How Mobile Apps Can Help Your Business Thrive in a Recession

With recession fears looming, businesses across every industry are looking for ways to stay alive. 

Historically, tough economic times have disproportionately impacted small to mid-sized businesses compared to larger enterprises. In fact, roughly 1.8 million small businesses went out of business within the first two years of the 2008 market crash. 

Yet 44% of small to midsize companies still haven’t taken steps to prepare for upcoming recessions. 

If you’ve landed on this page, then you’re doing something right. Acknowledging the need to prepare is the first step in the right direction. 

Launching a mobile app can help your business not only survive a recession but also thrive during the recession and after it ends. Continue below to find out how.

Why Invest in Mobile During a Recession?

At first glance, the idea of spending money during a rescission may seem counter-productive. Many business owners and decision-makers look to cut costs, reduce spending, and increase cash reserves to prepare for downturns. 

While trimming the fat and being a bit more cautious with your capital is definitely important, it doesn’t mean you should stop spending altogether. 

Investing in a mobile app is a nominal cost when you compare it to the short-term and long-term savings you’ll benefit from. Not to mention the potential for revenue.

When you actually look at the cost of a mobile app, you’ll quickly discover that you can afford it within your budget and still keep plenty of cash in the bank. Depending on the use case, investing $500 or $5,000 per month in a mobile app can generate a positive ROI within the first month of its launch.

These are the top reasons why it’s important to go mobile during a recession:

• Reduce employment costs
• Lower training and development expenses
• Boost employee retention rates
• Increase productivity and maximize efficiencies
• Boost customer retention
• Increase sales and revenue
• Future-proof your business

We’ll take a closer look at each of these benefits in greater detail below, using real numbers and examples to highlight the importance of going mobile. This might be the most important resource you read all year, as these principles can transform your business for the foreseeable future. 

Mobile Apps Reduce Employment Costs

The costs associated with employee salaries and benefits are rising. In December 2022, wages and salaries were up 5.1% year-over-year, and employee benefit costs were up 4.9%. In simple terms, your employees are getting more expensive. 

Labor is often the most expensive cost for businesses—accounting for as much as 70% of total spending. That’s why layoffs are commonly the first move for a business when recessions strike. 

However, simply cutting payroll costs alone is not an effective strategy and can have disastrous long-term implications for your company. You still need a way to replace an employee’s impact on the business, and that’s where a mobile app comes into the equation. 

Cost Factor	Traditional Employee	Mobile App
Annual Cost	$87,068.80	$67,500 (first year)
3-Year Savings	N/A	$73,000 (one employee)
Potential Savings	N/A	$334,000 (two employees)

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average cost of an employee’s total compensation is $41.86 per hour or $87,068.80 per year. 

Let’s say you were to invest in a mobile app for $5,000 per month, plus a $7,500 one-time setup fee—for a total of $67,500 in the first 12 months. If that app’s functionality can replace just one employee, you’ve already saved over $19,500+ in the first year.

That’s over $73,000 in savings in 36 months, and that’s just if the app replaces one employee. 

The savings continue to mount if you’re able to replace more than one employee with a single app. Using this same example, you’d save over $106,500+ in the first 12 months and over $334,000+ in 36 months if your mobile app replaced two employees.

Some apps may only require a $500 monthly investment. That’s just $13,500 in the first year when you include the $7,500 one-time setup fee. If you can replace a single employee at this rate, your ROI is $73,500 in 12 months and $235,500 in 36 months. That’s nearly half a million dollars in savings over 36 months if the app replaced two salaries.

Think about the impact an extra $300,000 or $450,000+ of savings could have on your business, especially during a recession. 

Mobile Apps Help Lower Training and Development Expenses

The importance of having well-trained employees is magnified when you’re curing costs and scaling back on labor. It’s also worth noting that training isn’t just for new hires—as 58% of employees need to develop new skills to effectively perform their jobs. 

Failing to properly train your staff can cause serious problems for your business. So this isn’t an area where you can cut corners, especially when it comes to safety and compliance. For example, OSHA penalties can cost you $15,625 or even $156,259 per violation. 

But traditional employee safety and training practices are expensive and outdated. 

Using a mobile app to provide training materials to your staff is not only more affordable, but it’s often more effective. 

First, an app puts all of the training resources into a single source of truth and provides clearly defined learning recommendations. 78% of employees find this to be extremely helpful. 

Mobile learning is super accessible. It’s easy for your staff to find the training materials and put them into practice from anywhere. Your organization can also set up everything directly from the app at a self-guided pace. You can keep track of everyone’s progress on the backend as well. 

• Training videos
• Employee safety manuals
• Quizzes
• Surveys
• Employee feedback
• Slide shows

All of these and more can easily be added to your app. This is helpful for hiring new employees as well as ongoing training for existing employees. 

The average cost of employee training is $1,071 per employee per year. However, larger organizations bring this number down significantly. For example, companies with 10,000+ employees sp

Don’t let a recession stop your business from thriving. Request a free consultation if you’re ready to get started.

Frequently Asked Questions