Interview with Taran Nandha, CEO - Growth Natives

Taran Nandha  

CEO, Growth Natives

Give us a quick overview on Growth Natives. When and how did you begin this journey and what were your motives to be successful in app development?
We started Growth Natives  in May 2019 with a small team of 6. Our goal was to work with fast paced brands and help them with their growth story. Very lucky to have worked with some great brands and had a lot of early success. We grew from a team of 6 to 150 in 2 years. It is a testament to the focus on customer success the team has.had.
We have always realized that in Application development most companies had an inside out approach and very few thought from the customers and customer's point of view. We have relied heavily on understanding the customer and their end customer. We also follow best practices including primary and secondary research as part of the customer experience design perspective.

What is your role in the management and development of Growth Natives?
Talking about my role, I have always considered myself as the part of each project team. The Growth Natives team leaders start out every project by making sure that they give clear directions and outline our overall goals, but we make a real effort not to micromanage. I prefer to remain hands-off when it comes to individual tasks, but at the same time, I’m always available for help, guidance and assistance when needed.  With this notion, I let my team take decisions on their own which also helps them to grow with their mistakes (If any). Like said earlier, I believe myself to be a part of the team, which makes them comfortable to reach me at any time with issues and problems, allowing us to problem solve quickly.
 
Tell us about your biggest achievement in the industry
The most important achievement has been the consistently high success rate with our customers while maintaining a very high performance culture within the company. Our success rate is almost 100% and our glassdoor ratings are 4.9/5.

How do you schedule the development phases of the apps to promise the timeline to your clients?
We usually look at the overall vision of the client and then try and divide that vision into release phases. Usually we aim for a prototype/wireframe and get that approved from the client before starting the backend. This helps us understand the complexity and dependencies and we can provide a more accurate timeline to our clients.

How do you help your clients in choosing the right yet profitable platform for app development?
The decision regarding the platform depends on the primary drivers that a client has while building the app. Their business needs, turnaround time, cost, complexity, and scale at which the app is intended to be used.

Which would you suggest for a successful and profitable business progression, Native or hybrid apps? How do you define the factors that influenced you to make this choice?
Again, there is no clear-cut answer to this question. Lots of businesses are thriving on native as well as hybrid apps. We also know some clients who use both native and hybrid apps in their organization.

How do you scheme your pricing model? How do you fix your budget?
We work with different pricing models, and they vary depending on client requirements. At times, there is a requirement of a one-off app where we could work on a fixed price model. Or there could be a long-term relationship with the client from development to maintenance and a long road map in which case we can work out models like retainer or hourly basis.

How helpful are the mobile apps developed by your team, for enhancing your clients’ business?
I am happy to say that we have helped various clients in kickstarting and enhancing their businesses. We have worked with various startups who depend entirely on the mobile apps developed by us, for their businesses. It is a great feeling to get positive feedback from our clients who have taken their businesses to new heights with the help of the apps built by us.

What according to you are the best practices to attain client satisfaction?
To give customers what they want, you must know what they want. We make sure that our business analysts and project managers spend enough time understanding the customers business, understand their needs and wants, and address them in a way that enhances their business objectives.. Always remember!! The key to your client’s satisfaction is their success in what they intended to achieve when they first engaged you.
 

How do you update your business system to be in pace with technological advancements?
Keeping pace with technology change takes talent! And we are highly talented. We tend to focus on the upfront investment that is needed to keep up, such as the cost of upgrading systems, the cost of matching competitors’ technological capabilities and the cost of meeting customers’ technology expectations. To stay competitive and relevant in today’s business world, the team is consistently trained on new technologies and we keep 20% of our time budgeted for learning new technologies.

What are your thoughts about AR, VR, and Internet of Things (IoT)?
I think they are the future, especially IoT. In five years' time, you will see a different world where everything will be controlled by your mobile. From your car, your household appliances and so on. We see a lot of synergies between IoT and mobile applications soon. In fact, we are already working on a few applications where IoT plays an important role. AR and VR will play a major role in how people explore and engage with brands.

What do you think will be the future of Mobile technology?
Mobile tech has come a long way in a short space of time. With millions of apps in the Google Play and Apple App stores users can have highly individualized devices that suit their own lives, work, hobbies and enhance their life experience. From online shopping, deliveries, payments to education, Mobile tech has enhanced/evolved in such a way that we all would probably keep ourselves engaged with it for almost all the time. With Covid19 “crib economy” has grown many folds and people are spending a lot more time at home and using a lot of apps to engage with their favorite brands.