Building an App? 5 Questions to Ask Your Mobile Developer

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by Andrew Sosa

Apr 23, 2013

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This post originally appeared on the author’s blog and is cross-posted from the Young Entrepreneur Council.

Many companies are jumping into the world of mobile digital applications in an effort to attract more customers, and to build better relationships with the ones they already have. In most cases, that means hiring a mobile development company to design and build the app. Like any business project which requires a large outlay of capital, it’s important for business owners to ask the right questions before agreeing to a financial arrangement with a mobile developer.

Here are five questions that should definitely be on that list.

1. Where are your developers and engineers located?

One common trick among mobile development companies is to place a salesperson and/or liaison to the development team in a given market to claim that the company is “local” — but in reality, the key developers and engineers are based in another country. In these cases, it might be much harder to contact members of the development team, obtain responses to questions and concerns, and receive high-quality customer service from the company. So if local is important to you, make sure that a mobile development company that claims to be “local” actually is.

2. What are the costs of the project, as well as future updates?

Obviously, you’ll want to get a clear idea of how much the entire project will cost. Mobile developers may not be able to give you an exact figure before starting work on your app, but they should at least quote you some numbers regarding project costs, licensing expenses, etc. Also, be sure to inquire how amenable the mobile developers are to providing updates, because apps can become obsolete within a matter of months. It’s also vital to know if they provide a 30-60 day bug fix window after product release and how much future bug fixes and additional features will cost.

3. On what platforms will your mobile app be available — and on what platforms do they have experience designing?

You’ll need to determine whether your business app will be available for iPhone, Android, Windows, and/or BlackBerry devices. If you desire your app to be compatible with multiple platforms, be sure to ask the development company to put this into their cost estimates. Most importantly, ask with which platforms the company’s developers have the most experience. If you want your app on iPhones but a mobile development company has only designed apps for the Android, you should probably consider going with someone else; you shouldn’t be paying for their on-the-job training.

4. How will users be able to download my app?

Obviously, any mobile app should be accessible through a business’s website. Beyond that, you should know which third-party app sites will be selling your app to end users. Also — if you want your app to be available on iTunes, and the mobile development company cannot give you a reasonable guarantee that it will be approved for iTunes sales, then kick the company to the curb.

5. Of the projects that your company has completed previously, which ones are you the most proud of and why?

Weekly Chamber Executive Ongoing Education Reading List

Road to Relevance: 5 Strategies for Competitive Associations by Harrison Coever and Mary Byers

Use insights from Road to Relevance to help move your organization to greater discipline, focus, and value. Framed by five key strategies, Road to Relevance is a guide to competitive advantage. The five strategies and related disciplines are clearly defined, and their execution is explained and illustrated through examples.
Among other takeaways, you'll learn

• how to identify strengths that deserve a concentration of resources
• the value of a coordinated product and service portfolio and how to achieve one
• the negative effect that marginal or underperforming activities have on your organization and ways to abandon them

Illinois and Indiana Banks that Increased their Business Lending year-over-year through the Small Business Lending Fund.

These Illinois and Indiana banks below increased their business lending year-over-year, according to a US Treasury 2012 article:

... Treasury sent a report to Congress that contains strong evidence that the Small Business Lending Fund (SBLF) is working. The report shows that institutions participating in the Small Business Lending Fund have significantly increased lending to small businesses, to the tune of $3.5 billion over their baseline (the average lending reported in the four quarters before the Small Business Jobs Act, which created the SBLF, was enacted). These loans are helping small businesses to grow, create jobs and support families in communities all across the nation.

