Should a small business build an app or a website first?
A website first, in most cases. New customers find you through Google, Maps, social media and AI assistants, and all of those lead to a website, not an app. Nobody installs an app from a business they have not heard of. An app pays off later, once people already buy from you and come back often.
How do a website and an app compare?
| Website | Mobile app | |
|---|---|---|
| Found on Google and Maps | Yes | No, only the store listing |
| Customer effort | Open a link | Find, download and keep it installed |
| Best for | Being discovered, enquiries, first orders | Repeat customers, loyalty, frequent use |
| Push notifications | Limited | Yes |
| Time to launch | About 2 weeks for a small site | Around 10 to 14 weeks for an MVP |
| Starting cost at FebTech | ₹15,000 | Around ₹1,00,000 |
When is an app worth it?
- Customers use you every week or every day: ordering, booking, tracking, learning.
- You need phone features: camera, location, offline use, barcode scanning.
- You run a platform with two sides, such as providers and customers.
- Your repeat customers ask for it, and the website already brings new ones.
Can you get both without paying twice?
Yes. Build the website so its content and booking or ordering backend can later serve an app. FebTech builds Android and iOS apps from one React Native or Flutter codebase, with the admin panel shared, which roughly halves the cost of two native apps.