The wide world of applications allows novice entrepreneurs new ways to reach customers and generate profits.
By Yolanda Rivera Cruz / yrivera@elnuevodia.com
The world of applications for smartphones and tablets is no longer a "game", it has become an incredible opportunity to raise awareness and increase the capacity of a company. For David Santiago, chairman of DDA Group, Inc., in the world of applications there are no barriers to aspirations of growth and creativity of businesses.
"In this business the only barriers are those of the developers capabilities, because companies like Google and Apple have managed to really make products without limits," said Santiago.
The businessman, whose company specializes in developing mobile applications for business in Puerto Rico indicated that mobile phone penetration exceeds 400,000, while worldwide, there are more than 1,100 million smartphones, representing a sea of opportunities thats continually evolving.
At first, the trend was mostly fun applications and entertainment, but now we have seen an increase in useful business-oriented applications, which have not only proven to be very useful for user but have become a source of revenue for companies.
"The merchant has realized that the cell phone has become the most effective way to reach customers because you have it on you almost 24 hours a day, seven days a week," he said. In the last six months, DDA Group, Inc. has increased its business by 15%.
To give you an idea the Android Market last year published some 170,000 new applications, of which two thirds are free. And although 53% of their total was devoted to entertainment, Google itself announced that during 2011 it expects a "mass development" of enterprise applications.
According to the businessman, application development works on any type of business, what differs from one to another is the strategy and approach that reaches the public. David recommended that the best way to discover the type of application that will improve your business performance, is to identify what you want to raise awareness of, for your company.
"When starting the process, one has to wonder, what kind of an application do I need to get customers to know me and my business," he said.
The Chef Pineiro AppOne of DDA Group's clients is Chef Pineiro, who through the launch of a new application, seeks to internationalize his products. And basing ourselves on the traditional idea of a cookbook, we developed an application that performs the same function, only virtually. In addition to sharing your recipes, users of the application have access to videos that explain the process, which are demonstrated by the chef himself.
The application is available at the Android and Apple App Stores, and has the support of a local supermarket chain. "In this idea what caught the supermarkets interest was the concept of the list of products, since the user can go to the store with the list and buy each product in the recipe without forgetting any."
The expert, who also has released applications for the tourism industry such as Close 2 Puerto Rico, designed to raise awareness of the tourist attractions on the island, said that in addition, the customer will receive a weekly update of products at special prices at the supermarket.
"These are not games, they are meaningful applications that generate remuneration and allow the client to know your business inside and outside of Puerto Rico," he said. After two years doing commercial applications, Santiago concluded that people do not want to pay for downloading and instead prefers them to be free.
"Applications have to be free, this is how you get them in the hands of people who will see them," he said.
""But it not enough to do it and upload it to the Apple App Store or Android, they should be promoted on social networks and the media to make them known. The price of an application depends on the level of programming and development required. But can start as low as $ 3,000 to $ 5,000 or go up to $20,000.00, it all depends on the complexity of the project," said Santiago.