Bancorp Financial, Inc.	Oak Brook	IL	6.6%
Community First Bancorp, Inc.	Fairview Heights	IL	20.6%
Community Illinois Corporation	Rock Falls	IL	10.6%
First Bankers Trustshares, Inc.	Quincy	IL	22.9%
First Community Financial Corporation	Elgin	IL	10.3%
First Eldorado Bancshares, Inc.	Eldorado	IL	5.6%
First Robinson Financial Corporation	Robinson	IL	30.5%
Heartland Bancorp, Inc.	Bloomington	IL	2.5%
IFF	Chicago	IL	12.4%
Illinois State Bancorp, Inc.	Chicago	IL	4.3%
Merchants and Manufacturers Bank Corporation	Joliet	IL	11.5%
People First Bancshares, Inc.	Pana	IL	12.4%
Prime Banc Corp.	Dieterich	IL	8.5%
Signature Bancorporation, Inc.	Chicago	IL	13.8%
Southern Illinois Bancorp, Inc.	Carmi	IL	18.5%
Town and Country Financial Corporation	Springfield	IL	5.4%
Tri-County Financial Group, Inc.	Mendota	IL	11.7%
United Community Bancorp, Inc.	Chatham	IL	9.1%
AMB Financial Corp.	Munster	IN	1.8%
Community Bank Shares of Indiana, Inc.	New Albany	IN	9.0%
First Savings Financial Group, Inc.	Clarksville	IN	51.5%
Horizon Bancorp	Michigan City	IN	6.5%

Source: Treasury website, Small Business Lending Successes By: Don Graves-1/10/2012

1. SBA Loan Application – To begin the process, you will need to complete an SBA loan application form. Access the most current form here: Application for Business Loan - SBA Form 4.

2. Personal Background and Financial Statement – To assess your eligibility, the SBA also requires you complete the following forms:

• Statement of Personal History - SBA Form 912
• Personal Financial Statement - SBA Form 413

3. Business Financial Statements – To support your application and demonstrate your ability to repay the loan, prepare and include the following financial statements:

• Profit and Loss (P&L) Statement – This must be current within 90 days of your application. Also include supplementary schedules from the last three fiscal years.
• Projected Financial Statements – Include a detailed, one-year projection of income and finances and attach a written explanation as to how you expect to achieve this projection.

4. Ownership and Affiliations – Include a list of names and addresses of any subsidiaries and affiliates, including concerns in which you hold a controlling interest and other concerns that may be affiliated by stock ownership, franchise, proposed merger or otherwise with you.

5. Business Certificate/License – Your original business license or certificate of doing business.   If your business is a corporation, stamp your corporate seal on the SBA loan application form.

6. Loan Application History – Include records of any loans you may have applied for in the past.

7. Income Tax Returns – Include signed personal and business federal income tax returns of your business’ principals for previous three years.

8. Résumés – Include personal résumés for each principal.

9. Business Overview and History – Provide a brief history of the business and its challenges. Include an explanation of why the SBA loan is needed and how it will help the business.

10. Business Lease – Include a copy of your business lease, or note from your landlord, giving terms of proposed lease.

11. If You are Purchasing an Existing Business – The following information is needed for purchasing an existing business:

• Current balance sheet and P&L statement of business to be purchased
• Previous two years federal income tax returns of the business
• Proposed Bill of Sale including Terms of Sale
• Asking price with schedule of inventory, machinery and equipment, furniture and fixtures

Documentation requirements will
vary depending upon the purpose of
the loan. Contact your lender for the
information you must supply.
Common requirements include the
following:
• Purpose of the loan
• History of the business
• Financial statements for three years
(existing businesses)
• Schedule of term debts (existing
businesses)
• Aging of accounts receivable and
payable (existing businesses)
• Projected opening-day balance sheet
(new businesses)
• Lease details
• Amount of investment in the
business by the owner(s)
• Projections of income, expenses and
cash flow as well as an explanation
of the assumptions used to develop
these projections
• Personal financial statements on the
principal owners
• Resume(s) of the principal owners
and managers.

How a PCR Can Help Your Small Business Obtain Federal Contracts

Procurement Center Representatives

SBA employs Procurement Center Representatives (PCRs) to assist small businesses in obtaining federal contracts.

How they Help Small Businesses

PCRs are located at various SBA area offices and major federal buying centers around the country. Among other activities, they increase the small business share of federal procurement awards by:

• Initiating small business set-asides,
• Reserving procurements for competition among small business firms,
• Providing small business sources to Federal buying activities, and
• Counseling small firms.

