virtual & Augmented Reality

Virtual and augmented reality in education are a relatively new trend as well, yet it could definitely be called the most fascinating and promising one. To make things clear, augmented reality means adding virtual objects to the real world while creating virtual reality is all about an immersive experience of seeing a completely digital environment.

As for the potential of these technologies in edtech, it is boundless. They can be used for a variety of purposes. VR and AR are a breakthrough for simulating real-life scenarios to develop certain skills. The main advantage of these technologies is that they allow interacting with virtually created content. Also, VR is supported by the recent versions of browsers. Now, the user gets the opportunity to create many powerful solutions simply visiting the website like we can see it on the page of Firefox Quantum features. 

2. Data Driven Decisions

Big data is what you can see in many headlines dedicated to the news of our technological progress. In the case of edtech, big data can transform the decision-making process on the behalf of educators and bring the personal approach towards every learner to a new level.

An edtech solution can constantly collect various data regarding the learner’s progress (e.g. how much time he or she spends fulfilling certain tasks) and make conclusions based on the data. 

Big data analysis allows identifying what problems the learner is experiencing and predicting further performance. This means that feedback can be tracked in real time which makes more room for personalizing the learning process and, consequently, improving the learner’s performance.

3. Digital Content For Learning

This is one of the oldest trends in edtech, yet it’s not going anywhere soon. Nowadays, getting new knowledge from printed books and the word of mouth seems quite outdated. Digitizing content has numerous advantages: first and foremost, it makes knowledge more accessible and easier to comprehend.

The brightest example of learning materials going digital is online courses. Learning materials can be represented as audios, videos, infographics, etc. What is important, information becomes visualized which makes it easy to understand and memorize.

Digitizing content is a game changer not only for formal education institutions but for enterprises as well. Corporate training can be conducted distantly in the form of online courses, thus cutting costs and making it accessible to the maximum number of employees. If you combine this trend with the other ones from our list (e.g., developing a mobile app, gamification, implementing big data analysis, etc.), you can create a positive learning environment for the employees’ professional development.

While you can’t surprise anyone with MOOCs (massive open online courses), online coaching is relatively new. The main idea of this edtech trend lies in the idea that the interaction between the learner and the coach can happen online. This can mean either getting in touch via video calls or replacing the coach with an AI-based chatbot.

4. Mobile Apps & Internet of Things (IoT)

We spend hours on our smartphones. They are irreplaceable for us. Why not put this to work? There are already hundreds of mobile apps dedicated to learning, for instance, a new language or how to code. Besides being the obvious platforms for providing the digital content for learning, mobile apps can be a great way to gamify the learning process.

Gamification means adding such gaming elements as levels, points, scores, rewards, etc. However, this is not the only way you can gamify learning – you can send learners on a quest in a fantasy world via a mobile app to engage them. To put in simple terms, gamification means you turn learning into a game. 

IoT, in its turn, is the increasing trend of edtech. Basically, the Internet of Things technology has one main purpose – to build a network of various devices (sensors, cameras, home appliances, etc.) in order to collect data and analyze it. It is a very promising technology for edtech. For instance, you could use sensors to track learners’ cognitive-emotional states and use the data to personalize the learning process.

For instance, you could use VR or AR for teaching medical students how to perform surgeries without having to get corpses or mannequins involved. At the same time, the experience would be realistic enough for students to develop the necessary skills.

What You Need To Do To Request A Quote

Do you have an idea of an edtech solution that will transform the way people learn? Are you willing to bring it to life? If the answers to both questions are positive, you need to find a reliable development partner to implement your idea.

The development costs are an important decision-making factor. If you would like to know how much it would cost to implement your idea, reach out to us and request a quote. All you need to do is to fill your name, email address and describe your idea to us.

After this is done, our managers will soon contact you and clarify all of your requirements for the future solution in order to present you with a realistic quote.

