Ideas into reality

Do you have an innovative app idea that you’d like to bring to life? We assist with feasibility/business planning, producing a proof-of-concept for capital raising, building your app idea and supporting you through commercialisation.

Get in touch
Axios - Build my app idea

We do all types of software product development and support

Whether you’re new to apps and software product development or your business has run such projects before, Axios can help.

We find there are two main groups of customers that approach Axios for software product development/apps – start-ups wanting to develop their first app, and established businesses wanting to enhance their offering by bringing part of their business (products or services) online.

For start-ups, we have the expertise in-house to offer everything from feasibility/technical advice, prototyping, business plan development, raising capital, building the minimum-viable product (MVP) and commercialisation. We work with you at every step to minimise commercialisation risk.

Not every app idea succeeds but with the right approach you can stage your development to allow you to test the market at a fairly affordable price and then only proceed with further development if the idea is well-received by the market. Beware any development firm that needs you to commit to the whole project up-front.

For established businesses, launching an app or software product often happens as part of a broader custom software project. For example, we may have built you a system that manages your workforce and provides an app to your workers to accept jobs, update the job-status in real-time and close-out work for billing. You might then decide to add a customer-facing app that allows jobs to be created, tracked and accepted by your customers.

Axios builds its business systems and its apps using the same industry-standard technologies and tools. This ensures they are robust, secure and interconnectable.

All Axios apps are workshopped and designed by specialist graphic/user-experience designers before being handed over to the development team. This ensures they are engaging and highly polished.

Services we can offer

Axios - Workshops and online tools

Workshops and online tools

If you have your idea but you’re a little light on details, we can help you flesh these out with online or face-to-face workshops. You should come out of these workshops knowing whether or not your idea is likely to succeed.

Axios - Requirements analysis and design

Requirements analysis
and design

We work with you to understand the users, what they need to do with the software and what a minimum-viable product (MVP) might look like.

Axios - Prototyping

Prototyping

Sometimes having a prototype is a good idea – it lets users provide meaningful feedback early-on and it is also a bit more exciting for potential investors than a design document.

Axios - Business plan

Business plan

For an app/product to make money, it needs a business plan. This defines the idea, team, market/entry points, monetisation model, costs, revenue projections, assumptions etc.

Axios - Technical/architecture advice

Technical/architecture advice

Will your idea work better as an online web-app or a native app? Does it need to “talk” to other services or devices? How will it scale? Do different options have different costs/benefits?

Axios - Build the idea

Build the idea

With everything decided and as many risks eliminated as possible, we build your idea. We can do this in a market-led/agile way or, if you’re 100% clear on requirements, we can quote you.

Axios - List in stores

List in stores

Depending on the technology used, you may need to register your app in stores for people to be able to access it (i.e. Apple App Store, Google Play Store etc) – we can help.

Axios - Support and refine

Support and refine

Most apps need some refinement when they hit the market (wider feedback, new opportunities). When they are successful you still need to continuously improve them to stay ahead of the competition.

Our process

When we design and build your app/idea, we can use a hybrid of waterfall and agile approaches. There’s more about each of these on the Custom business software page, if you’re interested.

Initial workshopping can be quoted, as can pre-build services once they are fully understood and agreed to. When we move to the design/build stage, we’ll need to assess the maturity of your minimum viable product’s (MVP’s) requirements. Maturity, in this context, refers to how well the requirements can be known and described up-front.

For many projects with mature/known/unchanging requirements, an MVP can be fully planned, quoted and built using a waterfall-like methodology. Other times, our customers wish to work with user-groups and design “as they go”. For these projects we run a more agile-like approach, with multiple small iterations, each informing the priorities of the next.

Regardless of the exact approach, it’s important to stay disciplined with your MVP. Don’t try and make it all things to all people otherwise you’ll waste money and lower your likelihood of a successful launch.

Step 1

Initial workshop

We review the idea and determine how much work will be required to make it a reality. Will it need market research? A prototype? Capital raising? Help with the monetisation plan?

This is an inexpensive way to identify ideas that aren’t practical and avoid wasting money. You’ll leave our workshops with a clear plan to proceed and the associated costs (approximate).

Axios - Custom business software - Waterfall (plan driven) - Define
Step 2

Pre-build services

Depending on what comes out of our workshop, we’ll help you refine the minimum-viable product (MVP), create designs/branding, build a prototype or seek capital.

After this stage you have everything lined up to commence development and all prices/timeframes have been firmed up knowing the scope of the MVP.

Axios - Elaborate
Step 3

Build the app/idea

In this stage we’ll build your app and give you regular opportunities to review it and provide feedback.

This stage produces a commercially usable MVP. Assuming all market research is correct and users adore the product, it is ready to launch. If not, some refinement may be required.

Axios - Build
Step 4

Launch and support

With any refinements complete, the MVP is launched out to the market. You manage your marketing and revenue as per the business plan and we’re there to support to as your virtual CTO.

As with any software you’ll receive feedback and need to decide whether to expand functionality, look at launching into allied markets, scaling overseas etc. We’re with you throughout these decisions offering advice both for and against.

Axios - Custom business software - Waterfall (plan driven) - Deploy

Some of our work

Axios - Play video

Bill Cameron

Pencil

(Education)

Play video
Axios - Play video

Adam Warchol & Ian Hazel

Portable Long Service Leave

(Construction/building services)

Play video
Axios - Play video

Shoana McManus

Art of Staff

(Professional services)

Play video

How else can we help?

Axios - Custom business software

Custom business software

Learn more
Axios - Support and maintenance

Software rescue

Learn more
Axios - Other custom engagements

Consulting

Learn more

We’d love to work with you

If you’ve been thinking about a software project, or you’d like to know more about how custom software can improve your business, we’d love to hear from you.

Get in touch