In addition, PCRs advocate for the breakout of items for full and open competition to affect savings to the federal government.

What you Need to Know as the Contracting Officer

PCRs can have a lot of involvement in a contract or subcontract. PCRs do the following:

• Coordinate during contracting activities and review procurements,
• Recommend requirements be set aside for Small Business, 8A, HUBZone, Service Disabled Veteran Owned, or Women-Owned Small Business concerns
• Initiate appeals (Form 70s) of contracting officers' decisions

PCRs have the facts and will provide training, outreach, and research.

PCRs also review proposed small business subcontracting plans and may recommend to the contracting officer various small business goals and various subcontracting options.

To find the PCR in your area click here.

Source: sba.gov

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Venture Capital and Venture Equity - Understanding It and Finding It - from the SBA

Venture Capital

Venture capital is a type of equity financing that addresses the funding needs of entrepreneurial companies that for reasons of size, assets, and stage of development cannot seek capital from more traditional sources, such as public markets and banks. Venture capital investments are generally made as cash in exchange for shares and an active role in the invested company.

Venture capital differs from traditional financing sources in that venture capital typically:

• Focuses on young, high-growth companies
• Invests equity capital, rather than debt
• Takes higher risks in exchange for potential higher returns
• Has a longer investment horizon than traditional financing
• Actively monitors portfolio companies via board participation, strategic marketing, governance, and capital structure

Successful long-term growth for most businesses is dependent upon the availability of equity capital. Lenders generally require some equity cushion or security (collateral) before they will lend to a small business. A lack of equity limits the debt financing available to businesses. Additionally, debt financing requires the ability to service the debt through current interest payments. These funds are then not available to grow the business.

Venture capital provides businesses a financial cushion. However, equity providers have the last call against the company’s assets. In view of this lower priority and the usual lack of a current pay requirement, equity providers require a higher rate of return/return on investment (ROI) than lenders receive.

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Understanding Venture Capital

Venture capital for new and emerging businesses typically comes from high net worth individuals (“angel investors”) and venture capital firms. These investors usually provide capital unsecured by assets to young, private companies with the potential for rapid growth. This type of investing inherently carries a high degree of risk. But venture capital is long-term or “patient capital” that allows companies the time to mature into profitable organizations.

Venture capital is also an active rather than passive form of financing. These investors seek to add value, in addition to capital, to the companies in which they invest in an effort to help them grow and achieve a greater return on the investment. This requires active involvement; almost all venture capitalists will, at a minimum, want a seat on the board of directors.

Although investors are committed to a company for the long haul, that does not mean indefinitely. The primary objective of equity investors is to achieve a superior rate of return through the eventual and timely disposal of investments. A good investor will be considering potential exit strategies from the time the investment is first presented and investigated.

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Angel Investors

Business “angels” are high net worth individual investors who seek high returns through private investments in start-up companies. Private investors generally are a diverse and dispersed population who made their wealth through a variety of sources. But the typical business angels are often former entrepreneurs or executives who cashed out and retired early from ventures that they started and grew into successful businesses.

These self-made investors share many common characteristics:

• They seek companies with high growth potentials, strong management teams, and solid business plans to aid the angels in assessing the company’s value. (Many seed or start ups may not have a fully developed management team, but have identified key positions.)
• They typically invest in ventures involved in industries or technologies with which they are personally familiar.
• They often co-invest with trusted friends and business associates. In these situations, there is usually one influential lead investor (“archangel”) those judgment is trusted by the rest of the group of angels.
• Because of their business experience, many angels invest more than their money. They also seek active involvement in the business, such as consulting and mentoring the entrepreneur. They often take bigger risks or accept lower rewards when they are attracted to the non-financial characteristics of an entrepreneur’s proposal.

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Understanding Equity Capital

Equity capital or financing is money raised by a business in exchange for a share of ownership in the company. Ownership is represented by owning shares of stock outright or having the right to convert other financial instruments into stock of that private company. Two key sources of equity capital for new and emerging businesses are angel investors and venture capital firms.