The Bottom Line

Technological advancements are changing every aspect of our lives, and learning is no exception. And when we say learning, we’re not talking only about schools and universities – the way employees acquire new skills and knowledge at enterprises is already being transformed as well. From something as simple as online courses to mobile apps and full-fledged VR experiences, edtech has a tremendous potential.

There are many things going on in this industry. If you want to stay ahead of the competition, hurry up to take advantage of the main trends. In 2018, we are going to see the rise of big data, digitizing content, online content, mobile-first approach, gamification, IoT, VR and AR, so stay tuned for more updates in this field. So, waste no more time and contact us to make the first step to breathing life into your product.

There is usually quite an amount of resources spent creating minimum viable products (MVP). The steps to launch an MVP include the work of designers, developers, and testers altogether but is this really all? On this stage, you are only starting to build your relations with customers and your business progress depends on how you present your company and its work.

In this article, we will discuss the possible post-launch MVP activities in more detail. What measures to take and what factors to consider? Below, we will try to answer all these questions.

Post-Launch MVP Checklist: Test and Analyze Your Results

Companies are starting to value design more than ever. As a result, we are increasingly seeing better designed products and experiences every day. In general, great design should almost go unnoticed. That said, poor design sticks out like sore thumbs. As you use products, actively process what makes using it enjoyable or unpleasant. Instead of taking things at face value, ask yourself why something works or why it breaks down. Why do you think certain actions you complete in a product comes naturally to you. Look for common patterns both within an experience as well as across different products.

1. User Testing

Every product, regardless of the industry, should be created with a customer in mind. Web and mobile applications are not an exception and gathering feedback from the users is a vital step after the MVP soft launch.

Working on the product concept, you might have drawn the portrait of your target audience - these users should be the first to try out your MVP and share their opinions. You may also ask your development team or some of your friends and family members but their feedback is not exactly the goal of your business idea.

2. Collecting Feedback

Start to follow your MVP release by gathering the feedback from a group of users who had no previous experience with your creation. The reactions and observations provided by users in such a testing should be thoroughly documented and analyzed by marketers and developers.

If you communicate with a broader audience, you can ask users to leave their feedback via social media. Consult UX experts who know how to include this stage into the user data flow. If you need more structured feedback, there is an option to communicate with customers via email or surveys. This way, all the information you need will be gathered centrally and can be processed immediately.

3. Data Analysis

It is also helpful to get the overall review of the user activities inside an app when you launch MVP. Сustomer behaviors can be tracked with the help of several lines of code and further gathered into a statistics reports that would demonstrate the points to focus your attention at. The analytics data is strictly objective and reveals any flaws that your team may have overlooked.

The most useful points of the application stats:

• The number of visitors;
• The number of active users within a day or a month;
• The number of app installs;
• The average time spent by a user in different app modules;
• The average duration of a user session;
• Customer satisfaction rate (usually based on the customer support analytics);
• Metrics specific for a product (e.g. the number of tickets booked within an app);
• Cohort analysis;
• Churn rate;
• Sales and income statistics.

4. Marketing Activities

When you gather enough data about typical users of your product - it is time to give some valuable info back. At the first opportunity, you should consider starting the marketing activities to promote your application.  Most companies nowadays opt for the inbound marketing and this choice is fully justified by the practice.

The core idea of the inbound marketing is to provide customers with valuable information, gradually increasing awareness about your company. This is a much softer way of promotion than the outbound marketing when aggressive marketing campaigns take place. And what is more important, in the process the trustful relationships with partners and customers are built - this will greatly reduce the probability of cases when a startup launch MVP and failed right after.

5. Social Activities

The inbound promotion strategy implies the involvement of as many social channels as possible. For instance, you have written a blog post aimed at a specific audience. How exactly are you going to share it?

• Social networks. You have to make a list of social networks that you consider to be the most important for your business. After creating a content plan, regular updates become a part of the promotion strategy.
• Email marketing. Make it personal by sending information straight to the customer mailbox. People will gladly read your letters if you provide them with a useful and engaging content.
• Third parties. You can also contract the opinion leaders who know your audience better. Using this method, you will receive more credit for your promotional materials.

