Developing An App? LSU Alums' Guidebook Can Help

The husband and wife LSU alumni duo behind The Crawfish App are now using their app-building experience to help others, including other LSU graduates.

Laney King, who received her bachelor’s degree in finance and an MBA from the E. J. Ourso

College of Business, and Ryan King, who received his bachelor’s degree in engineering and later his law degree from LSU's Paul M. Hebert Law Center, started Roadmap To App in 2020 after entrepreneurs asked them for help.

Laney shared more about their newest business venture and how their LSU degrees continue to aid their careers.

Tell us about this new business?
At Roadmap To App, we help small businesses and entrepreneurs affordably develop successful mobile apps. Originally, Roadmap To App was solely an education and consulting business – we wrote a 70-page e-book, called the “Roadmap To App Guidebook,” where we outlined every step of the winning process we used to create, develop, and successfully launch our own mobile app, The Crawfish App. The goal was to guide entrepreneurs who have great mobile app ideas through the same process we used, and to give them the confidence to bring their app to life. However, we quickly realized that our clients wanted more than the Guidebook – namely, a trusted, affordable app developer. Using relationships we had established in the local mobile app industry, we found a few software engineering teams to partner with, and started developing apps in addition to consulting on every single project.  We're thrilled now to offer the best of both worlds for aspiring app-preneurs – affordable app development combined with an experienced consulting team who guides you through the entire process to ensure you take the necessary steps to launch a successful app.

What have you learned since starting The Crawfish App that other developers could learn?
So many things! For one, a mobile app is a business and should be treated like a business using careful planning and critical thinking from day one. Secondly, launching a mobile app is not a 'get rich quick' scheme – there's a lot that you have to get right and plenty of effort to put in before you can actually get downloads and make money. And finally, we've learned that app development is an ongoing process when you own a published app – if you're not adding features and improving the app according to your user's feedback, chances are you aren't growing. It's important to work with a development team that is trustworthy because once your app is published to the App Stores, the work has only just begun!

What do you wish you would have known then when you were starting The Crawfish App?
It took us a couple of years to find an app developer who was not only affordable, but who also had the same understanding and vision for The Crawfish App that we had. I wish we had known of a local, experienced, affordable app development team like Roadmap To App, who could have helped bring our app idea to life much sooner!

What other LSU alumni-founded businesses have you helped? 
Some of our most recent clients have been local companies founded by graduates of LSU – Pali, Hubley and iFish. Laney King and Jonathan Farnet, pictured right, the co-founder of Pali. 

How do you feel helping other LSU graduates get their apps and businesses off the ground? 
There is no better feeling than sharing in the excitement and vision of our clients who are so bravely pursuing their big ideas and dreams. It's icing on the cake when we can also share our passion for LSU with them!

How are you using your LSU education and experiences to aid you in your career?
My first job post-LSU graduation was with a fierce entrepreneur who I'd met in an LSU marketing class when he came to speak about his business. That single connection was life-changing and fueled my passion for entrepreneurship. I built even more incredible relationships during my time in the Flores MBA Program, and I continue to receive support, referrals and inspiration from so many to this day.