Typically, angel capital and venture capital investors provide capital unsecured by assets to young, private companies with the potential for rapid growth. Such investing covers most industries and is appropriate for businesses through the range of developmental stages. Investing in new or very early companies inherently carries a high degree of risk. But venture capital is long term or “patient capital” that allows companies the time to mature into profitable organizations.

Angel and venture capital is also an active rather than passive form of financing. These investors seek to add value, in addition to capital, to the companies in which they invest in an effort to help them grow and achieve a greater return on the investment. This requires active involvement and almost all venture capitalists will, at a minimum, want a seat on the board of directors.

Although investors are committed to a company for the long haul, that does not mean indefinitely. The primary objective of equity investors is to achieve a superior rate of return through the eventual and timely disposal of investments. A good investor will be considering potential exit strategies from the time the investment is first presented and investigated.

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The Venture Capital Process

A startup or high growth technology companies looking for venture capital typically can expect the following process:

• Submit Business Plan. The venture fund reviews an entrepreneur’s business plan, and talks to the business if it meets the fund’s investment criteria. Most funds concentrate on an industry, geographic area, and/or stage of development (e.g., Start-up/Seed, Early, Expansion, and Later).
• Due Diligence. If the venture fund is interested in the prospective investment, it performs due diligence on the small business, including looking in great detail at the company’s management team, market, products and services, operating history, corporate governance documents, and financial statements. This step can include developing a term sheet describing the terms and conditions under which the fund would make an investment.
• Investment. If at the completion of due diligence the venture fund remains interested, an investment is made in the company in exchange for some of its equity and/or debt. The terms of an investment are usually based on company performance, which help provide benefits to the small business while minimizing risks for the venture fund.
• Execution with VC Support. Once a venture fund has invested, it becomes actively involved in the company. Venture funds normally do not make their entire investment in a company at once, but in “rounds.” As the company meets previously-agreed milestones, further rounds of financing are made available, with adjustments in price as the company executes its plan.
• Exit. While venture funds have longer investment horizons than traditional financing sources, they clearly expect to “exit” the company (on average, four to six years after an initial investment), which is generally how they make money. Exits are normally performed via mergers, acquisitions, and IPOs (Initial Public Offerings). In many cases, venture funds will help the company exit through their business networks and experience.
  
  
  Source: SBA

Intern in Michigan and the Chamber of Commerce for the South Lyon Area, a Free Internship Job Matching Resource

The Chamber of Commerce for the South Lyon Area has partnered with Intern in Michigan, a free internship resource. Intern in Michigan is your free internship resource. Saving time and money, this groundbreaking new system synthesizes all open internship opportunities together with the largest collection of available employees and students into one efficient web-based tool. Find today's top talent or investigate the latest internship opportunities exploring Intern in Michigan's comprehensive job titles and innovative profile tools. Track your progress and research new careers with exclusive web content. 

Upload your profile and begin your search today.

Visit southlyonchamber.interninmichigan.com to get matched, or view this short video to learn more about the matching technology.

To register now, http://southlyonchamber.interninmichigan.com/Public/RegisterStart.aspx

Source: Chamber of commerce for the South Lyon Area website - 06/18/13

Source: Intern in Michigan website - 06/18/13

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John Dussman is Midwest Manager for VillageProfile.com, working with chambers in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan and Missouri. More than 1500 Chamber of Commerce all over the United States have trusted Village Profile to produce their Membership Directories, Community Profiles, Visitor Maps and Publications, Economic Development magazines and Chamber of Commerce Maps. Contact John at (800)-600-0134 x239.

Weekly Chamber Executive Ongoing Education Reading List

The End of Membership As We Know It: Building the Fortune-Flipping, Must-Have Association of the Next Century Sarah L. Sladek -

The era when associations could count on members joining and renewing, even with a relatively unchanging menu of membership benefits, has passed. Membership is not dead as author Sarah Sladek so eloquently argues in The End of Membership As We Know It. But you do need to change your thinking and your models to adapt to the way participation is changing as a result of the generational shifts in the workforce, social changes, and the technology-eased access to content and community. She outlines real, useful advice and plenty of examples for moving your membership model into the future. Start now to redefine membership and flip your association's future. First step is to read this book. For example, learn

• how niche is the new competitive advantage
• why organizational culture has an enormous impact on recruitment and retention
• what emerging member-prospects value and want
• why and how to focus on member ROI instead of program ROI
• how to craft and deliver compelling benefits rather than features
• how to extend your reach
• which emerging models are taking root and showing promise. 