Conclusion

It is really hard to wrap up a conversation when you have so much more things to say. But here is our main idea: post-launch MVP wellness tools and activities are all about communication. First, you gather feedback from your customers and your app statistics. Then, you start developing a content plan with useful information for your target audience. Only by listening actively and conducting researches, can you ensure a smooth 12-weeks launch process for MVP.

Do you have some questions that we did not answer here? Let us have a talk! Axisbits experts are always open for discussion on how to launch an MVP quickly and build it into a mature product.

Getting together a small crew of professionals is a difficult task both for big companies and small startups. Every person brings their own personality, vision of the final product and the road to reach it, and different expectations about their position on the team. However, for a relatively small startup, the consequences of these difficulties could be much more damaging.

One team in a big company, like Google or Amazon, is just a part of a big machine. There is not a lot of pressure of having to like or be close to the people you work with. For a young company, every new person can make or break the whole project, both skill-wise and personality-wise. So, what are the pitfalls of searching for co-creators and employees for your new enterprise and how to avoid them?

Absence of technical background

If you have a concept that you’re certain about in terms of relevance and return of investment, but you have little to no idea about the technical aspects of its realization, you will definitely have a problem picking an employee for this task. Smaller startups usually don’t have enough finances to use the services of a competent HR manager, so you will have to do qualification and experience checks and interviews by yourself.

The most important advice that you need to follow in order not to be scammed and hire an incompetent person is not to rush the process and be thorough. This is essential when building a strong startup team. Don’t pick the first person who seems qualified: ask around, reach out to their previous employers and colleagues for comments. Look further than professional skills and double-check that your personalities work well together, too. Another tip that comes in pair with this one is to be swift and merciless when it comes to firing. Don’t try to prolong the inevitable if a person doesn’t have the skills you need – there’s plenty of fish in the sea, find someone who suits you better.

Alternately, you can look into small outsourcing teams - those are a great option when you need to reach your goals at a reasonable cost, and you don’t need to worry about your personalities clashing when you don’t work in close quarters.

Lack of commercial expertise to build a tech startup team

The reversed situation is just as common, probably even more plausible, as most of the new ideas in a field are developed by professionals in that field. However, if you don’t know the detailed process of monetization and marketing for your idea, it will never become profitable.

It is much more likely to encounter a scammer in this area, because money attracts them like honey attracts bees. So, the simplest solution to this problem is to hire a part-time consultant, who would have no interest in lying to you. They are much easier to find and, with enough information, you will later be able to either handle the task by yourself or to hire someone you are sure will be competent.

Team structure and workload

On the subject of advisors and part-time workers, sometimes it is much better to hire them for other positions, too. Some experts say that for young companies, hiring a person on a part-time basis with the possibility of offering them a permanent position based on their performance works much better than accidentally hiring an ineffectual full-time employee. It is also helpful to hire contractors or advisors as initial help to a new staff member to take off some workload to let them focus on studying or assess the case. Once again, outsourcing the services might be a good idea that will save you quite a bit of money.

Correct division of roles and accountabilities

Sometimes a startup doesn’t have a clearly determined leader. When everyone is equal, problems might arise in terms of the decision making, taking the responsibility, etc. To take away the confusion, you should either pick a capable person to take the lead or hire a professional to take up the position of CEO.

Tech Startup Team demotivation

This problem is quite common for startup companies that have been active for a while but haven’t achieved the success that was expected. However, you should never lose faith in your project. The best way to encourage the team is for the leader to set up clear goals and checkpoints that in the end lead to a distinct big picture. Be prepared for some of that goals to not work out and don’t be dismayed by it – adapt to the changes and stay positive!

Final Thoughts

Although creating something new is always risky and unpredictable, with the right people by your side you will always be able to overcome every obstacle and avoid the pitfalls. Just select your team, inner or outsourced, and enjoy watching the evolution of a simple thought into something more material.

