If you are thinking of developing a powerful cab booking app, you probably cannot miss out on observing and studying about Uber- one of the most famous ride-sharing apps in many parts of the world. These online cab booking platforms have given a tough competition to the traditional cab and taxi drivers. It is due to this reason that a lot of daily drivers have opted to drive by partnering with online cab booking apps and earn money.
Today, mobile apps have become a necessary tool for almost all kinds of businesses, brands, and startups. However, to make it to the top, simply building an app will not get you far. Once you are into the market, you are likely to face tough competition due to the pre-existing apps and other online platforms. Apps like Uber, Ola, Lyft, and others will be waiting for you to show up with some strong marketing and operational strategies.
Nonetheless, there is a possible way out- build an app that outstands its competitors. A lot of factors go into the making of an app like that. Firstly, you will have to work with a reliable app development company to help you start right.
How to get started with the idea?
- Provide Value to the Drivers & Customers – Your cab booking app should be responsible for providing value to both the parties- drivers and passengers.
- Discover Your Niche– Although you might be competing with other such apps, you will still have to find your niche, with comparatively low competition. Say, for example, your app can offer rides only at late night hours at cheaper rates. Or maybe it allows riders to pick your ride during the weekends for remote locations.
- Pick the Right Revenue Model– This is crucial. You will have to choose either the commission or the paid promotion model of revenue.
- Brief Your Idea to the App Development Firm– Note down the requirements for your project and explain them to the app development company.
- Creating the Technical Documentation– The app firm will then create a technical specification for your app, suggest the design, and apply the tech stack.
- Develop a Sample– The app development company will then implement user stories based on their priority, build an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) or a sample, and conduct unit testing to find and fix errors.
Let us Look at These Steps in a Detailed Manner:
1. Provide Value to the Drivers & Customers
To provide value to all your stakeholders, in this case, the drivers and passengers, your app’s value proposition will have to be unique. You will have to focus on making an app that is attractive for both drivers and riders. To do this, you can note down some essential points and compare your ideas with your competitors’ strategies, such as comfort, ease of booking the cab, affordable traveling rates, instant pickup facility, swift customer support, and easy navigation, among others.
Also Read: Technologies Which Can Uplift Your Uber Clone App
2. Discover Your Niche
If you think there are not many types of niches, that can be discovered in the taxi booking industry, then you are quite wrong. You can think of offering services to office-going people, or the ones who live in a particular geographical area. You can even start a cab service for women only or college-going students.
3. Pick the Right Revenue Model
You can choose from any of the following revenue models that suit you the best.
- Commission from Passengers– You can add commission charges in the ride fare anywhere between 20-25% or so.
- Service Charges– You can ask the riders to pay for additional security or service features.
- Cancellation Charges– You can charge a cancellation fee from the riders who cancel their bookings.
- Advertisements– It is probably the most popular revenue model. To run advertisements in your taxi booking app, you can easily charge a cost-per-click or cost-per-impression commission.
With all the prerequisites in your hand, you can now talk to the app development team and ask them to start building the app.
4. Brief Your Idea to the App Development Firm
The sole purpose of mobile apps is to help users solve their problems. Thus, while briefing your idea to the development team, you need to know for whom you are creating the app, the issues you will be solving, and how you will deal with them in the future as well. This package of knowledge comprises your project brief. You can take enough time to jot down all the necessary details of your idea and then discuss them with the app development team. If required, you can even attend some workshops and then talk about it with the team.
Read More: 12 Reasons to Select Android App Development Over Other Platforms
5. Creating the Technical Documentation
Technical documentation is essential for every app development project. It helps developers know about the type of system they are about to build. In this process, the Discovery phase helps developers define the dos and don’ts of your project, write user stories, and define business requirements. By the end, you will get the technical documentation, clickable app prototype, and technologies to apply.
6. Develop a Sample
An MVP (minimum variable project) or a sample app is the first and rough version of the app that is available for a few select users. It includes essential functionalities that are enough for users to install the app and rank it. This process is crucial as it will help you launch your powerful car booking app without spending extra resources, and add other features later.