Quality of Place Attracts Talent - J. Irwin Miller and Columbus, Indiana - Michigan Future, Inc. - by Lou Glazer

Quality of place attracts talent

By Lou Glazer • on May 18, 2013

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So I was reading, not for work, a New York Times article on the architecture of Columbus, Indiana when I came across this: It was, in fact, J. Irwin Miller, scion of the Irwin-Miller family and arts patron, who transformed Columbus into an architectural mecca. As head of the Cummins Engine Company for 30 years, Mr. Miller reasoned that extraordinary buildings would help Cummins lure top talent to the rural Midwest. (Emphasis added.)

All of sudden, I was reading it for work. In the 1950s the CEO of the Cummins Engine Company in a small southern Indiana town understood, what we are still having trouble understanding today in Michigan, that place matters. That quality of place is key to attracting the talent that is essential to successful enterprises and local economies. Miller thought it a good investment for his company and community to commission such noted architects as Eliel Saarinen, Eero Saarinen, I. M. Pei, Harry Weese, Robert A. M. Stern, Richard Meier, Kevin Roche, Robert Venturi and Cesar Pelli. Pretty amazing!

What was important in the Fifties is almost certainly more important today. Mobile talent –– particularly young –– value quality of place in choosing where they live and work after college. Quality of place isn’t something you do after you grow the economy and have more resources to do the extras. It is one of the essentials that you do to grow the economy. The arts and culture –– including architecture and reusing old buildings –– matter. So do outdoor recreation and parks. Maybe most important is big city walkable, high density, mixed-use neighborhoods tied together by transit.

Alan Ehrenhalt reports in The Great Inversion and the Future of the American City that political and business leadership in the South increasingly get it. He writes:

In the first decade of the new century, in cities all over the American South and Southwest, something puzzlingly happened. … leaders of these sprawl-based conurbations that have grown enormously in the past generation began to express deep longing for a downtown. … So it was in a remarkably few years, Phoenix and Dallas and Charlotte did things they would have been considered unthinkable a decade or two before. They spent billions of public dollars on light-rail transit systems; they drafted long-term ‘vision” documents that projected a future in which downtowns were friendly to pedestrians rather than automobiles; they won voter support for striking new public buildings and placed them as close to the center of the city as they could.

Why did they want those things? … the desire to recruit and retain big corporations, and the sense these companies were uneasy locating in a metropolis without a center. … This was a common refrain across the big Sun Belt cities. In the words of Michael Smith, Charlotte’s director of downtown development, the bankers who dominated the town’s economic strategy felt they had to have downtown amenities “to attract hip young professionals.” Virtually all of these Sun Belt cities agrees with the geographer Richard Florida that future prosperity depended on the ability to lure the “creative class,” and that this could be done only with a thriving urban culture. (Emphasis added.)

Michigan’s future success is in large part dependent on our political and, a larger portion of, business leadership understanding what Mr. Miller understood more than a half century ago and political and business leadership in most American big metropolitan areas understand today. That the models for future economic success in a flattening world are New York, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle and Portland plus non costal cities like Minneapolis, Denver and Madison. That the path to future prosperity is increasingly talent driven and that to concentrate talent you need a big metropolitan area anchored by a vibrant central city with the quality of place increasingly mobile talent values.

Source: Michigan Furure, Inc. 

Small Business Week - Starts June 17th

Every year since 1963, the President of the United States has issued a proclamation announcing National Small Business Week, which recognizes the critical contributions of America’s entrepreneurs and small business owners.

More than half of Americans either own or work for a small business, and they create about two out of every three new jobs in the U.S. each year.