Having a chronic illness is not the best thing that could ever happen to you, but dealing with it is an everyday routine for millions of people. To manage chronic illness, they need to remember what medications to take and when, keep in mind when the next appointment with the doctor is, track the symptoms and a lot of other data.

This could be a tiresome and time-consuming process if all you use is a notebook or notes on the phone. Such notes can get easily lost, and they don’t really help you keep track of everything you need to write down. This is why a new type of apps appeared - chronic condition health apps. Such apps help users manage their chronic illnesses more easily.

As the market of health apps is growing, let’s take a look at all you need to know if you want to join it and launch a successful web health app.

What Users Are Monitoring And How

If you want your app to be successful, you need to design it according to your users’ expectations and needs. So, let’s find out what users monitor with the help of chronic condition management apps and how.

There are two main types of data users track: physiological data and data related to exercises. 

According to research conducted by Peter Leijdekkers and Valerie Gay, users monitor the following physiological data with the help of apps:

• blood pressure (28.5 %);
• blood glucose (28.1 %);
• weight (27 %);
• heart rate (5.5 %);
• other (10.9%).

Other data users track includes oxygen, asthma, respiration, HbA1c, cholesterol and temperature. However, the fraction of users doing so is relatively low.

The research has also shown that some use complimentary apps in order to monitor the data related to diabetes, blood pressure and weight loss. The main reasons for doing so are fear of losing the existing data and unwillingness to change the service provider. So, if you want users to stick to using your app, make sure you allow importing data from other health apps.

As for monitoring exercises, it comprises 5.7% of the total monitoring activities. Exercises that users track with the help of health apps are:

• walking activities (70.2 %);
• cycling (5.6 %);
• weight training (4.7 %);
• running/jogging (4.2 %);
• treadmill (3.3 %).

How do apps track the data? There are two potential options: manual data input (for instance, users measure the blood pressure and then write down the results) or real-time tracking with the help of wireless sensors or the device’s hardware. The latter one is used mostly for tracking data related to exercises in real time, such as heart rate, calories burnt, body temperature and respiration rate. Besides, it is possible to take advantage of built-in GPS for accurate outdoor distance tracking.

The majority of users (88.6 %) prefer to input the data themselves without using any sensor. Real-time data tracking is popular in case of exercise monitoring.

When it comes to on-demand vs continuous data tracking, 94.5 % of users prefer the former one. It could be explained by the fact that most users monitor the physiological data that doesn’t require continuous tracking. The latter one is usually the case for users tracking their progress in exercising over a long period of time.

The Main Issues Of The US Healthcare System

Why is there such a demand for health apps? Well, the US healthcare is far from being perfect, and this makes people look for other ways to take care of their wellbeing.

There are not enough nurses and other healthcare professionals. The demand for qualified healthcare specialists grows faster than the supply on the labor market. 90% of healthcare facilities lack nurses to provide the basic care, and 126,000 positions remain vacant across the country. 

Considering that the number of people with chronic illnesses keeps rising and already reached staggering 133 million people (45% of the total US population), the lack of healthcare professionals is expected to increase and impact more Americans.

Besides, the US spending on health care per capita is the highest in the world ($10,300+ in 2017). Obviously, not all Americans can afford health services, especially the ones in the Medicaid gap and without health insurance. 86% of the total healthcare expenditures are dedicated to those with chronic and mental conditions.

Types Of Health Apps

All the stats and trends described above stimulate the demand for health apps, and this industry is predicted to be worth $60 billion by 2020.

Generally, we can divide the health apps into two major categories: doctor apps and patient apps. The apps from the first category are developed specifically for doctors and other healthcare specialists. The second type of apps is created to be used by patients themselves in order to monitor the necessary data in their everyday lives.

