So you have this awesome app idea that you have been nagging your friends and family about for weeks. The drive is there but your words are no more significant than the air you breathe at this point. It’s time to get the ball rolling, it’s time to make your idea come to life.
Creating a worthy app is no easy feat, that’s why it’s important to follow these 5 easy steps to ensure success.
Do market research
If after conducting research you realize that your idea is still untouched, great, more power to you. But unfortunately, you might shortly realize that this is not the case. There may be an app, sometimes even a few that have been doing what you have intended yours to do. If this is the case, the journey doesn’t necessarily have to end here. After testing potential app competitors you may realize that your idea is indeed better. You may also take the best bits of their app and combine them with your own idea to make an even better app.
“Good artists borrow, great artists steal.” – Pablo Picasso
If your app is essentially the same as others in the genre, but better, people will choose yours instead of the competitors causing a network effect eventually leading to your triumph.
Identify your audience
It is important to understand the audience you are targeting through this app. Your users can be from a particular industry, gender, region, age group, income group, specific profession, or any other group. Identifying the demographic(s) you’re catering the app towards will help define the reason this app appeals to a particular group. Your whole project revolves around user engagement, the audience ultimately decides the app’s success.
Plan your idea
So after you have done the research it’s time to start feeding this brainchild.
The first step in this process is to decide what operating system you like to develop for.
Here’s a more in-depth article to help you which operating system would best home your app: (Link to Messapps “Which platform to develop for”)
After you have chosen the OS the actual planning must commence. You must answer questions such as, what will the app look like? How is the UI going to flow? What core features does the app revolve around? The more detailed answers, the better. You will have to translate these answers in the next step, finding a developer.
Seek out a developer
Now you can skip this step if you have a particular set of skills or are looking to rack your brain around a foreign language (no, it’s not offered on Rosetta Stone).
Even if you have zero programming knowledge, the good news is you can hire a developer. It just so happens that here at Messapps, that’s what we specialize in!
Although before you even begin looking for developers, it’s crucial to know the stages of development.
Understanding the process will help you understand what you are paying for and potentially cut costs. All you essentially need is an idea and some cash but if you already dreamt up a basic layout for the app to implement, creating the wireframes yourself might be a beneficial experience that does not require a ton of technical expertise and will help you cut costs.
Acquire funding
No matter what your end goal in developing the app is, you are going to require funding. The amount of funding varies quite largely depending on the complexity of the app and the individual stages. It is important to know that the actual programming of the app is the costliest process.
How do you get this money?
This all depends on your financial situation. If you’re comfortable you can ride the expense solo, or perhaps combine resources with a friend and get a co-founder on board.
A co-founder is extremely beneficial as they are willing to share the cost risk with you. If the development bill is substantial, pitching to an angel investor or venture capitalist (VC) may be the route to go. Many VC firms won’t even consider investing in an idea unless there are two founders so if you have great ambitions for your product, get a co-founder.
Conclusion
If you have a dream turn it into a reality. If you have a vision, you’d be a fool to steer away from it. There are tons of resources available to familiarize yourself with the app development process. There are tons of people willing to throw money in your direction if you convince them why it’s in their best interest to.
If there’s a will, there’s a way……
