4 Ways to Make Your Mobile App More Attractive to Buyers

If you’re at a stage in your app development journey where you’re considering selling, you’ve come to the right place. In the current market, selling your app can be a tricky process. Statista reports that, in the second quarter of 2022, there were just over 2 million apps from the App Store. 

That’s a lot of competition. Even if your app is generating a good net profit and has a growing user base, you’re still competing for buyers’ time and interest. There are, however, a few things that you can do to make your app stand out and win buyer attention. 

In this article, we’ll guide you through our top four tips on how to make your mobile app more attractive to buyers. 

Tip 1: Build to sell

Building to sell from the start ensures that, should you change your mind, you have the option of selling. Plus, even if you land up owning your mobile app for the entirety of its life, these practices will ensure that your app is operating at peak performance no matter who owns it. 

Step One : Keep track of internal operations 

Admin may not be your strong suit, but keeping a detailed record of historical data and operational systems will support a fair asking price later on. Make no mistake - prospective buyers are going to ask for this information. It will make your life a lot easier if you have what they’re looking for on hand. If it’s neatly presented with all the essential data points, all the better.

And so, you’re going to want to capture and record all the statistics and data which show how your mobile app performs. Having a detailed record of the app’s strengths and weaknesses is going to be an attractive asset to any prospective buyers. They aren’t necessarily looking for a perfectly-made app - but, they will be looking for as much information on it as possible before they decide to make an offer.

Even if you aren’t looking to sell right now, this record is guaranteed to help you identify areas that need attention in your app’s structure and performance. It’s an excellent practice that will help to improve your app’s value over time. 

Step Two : Keep an eye on your analytics 

When we talk about historical data, we’re not just talking about the results of your beta testing phase. We’re also talking about traffic analytics. Traffic is the lifeblood of the product of any online business, and mobile apps are no exception. 

Having analytics data for your prospective buyers to inspect is invaluable when it comes to making a convincing sale. Buyers are going to be very interested in the volume of traffic flooding your mobile app, and where this traffic is coming from. 

As with every other aspect of data, the more you have to offer, the better. With this wealth of information in hand, prospective buyers can verify your app's potential, evaluate conversion rates, and accurately assess future opportunities for growth once they take over. 

Tip 2: Automate early on 

When your app is your passion project, it can be difficult to delegate. Nevertheless, it’s a good practice to automate as many processes as possible from the get-go. By putting tedious and time-consuming tasks into the capable hands of AI and deep learning processes, you’re protecting the growth and scalability of your app even if you aren’t around to run things yourself. 

Automation can be a key deciding factor for prospective buyers evaluating your app. As we said, buyers aren’t necessarily in the market for a perfectly-run operation. However, the easier it is for them to take over once you’ve left, the more likely they are to make an offer that will meet your expectations - and be willing to negotiate if not.

Tip 3: Get your books in order 

Remember, your mobile app is also essentially a business. Any individual or company interested in it is going to want to look at its financial results. 

If you’ve been running your business out of your personal bank account, rather open up a different account for your app revenue. It will make it that much easier for buyers to identify which financial statements they need to be looking at.  

The reason why supplying (well-ordered) financial statements to prospective buyers is so important. It’s proof that your app has been generating revenue and a noteworthy profit, which are key considerations when looking to acquire a business.

This is non-negotiable. Buyers need this information to assess whether acquiring your mobile app is a profitable investment for them. Even if you haven’t decided to sell yet, it’s still good business practice.

Tip 4: Make the best app you can  

You’re an app owner, so the app you’ve built and released should impress other app owners and developers. Let’s go over some of the essential features that your app should include:

1. Customer-minded features

• Intelligent UI/UX 
• Robust data protection capabilities
• Accessibility to help and support services 
• An attractive design 
• A logical and reliable workflow 
• Delivery on core user needs and expectations

2. Business-minded features

• Offers protection against data breaches 
• Provides an easy update process
• Offers a quick, easy payment plan 
• Designed to retain users 
• Cost-effective future development and app maintenance 

If you think that you’ve got what it takes to compete in the app market, then it’s time to consider selling. 

What we look for in an app 

Appic is an expert in selling apps like yours. We’ve seen our fair share of successful apps, and we know which ones are viable in an increasingly competitive market. The apps that we’re interested in meet the following criteria: 

Innovation 

The best apps are not necessarily ones that solve new problems - they just need to solve existing problems in new and innovative ways. If your app is doing something fresh and interesting, then it’s one that we’re likely to be interested in. 

Revenue generation 

It’s all good and well if your app shows consistent user growth, but that doesn’t mean much unless it’s also generating revenue. If your app is generating ongoing revenue, then we’re interested.  

Growth potential 

You don’t have to be excelling in every one of the above fields, but your app does need to show growth potential. Our ideal app needs a bit of development and marketing application to help it unlock unlimited success. 

As part of our careful vetting process, Appic also reviews the following dimensions of your app: 

• App category - is it hot, or niche? 
• Financials. Get those books in order, because we’re checking for any hidden overheads! 
• Profitability. Are your profits stable or vulnerable? 
• Developer dependency - how easy would it be to task over tech stack and source code? 
• Userbase. How big is it? What do your conversion retention rates look like? Can we expand into other markets? 

So have you got what it takes? 

If you’ve come this far, your app might be just what we’re looking for. If you think that your app might meet our app criteria, then chat to us. We offer a free app evaluation that can help you get started.