If we dive deeper into what kinds of apps are out there, we can distinguish the following categories by their primary use purpose:

• apps for tracking the data related to chronic illnesses;
• women health apps (menstruation calendar, pregnancy tracking, etc.);
• apps dedicated to weight loss and diet tracking;
• mental health apps;
• sleep apps (tracking the sleep cycle, etc.);
• healthy lifestyle apps (general data related to wellness, fitness, etc.);
• nursing apps;
• doctor-on-demand apps (appointments, online consultations, etc.);
• medical record apps, etc.

Top 6 Popular Health Apps

Do you want to see your own on this list one day? Take a look at the front-runners in the industry to get some inspiration and take the best from them to add in your app.

1. Medisafe

Platforms: Android, iOS

Medisafe is an app dedicated to tracking and managing medications. Users get notifications reminding them to take their medications and are educated about the condition and the meds. This health mate web app also allows managing the dosage and sharing the information with the doctor or pharmacy. It is also compatible with smartwatches. The app developers emphasize that they use bank-level encryption and are compliant with HIPAA to highlight that the patients’ data is protected well.

2. CatchMyPain

Platforms: Android, iOS

This diary-like app is for those who suffer from chronic pains. It allows tracking the pain by manually inputting the data on where the pain is, its intensity, as well as monitoring other symptoms (stress, fatigue, etc.) and managing medications. Moreover, users can share their data and find others with the same disease to exchange their experiences and tips on how to manage chronic illness.

3. ZocDoc

Platforms: Android, iOS

ZocDoc is a health web app that helps users find a doctor that specializes in treating their illness. It allows filtering doctors by the location and the insurance company network. The app also shows when the doctor you’ve chosen is available and his or her reviews and rating.

4. My Medical Info

Platforms: iOS

This app’s purpose is to be that one place where users can keep all the information related to their health: family doctors contact details, medication and dosage information, health history (illnesses, surgeries, allergies, etc.). It also allows creating health profiles for all family members, setting reminders for appointments, and sharing the information via emails, fax or by printing it out.

5. Fooducate

Platforms: Android, iOS

Fooducate is dedicated to tracking weight loss and diet progress. The app is focused on helping its users make the healthiest choices when it comes to food. The key feature of the app is the health tracker for calories, nutritional values and food points.

6. Sleep Cycle

Platforms: Android, iOS

This health app is focused on providing its users the best sleeping and waking up experience. It tracks the data related to the length and the quality of the user’s sleep. It analyzes when you are in your lightest sleep to wake you up and let you enjoy how easy it can be to get up in the morning.

How Much It Costs To Make A Health App

It is impossible to give a precise quote in an article like this one because the development cost depends on a number of factors that are individual for every project, including:

• the features you would like to see in your app;
• how long it takes to develop such an app (depends on the functionality, the complexity of the UI, etc.);
• the platforms you want your app to work on and the type of development in case you want to launch it on several OSs (you can develop a native app for each OS from scratch or a cross-platform one which would be faster);
• developers’ hourly rates (a US developer will take up to $150 per hour while an Eastern European one would require $35-50 per hour).

If we break the medical app down into modules it may consist of, there are 6 modules for you to consider:

• digital medical records (4-6 weeks): this module allows creating a profile that contains all the medical data about the patient (hospitalization history, chronic diseases, etc.). It may come with automating all the workflows related to managing patients’ data if the app is developed for a medical institution;
• automating medical workflows (3-4 weeks): this component means automating every workflow related to medical procedures. It is closely tied to the previous one. It may include automating medications management, incidents and accidents, etc.;
• Medicare & Medicaid standards compliance (3-4 months): this could take the most time during the development. CMS standards are usually quite sophisticated, and your app has to follow every detail to comply with them. This module is especially crucial if you plan to develop an app for a medical facility;
• communication components (2-3 months): this module may include online consultations with healthcare specialists, scheduling appointments, chatting with other users of the app, etc.;
• integration with medical devices (2-3 months): while it can be a game changer for the user experience, the process of integrating the app with other medical equipment takes a lot of time. The reason is that the process if totally custom and depends on the device itself;
• mobile apps (2-3 months): this may include back-end and front-end development. Front-end development is focused on the user interface and all the processes happening on the user’s device. Back-end development is dedicated to establishing the connection between the server and the user’s devices. Very few apps don’t require back-end development nowadays as it allows signing into your account, communicating with other users, etc.

