In software business, a company will need to carefully define its niche market. The application developed will need to be able to serve the targeted market, better than any other competitor’s application. Basically there are two types of application

Horizontal Application:

This apps is aimed to be sold to everybody. Its features and modules are general yet applicable to all kind of people. Since it has a huge market scope, this apps is usually sold at a low price (read: affordable). This apps is marketed to individuals(students or professional) or small businesses/companies.

Vertical Application:

This type of apps is aimed to be sold only to a certain business groups. The features and modules are only relevant to the nature of that group. For an example, a tax filing software for a tax company or a blueprint design software for an architecture company. Since this apps is much more focused(in terms of its market and available features), the price is usually high. It can reach millions of dollar and big corporates are more than willing to pay such a high price and install that apps for the use of its own specific departments.

Both services are important for software startups. The first type will help the company to breath and survive for a period of time, but it is the second type that will put the company onto the industry map. The second apps will make the company rich.

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