Wondering how to use your no-code mobile app building skills to start a business? The good news is that you’re on the right track – the mobile app market is growing at a phenomenal speed. But the challenge is usually figuring out how to monetize your mobile app.
Monetization is the process of earning money through various business models via a mobile app, either used as a marketplace, a SaaS product, or by selling ads.
What is a white label app?
In this blog, we will explore the opportunities to build a SaaS business model through a mobile app. White label apps are templates that can be customized, edited, and tweaked to provide a particular service. Think, an eCommerce platform for a retail store, restaurant takeaway services, quick scheduling for a hair salon, or the ability to offer loyalty programs, and so much more!
By building a white label app through a SaaS business, you’re offering a very expensive service at a much lower cost than what the market is used to paying if they were to build an app using custom code.
The business model is pretty straightforward: You can simply build an app using a no-code tool like Adalo, charge a set up fee for customers or clients, along with a recurring monthly fee depending on how much maintenance is needed.
Small businesses benefit from using white label apps
It saves time: One of the biggest advantages of a white label app is that it saves product development time. A small team doesn’t have to build from scratch and reinvent the wheel. They can launch faster and get their app to the public without as much project management, planning, or procedure.
It’s cost-effective: With a white label mobile app, small businesses don’t need to spend on resources to develop an app or hire a developer. White label app development companies sell their apps to many businesses, so they don’t charge you for the entire app development cost. In most cases, buying a ready-made app that you can customize will come at a much, much lower cost compared to building a custom app.
Opportunities to scale: A mobile app allows you to scale your business, reach new customers, and potentially tap into a new mobile market.
Lower maintenance effort and costs: Many white label mobile app businesses offer maintenance and ongoing bug fixes to help keep your app running smoothly.
Easy branding: White label apps offer an opportunity for easy branding because they usually come without any kind of customization. Simply add your brand identity, logos, and colors, and you’re good to go!
Here’s how Axel Meta built a business using Adalo apps as a white label SaaS product
[Taken from an interview with Axel Meta]
I have two apps. One is an app that transcribes audio messages, which is a direct to customer app. The other app is one that I sell to local businesses as a SaaS service.
It allows a local juice shop or a local coffee shop to offer a subscription to their customers. The way I sell this is by building an Adalo template that covers the whole experience of a beverage subscription.
Starting with a web app
I first built a basic progressive web to work as the end-to-end experience of managing subscription. It starts with a user subscribing, getting credits, and then being able to redeem those credits for items at the shop.
The more I was getting customers, the more often I was hearing requests like, ‘When I order a coffee, it should go to my point of sale’, so I made a custom action for it. This allows me to constantly improve my template every time I get new customers with new requests. My template becomes better because I'm duplicating my app over and over!
That way, my older customers keep getting newer features too. I use the data to power the subscription ecosystem of the coffee shop by managing the custom actions that happen when a customer subscribes, when the customer pays again their subscription and when a customer redeems their order and orders a coffee through the app.
Monetizing my SaaS App
I charge a monthly fee for the coffee shops that allow me to maintain the app, improve it, and give them customer service. I don't need to worry about building complex new features for myself. because that's something Adalo does for me.
So I can focus on delivering the features that the customer wants and build them really easily on Adalo.
Want to know more?
If you’re interested in building a white label app, check out the Adalo App Academy to get plenty of free resources to help you navigate the world of no-code app building, business, and more!
Want to know how to sell no-code apps and start a profitable business? Check out this video by Adalo co-founder and CEO, David Adkin on the Adalo App Academy!
If you’re interested in other ways to monetize mobile apps, here’s a blog that explains how mobile ads and other monetization tools work.