If you would like to find out how much our particular project would cost, describe your idea and requirements to the development company and request a quotation.

The Bottom Line

Considering all the issues present in the US healthcare system, the demand for health apps is bound to grow. If you are willing to embark on the journey to finding your niche in this market, remember: it is not enough to say you want a Samsung health web app. Think about what makes your app unique, why users would use it, and what features have to be implemented. And, lastly, choose the development company with relevant expertise and experience to bring your concept to life.

The world of hiring has changed with the Internet invading every area of our lives. More and more specialists no longer want to be bound by strict working hours, more and more experts are looking for additional sources of income if they need to. Working remotely is made possible thanks to the Internet, but it’s not the only reason why freelance is prospering.The thing is, it makes financial sense for businesses to employ freelancers if all they need is a one-time job. They don’t need to hire someone for creating a logo or writing the content for the landing page because it’s not a long-term commitment.This is why there is a variety of successful freelance marketplaces out there. Each of them occupies a certain niche and is unlike others. However, this market is full of uncharted territories with niches that are not occupied yet.Launching your own freelance marketplace is a great opportunity for successfully investing your finances. Considering that marketplaces make a profit by taking fees from both freelancers and employers, you can get your return on investment in no time.If you are ready to discover a new niche and take your place in the market, we would like to present you with all the information you may need to do it right.

What Is A Freelance Marketplace And How Does It Work?

Let’s start with the definition to be on the same page afterward. Freelance marketplaces are websites created to help businesses and freelancers find each other and cooperate without worrying about the quality of the work or the payment. The brightest examples of freelance marketplaces include Upwork, Freelancer. com, Fiverr, etc. We’ll take a closer look at some of them later.There is a misconception that only small businesses hire freelancers on websites like Upwork. On the contrary, 100 of Fortune 500 companies use Upwork, according to an Accenture report. There are several reasons freelance marketplaces are doing so well:

• Building trust. Freelance marketplaces provide guarantees for both parties. On the one hand, freelancers can be sure that their work, if done properly, will be paid for. On the other hand, businesses can be reassured they will get the job done properly as they don’t have to make any payments until they see the results and are satisfied with them. Moreover, if there is a dispute, a freelance marketplace represents the third party that solves it fairly.
• Cutting costs. Hiring freelancers for one-time jobs cuts many costs for businesses: they don’t need to offer any perks or a fixed salary, and there is no need to find additional office space for new workers.
• Flexibility. This is a huge pro for people that don’t want to spend their life stuck in the 9-to-5 office routine. This is why they become freelancers: to work as much as they want when they want.
• No geographical boundaries. Businesses can find talented freelancers regardless of where either of them is located. Freelancers, in turn, can combine work with travelling or just moving once per several months.

Now, let’s figure out how freelance marketplaces actually work. If you run one, you will make profits by taking a fee for being the third party from both the businesses and freelancers. As for the functionality, it varies from one marketplace to another but the basic features of the best websites like Upwork include:

• Freelancer marketplace. This is where employers search for freelancers by filtering and sorting the potential candidates based on such criteria as their rate, experience, skills, etc.
• Hiring platform. Some marketplaces allow conducting tests and/or interviews via video calls or chats right on the website.
• Time tracker. This feature allows tracking the number of hours the hired freelancers have worked on the project. Some marketplaces also make it possible for employers to see the tasks being done by the freelancer.
• Communication and collaboration tools. They may include workrooms, chat rooms, video calls, etc.
• Payment processing. Payments are transferred to the hired freelancer only after their work’s quality was checked. Freelance marketplaces are usually integrated with third-party payment services.

