White-label Software — the Business Model of the Next Decade
The world needs tools for fast and low-cost app prototyping. For many startup founders, white-label services will be the go-to solution.
The 2007–2008 financial crisis killed many successful businesses. But it also gave birth to dozens of great ideas that later turned into leading international companies. Airbnb, Uber, Instagram, and WhatsApp were all born during or after this crisis. By offering new experiences, introducing new business models, and creating new habits, these startups found a home on our smartphones.
Many of today’s successful companies once started with a minimum viable product or MVP. In most cases, you’ll read a story of a seat-of-the-pants prototype that allowed the founders to prove their idea and attract the first users.
Airbnb started with an unrefined yet practical static website where the founders offered an air mattress in their rented flat to visitors of a design conference in San Francisco. The website worked, and years later there are millions of listings worldwide on the perfectly designed Airbnb website.
This story is supposed to show us that you don’t need much money to start your digital company. But have you ever thought about what would happen to the cheap Airbnb prototype website, if it was launched in 2020?
Nothing. It would get lost among the myriad of well-designed and fully functional marketplace applications. Moreover, such a website would look like a scam today. No beautiful image = no sales. That’s the cruel rule of the current market.
What is it like to launch a startup in 2020?
Anything but easy. And anything but cheap.
In 2020, we’ve all faced a new crisis — one even worse than the crisis 12 years ago. And along with countless bankruptcies, this crisis has also stimulated the rise of new digital businesses. Have those newcomers had the opportunity to start lean with simple self-made applications? Unfortunately, no.
Consumers are already spoiled with good apps. They won’t use an ugly product with poor functionality.
New startups face the most intense competition ever. They need to build competitive products even to attract early adopters. And this requires a solid upfront investment that many potential founders can’t allocate. So in most cases, ideas remain just that — ideas.
Is it possible to test an idea today quickly and with little investment?
Fortunately, the industry has a solution to this challenge: white-label software. A white-label application comes with a default set of features and the opportunity to brand it.
Instead of investing tens of thousands of dollars and a few months developing a custom app, entrepreneurs can find a white-label software product, choose a subscription plan, brand the app, and start testing their idea in the wild. Setting up a white-label product usually takes between several hours and a week, which is far more attractive than the 8+ weeks needed to build an app MVP from scratch.
The easier it is to get started, the more ideas can be tested and the more useful products will appear on the market.
How is white-label software born?
The biggest value of a white-label solution is not the brandable application itself but all the experience, achievements, and failures that stand behind the product.
No one wakes up in the morning thinking I know nothing about marketplaces, but I could make a fortune selling white-label marketplace software. And if someone did do that, the outcome would be quite predictable — failure.
A white-label service is usually born from the phrase I’ve built a successful online marketplace. Now I can create a service to help other entrepreneurs launch their own marketplace startups. Most of the time, this model works well.
Transforming an existing digital solution into a working white-label platform takes time and resources. If you’re interested in doing that with your own software product, read about how a white-label marketplace platform is developed. All the information in this article is based on the experience our team gained while working on a real project.
But let’s return to the main topic. Investment in a white-label platform can quickly be returned. Providing a white-label product can create an additional revenue stream for your business, but it’s also a great contribution to the development of your industry.
Who makes innovations more affordable?
Fifteen years ago, a company website was something luxurious. It could cost a fortune, and only well-established businesses could afford a simple landing page. Now, kids learn how to build websites at school.
A website has become the norm for companies and even individual professionals. Anyone can easily create a website with platforms like WordPress, Tilda, and Wix. Launching an elegant website is simple and doesn’t require any technical knowledge or impressive upfront investment.
Business applications are more complicated. However, white-label services are already doing the equivalent of what website builders did years ago — making professional software available for small businesses.
Do you run a restaurant? Release your own app where users can preorder dishes during the busy lunch hours, order delivery, pay for dinner, and get notifications about your daily specials. JungleWorks is ready to make such an app for you in hours.
Do you own a fitness studio? Go directly to MiGym and see what functionality you can get without spending dozens of hours on calls with a software company.
Need to build an educational platform for your employees or want to launch your own online school? Northpass will cover most of your requirements.
Thinking about launching a freelancer marketplace? Don’t look any further than WhiteLance.
White-label services support the startup culture outside of large IT hubs
White-label services make innovations accessible for consumers in remote regions that may never get the attention of a company like Uber but could still use a ridesharing service, for example. They stimulate the adoption of groundbreaking ideas in small cities and contribute to their development.
Yes, when you use white-label software, you aren’t the innovator. You just replicate someone else’s ideas. But this approach allows you to be an innovator in your local community.
I believe that white-label services are the future. If you own a successful digital solution, consider making it a white-label product. It not only will bring you additional revenue but will be a huge contribution to the industry and to the lives of millions of people in countries that aren’t at the top of the Bloomberg Innovation Index.
