Start A Chatbot Development Business - Business Ideas

Updated: September 15th, 2022
Start A Chatbot Development Business

Please note that the data provided in this article are estimates and may vary depending on various factors, and should not be considered as perfect or definitive.

Businesses use conversational AI chatbots to take customer engagement to the next level. Typically, chatbots deliver consistent responses to customers, which helps the business avoid issuing irrelevant or misguiding details to the customers.

As more people focus on using the internet in shopping, education, and research, businesses are deploying chatbots to provide 24/7/365 support to their customers.

For example, online shoppers interact with businesses through chatbots, while students can use chatbots to help with their studies and research.

Therefore, starting a chatbot development business can be a lucrative venture.

Starting a chatbot development business requires a great deal of effort, dedication, and most importantly passion.

If you're interested in how to sell chatbot development, or selling chatbot development online, you can use this page as a guide for everything you'll need to know.

Key Stats

market size
$143B
revenue (monthly)
$15K
starting costs
$16.8K
gross margin
83%
time to build
360 days
growth
Organic social media
business model
Subscriptions
time investment
Full time

Startup Costs

Min Startup Costs Max Startup Costs

Office Space Expenses

$0

$7,000

App Creation Costs

$1,099

$20,099

Software Expenses

$162

$2,894

Advertising & Marketing Costs

$0

$2,500

Website Costs

$13

$215

Training & Education Expenses

$0

$850

Total Startup Costs

$1,274

$33,558

Successful Businesses

Business URL Rank

ManyChat

manychat.com

5,920

Chatfuel

chatfuel.com

13,008

Olark

olark.com

17,285

Rasa

rasa.com

54,883

Surbo

surbo.io

117,327

Maruti Techlabs

marutitech.com

137,454

Open-Source Conversational AI Platform

botpress.com

193,143

Paradox: Meet your AI recruiting assistant, Olivia

paradox.ai

199,656

Live helper chat

livehelperchat.com

218,001

BotsCrew

botscrew.com

274,758

Avaamo

avaamo.ai

306,162

Pros & Cons

Pros Description

Flexibility

You can put as much time into the business as you'd like. If you like the work and have some initial experience, you can start small and manage all aspects of the business on your own.

Ability to start your business from home

It's not necessary to have a physical storefront or office space to get your business started. You can do everything from the comfort of your own home, at least in the beginning!

Rewarding work

Starting a chatbot development business can be really rewarding work. After all, you are solving an immediate issue for your customer and you're working on something you truly care about.

Scalable

With businesses and processes changing daily, there will always be demand for new features, products and services for your business. Additionally, there are several different business models and pricing tiers you can implement that will allow you to reach all types of customers.

Traffic to your website

A chatbot development business gives people a reason to visit your website and to keep coming back to you!

No overhead costs

To get your chatbot development business started, there are no costs associated with overhead, storage, packaging, etc. This will save you a lot of time and money!

Cons Description

Crowded Space

Competition is high when it comes to your chatbot development business, so it's important that you spend a good amount of time analyzing the market and understanding where the demand lies.

Motivation of employees

If you plan to have a sales/content team on board, finding creative ways to motivate them can be a challenge. It's important that you're able to offer great incentives and a good work environment for your employees.

Longer Sales Process

A chatbot development business can be a big time and money investment for your customer, so it's important you plan and predict a longer conversion funnel and stay in communication with potential customers.

Security Issues

With any Saas business, data loss and security issues may arise throughout your process of building your product. It's critical that you understand exactly what you're responsible for and how to avoid potential issues down the road.

Isolation

Often times, as a chatbot development business, you typically work alone and do not have much face-to-face interaction with other team members.

Taxes

As a chatbot development business, you typically pay self-employment taxes which can be quite high. It's important to understand what you will be paying in taxes each year so you can determine if the work you're taking on is worth it.