These features allow the marketplace owner make a profit as they make the website easy and convenient to use. Therefore, if your website’s functionality satisfies all freelancers’ and employers’ needs, promoting it becomes more efficient and attracting new users and partners is made simpler. To understand how it works, we invite you to take a look at top freelance marketplaces that are not Upwork.

7 Freelance Upwork Alternatives

We all know Upwork as one of the most popular freelance marketplaces. However, it is not the only one out there – there are other websites like Upwork. Let’s take a quick look at the top 7 websites like Upwork alternative.

Freelancer. com

Freelancer is used by more than 25 million users. Its most popular job categories are web design, SMM (social media marketing), writing content, entering data, etc. This marketplace’s key features include time tracking, watching the freelancer working in real time, setting milestones for payments, invoicing, etc.

Toptal

Toptal is created to bring together employers and freelancer that are the top experts in their lines of work. It is an exclusive network for financial experts, developers, designers, and project managers. Its key features are vetted freelancers, IP protection, no-cost freelancer trial period, flexible invoicing, etc.

PeoplePerHour

PeoplePerHour allows businesses to find freelancers who are experts in their fields from all over the world. The platform’s key features include posting fixed price offers, downpayment released on completion, WorkStream threads, escrow protection, project progress tracking, and so on.

Fiverr

As you can guess from its name, Fiverr allows finding freelancers at the price from $5 per job. Employers can select freelancers based on how many jobs they completed on the platform, the feedback and ratings they received, and cancellation instances. The key features of the platform are multi-currency support, private chat channels, secure payment processing, posting custom offers, etc.

CloudPeeps

CloudPeeps is a freelancer marketplace that serves as a community of trustworthy freelancers that work in marketing, PR, and community building. The key features include screening tests for vetting freelancers, payment security, time tracking, etc.

99designs

99designs is a freelance online platform created solely for designers and those who are looking for them. The approach used is based on holding design contests. The key features are full copyrights of the final design, money back guarantee, expert design consultations, etc.All of these freelance marketplaces are successful in their niches. You can join these front-runners if you do everything right. To make sure you do, let’s find out what steps you need to take and what you need to pay extra attention to.

How To Develop A Freelance Marketplace Like Upwork

If you intend to join the party and launch your own freelancer marketplace, you need to think through every step you need to take in order to enjoy your profits later. The development process is not a piece of cake in any case, but it is especially true when it comes to developing websites like Upwork and PeoplePerHour alternative. Without further ado, we invite you to take a look at the key 6 steps of developing a freelancer marketplace.1. Choosing Your Target Audience And LocationFirst things first. Your project has to be economically viable if you want your business to survive in today’s cutthroat competition. This means you need to find your niche and occupy it. There are tons of freelancer marketplaces already, so you need to know why yours is going to stand out.Think about your target audience, i.e. what kind of freelancers and businesses you want to create a marketplace for. Determine what fields your freelancers should be working in. You could specialize in bringing together freelancers that work in SMM or website development, for instance. Then, you need to determine businesses from what industries are likely to turn to you if they need freelancers. Consider whether you want to focus on engaging small and medium businesses or large enterprises.Furthermore, you need to pay attention to your geography focus. There can be two types of freelance marketplaces based on this criteria: local and global. Sometimes, businesses are looking for local freelancers because it could help avoid the language barrier issue or because the job itself requires local knowledge. In other cases, the freelancer’s location could be irrelevant. This depends a lot on the industries you want to focus on.2. Determining The FunctionalityThink about the must-have features of your feature website. You don’t need to think them through in detail, but you need to have a clear understanding of what features your website can’t work without. They may include:

• signup and user profiles;
• submitting projects;
• project bidding;
• communication tools (chats, etc.);
• project management tools (dashboard, time tracker, etc.);
• payment processing.