As part of National Small Business Week, the U.S. Small Business Administration takes the opportunity to highlight the impact of outstanding entrepreneurs, small business owners, and others from all 50 states and U.S. territories.  Every day, they’re working to grow small businesses, create 21st century jobs, drive innovation, and increase America’s global competitiveness.

Source: SBA

SCHEDULE | National Small Business Week http://buff.ly/11yjHwd

USDA Seeks Applications for Grants to Support Small-Socially Disadvantaged Producers - The maximum grant award is $200,000.

USDA Seeks Applications for Grants to Support Small-Socially Disadvantaged Producers

WASHINGTON, June 12, 2013 – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that USDA is seeking applications from cooperatives to provide technical assistance to small, socially disadvantaged agricultural producers in rural areas. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) remains focused on carrying out its mission, despite a time of significant budget uncertainty. Today's announcement is one part of the Department's efforts to strengthen the rural economy. "These grants will jump start small business hiring and help producers in areas facing economic challenges get the tools they need to succeed," Vilsack said. "Small businesses are the engines of job growth and innovation in America." Funding will be made available through USDA Rural Development's Small, Socially Disadvantaged Producer Grant program (SSDPG). The maximum grant award is $200,000. The grants assist producers like Frank Taylor who returned home after college and established the Winston County Self-Help Cooperative in Mississippi, a consortium of local farmers that pool their resources to receive training in business development, conservation and health. The Cooperative also has a youth program, which teaches skills to the next generation of Winston County farmers. The Winston County Self-Help Cooperative, whose motto is "Saving Rural America," has received USDA funding to expand operations into the surrounding counties of central Mississippi. The SSDPG and other USDA business and cooperative development programs have had a significant impact on rural communities. In 2012 alone, they helped almost 10,000 rural small business owners or farmers improve their enterprises. Business and cooperative program funding created or saved an estimated 53,000 rural jobs in 2012. Eligible applicants include cooperatives, groups of cooperatives, and cooperative development centers where a majority of the governing board or board of directors is comprised of individuals who are members of socially disadvantaged groups. Small, socially disadvantaged producers include farmers, ranchers, loggers, agricultural harvesters, and fishermen that have averaged $250,000 or less in annual gross sales of agricultural products in the last three years. Producers will be able to conduct market research, product and/or service improvement, feasibility studies, training, and implement business plans. The application deadline for Small, Socially Disadvantaged Producer Grants is July 15, 2013 for paper applications and July 10, 2013 for electronic applications. For additional information on how to apply, see the June 12 Federal Register, page 35239, or visithttp://www.rurdev.usda.gov/BCP_SSDPG.html. President Obama's plan for rural America has brought about historic investment and resulted in stronger rural communities. Under the President's leadership, these investments in housing, community facilities, businesses and infrastructure have empowered rural America to continue leading the way – strengthening America's economy, small towns and rural communities. USDA's investments in rural communities support the rural way of life that stands as the backbone of our American values. President Obama and Agriculture Secretary Vilsack are committed to a smarter use of Federal resources to foster sustainable economic prosperity and ensure the government is a strong partner for businesses, entrepreneurs and working families in rural communities. USDA, through its Rural Development mission area, has a portfolio of programs designed to improve the economic stability of rural communities, businesses, residents, farmers and ranchers and improve the quality of life in rural America. USDA has made a concerted effort to deliver results for the American people, even as USDA implements sequestration – the across-the-board budget reductions mandated under terms of the Budget Control Act. USDA has already undertaken historic efforts since 2009 to save more than $828 million in taxpayer funds through targeted, common-sense budget reductions. These reductions have put USDA in a better position to carry out its mission, while implementing sequester budget reductions in a fair manner that causes as little disruption as possible. For more information, contact Candice Celestin (202) 690-2385 ------------- John Dussman is Midwest Manager for VillageProfile.com, working with chambers in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan and Missouri. More than 1500 Chamber of Commerce all over the United States have trusted Village Profile to produce their Membership Directories, Community Profiles, Visitor Maps and Publications, Economic Development magazines and Chamber of Commerce Maps. Contact John at (800)-600-0134 x239.