5 Key Takeaways about Mobile App Adoption from Our Small Business Survey 

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At Thunkable, we believe in the power of mobile apps to elevate small businesses.

We wanted to know if small businesses are taking advantage of all the benefits of custom mobile apps, and if not, why not. We surveyed North American small business leaders to understand their adoption of mobile apps, and here’s what we learned. 

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1. Most small business leaders think they don’t need a mobile app. 

Most (76%) survey respondents said “no, their company does not (yet) have a mobile app.” When asked why not, most said they felt it was “unnecessary.” Others pointed to a lack of internal expertise and the struggle to get leadership buy-in as other reasons they didn’t choose to build a custom mobile app. Finally, some said they thought creating and launching a custom mobile app would be too expensive. 

‍2. Companies that did have mobile apps used in-house developers. 

Interestingly, of the companies that did create a custom mobile app, most (58%) used an in-house developer rather than paying an external freelancer or development agency to do it (27%), an off-the-shelf app, or a no code mobile app platform (13%) like Thunkable. 

‍3. Many companies spent a lot of money! 

As far as budget goes, most enterprises paid for their app development through budgeted internal funds (76%), although some sought money through loans or external investors. Speaking of budget, here’s a statistic that really surprised us. More than a third of small businesses (37%) spent more than $50,000 developing their app! About a quarter (24%) spent less than $5,000, and that’s what we like to see. With no code and low-code platforms like Thunkable, you can build your app for far less.

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4. There were some common challenges. 

Of course, custom mobile app development isn’t without its challenges. Our respondents told us their number one difficulty was dealing with technical issues like bugs and compatibility. Some said understanding customer needs was complex, and a few had difficulty meeting deadlines and driving user adoption. Other issues include finding the right developer and budget constraints. 

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‍5. Small businesses that did build their own mobile apps saw huge benefits. 

Despite facing a few roadblocks and, in some cases, spending quite a bit of money, almost all (95%) small businesses that did create and deploy their own mobile app were happy about it. Deployment of mobile apps led to: 

• Increased revenue. 
• Happier customers. 
• Happier employees. 
• Streamlined processes. 
• New business or offering

So, how can Thunkable help?

Want to reap the benefits of a custom mobile app? Thunkable simplifies the app development process, making it accessible even to those without extensive programming knowledge. You can build a mobile-first product or extend your existing services. And you can do it in-house for a fraction of the price of an outside vendor or agency. 

Read the full report. And come see what you’re missing. Try us today for free. 

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