You need to pay extra attention to securing all the data and payments. Users will share confidential data with you, including financial information. You need to make sure you will live up to their trust. Ensuring security means encrypting the data, making sure there are no vulnerabilities in the system, designing countermeasures to potential phishing techniques and hacker attacks, detecting malware, etc.One more tip: you can occupy your niche by adding or enhancing some features that solve users’ issues in a better way and deliver a better user experience than other marketplaces.3. Finding The Development CompanyIf you don’t have a team of experts in website development, you have two options: use templates offered by WordPress and other CMSs or hire a web development company to execute your vision. While it may be tempting to opt for using a template, think again as this option has many cons:

• templates are easily recognizable, so your website will look amateur;
• customization opportunities are rather limited, so you will not be able to get the website that looks and works the way you imagined it;
• such websites show lousy performance as they can’t work well under a huge workload.

So, if you opt for hiring a development company, you can avoid all these issues and get a custom freelance marketplace with the functionality and design you want. When choosing a development company, you need to consider two things among other criteria:

• testimonials and reviews from other clients (for example, you can check out Axisbits reviews on Clutch);
• other projects: find a website this company developed and visit it to see how good it is in their line of business.

4. Creating The DesignOnce you have figured the first two steps out, it is time to determine what your website will look like. You need professional help to ensure that the user interface and the user experience are at their top. Your website should be easy to understand and to use. Even though it may seem simple, it takes a lot to design such a website. There is a golden rule that the user has to make a minimum number of clicks or gestures to perform a certain action.As for the specifics of designing a freelance marketplace, it should be easy for the employer to see the most important information about freelancers (experience, rating, skills, etc.). The messenger and project management tools should also be designed to be intuitive to use. Besides, you need to design the user profile, sign-in and signup pages, etc.First, you should get a wireframe – it is a set of sketches that depict all the main elements of the website. You can make changes to it, and afterward web designers create the designs in a graphic editor that are not clickable yet.Two more tips: 1) opt for minimalistic design as it is the main trend right now, 2) remember about the mobile version of the website.5. CodingCoding itself includes front-end (i.e. client-side) and back-end (i.e. server-side) development. This is when all the magic happens and your website gets brought to life.Front-end development is the art of transforming the design done in graphical editors into an actual website design with the help of HTML, CSS, JavaScript and its frameworks and libraries (such as React, Webpack, etc.).Any website is based on the interaction between the user’s machine and the server. Back-end development is what makes this interaction possible. It includes working with databases, setting up data exchange algorithms, securing the connection to ensure all the data is protected, etc. Besides, you will most probably need to integrate your website with third-party services for payment processing and logging in using Facebook or Google accounts, at the very least.Let’s take a brief look at the technological stack for back-end development. Grape and the Rails API mode are the best choice for creating an API store-front for the market. Grape is used for validating the input data and building the data presentation logic. PostgreSQL is used for database management. Redis serves as a database, cache and message broker. Storing and managing data in the cloud is made possible with Cloudinary.Testing is always a part of the development process. It is done to ensure that your website runs smoothly without bugs and errors. There are various types of tests that can be performed: unit tests, integration tests, functional tests, performance tests, security tests, etc.6. Deployment & MaintenanceOnce your website has been developed and thoroughly tested, and hosting and domain name have been purchased, it is time to launch the marketplace.However, launching the website doesn’t mean the end of your cooperation with the web development company. Once it’s launched, you’ll get some feedback from the first users that will show you what needs to be optimized or fixed. In order to do this, you need the help of professionals. Besides, you need someone to update the website regularly and react to hacker attacks if they occur.

Wrapping Up

Developing your own custom freelance marketplace is worth it only if you strive to make a unique platform, not a copy of Upwork or any other marketplace. If you determine your niche wisely, think through your business strategy and hire a professional development company to execute your vision, you will have a good shot at running a successful business.Are you ready to start your path to running a successful freelancer marketplace? Reach out to us to request a quotation for your project. We can make your journey to a successful platform hassle-free and quick as we know how to avoid all the pitfalls and create a state-of-the-art platform.