Do you have a lucrative app idea? Congrats, you’ve completed a half of the way to the stars. Actually, the easiest part of it. Lots of people have had really awesome app ideas but only a few come off with flying colors as leading ap entrepreneurs.
Get inspiration from famous app success stories such as Flappy Bird. A young Vietnamese code geek got inspired by Angry Birds and created an eye-(and time) catching game that has brought him billions of dollars.
Here is a short guide that will help you head in the right direction. Let’s get started.
Step 1: Run a Market Research
The first and foremost thing you need to do is research your business niche. Fortunately, this stage doesn’t require huge investments, and you can do it on your own. Start with app stores and look for similar apps if any to get acquainted with the customers’ feedback.
Due to the fact that each app store (Google Play/App Store) has over 1.5 million apps, so it’s unlikely your idea will be one of a kind unless it’s based on brand-new tech concepts.
Step 2: Talk to potential customers
Don’t be afraid to ask your nearest and dearest for the feedback. It’d be great if you can talk to someone involved in the app development. If you’re going to sell your app, ask your friends whether they will pay for that.
One of the most successful strategies is aiming for open-ended questions (yes/no-questions is rather poor practice). Don’t forget to use the statistical data on app development trends. Here are a couple of platforms:
Step 3: Choose a business model
How are you going to monetize your app? Did you know that most of the revenue is generated via in-app purchases? Another valuable source of revenue is advertising. Due to the crazy amount of time people spend on their smartphones, apps have become a lucrative place for advertising. And advertisers are ready to pay a significant chunk of change for placing their ads.
There are five types of ads typically used in mobile apps:
- Notification Ads
- Full-screen Ads
- Capture form
- Advanced overlay
- Banner Ads
But watch out, too many ads can grind the gears, and they will delete your app. As a result, your app will go flop. Keep in mind, too much water drowned the miller.
Step 4: Define app value
What unique features can your app offer and what pains can it solve? Define it as simply as you can. Note, that average users don’t look for complex apps and they aren’t interested in technologies used. Just keep your app description plain and short.
Of course, if your app offers something unique, it’ll be downloaded more often. But nowadays it’s hard to foresee the end results.
Step 5: Draw up your budget
Set a realistic budget. You can’t develop a successful app on a shoestring budget unless you’re a developer and do everything on your own from development to marketing.
It’s a good idea to oversize your budget. Once your app is ready, you may need further improvements and bugs fixing. Include the expenses required for marketing and post-release services.
Step 6: Hire a development team
Hiring experienced developers and designers is vital for your app success. There are plenty of platforms to find freelance app developers and designers such as Upwork, People Per Hour, and Guru. I’d recommend to look through portfolios of your potential developers and talk to their former clients. You can also download these apps and test them to make sure they can build awesome things.
If you want to access the skills of a developer, just read the code. You can also ask them to perform some minor tasks before hiring them for a long-term project.
Assuming that you’ve already found developers, you still need a designer. The design is more than just the look of the app. It’s everything about how the users navigate through it. An app with a brilliant code but a poor design won’t hit the market.
Note, if you have no experience in managing any team, consider hiring an app development company. Yeah, it will cost more than hiring freelancers, but building a profitable mobile application worth investing.
Step 7: Market your app
Hurray, you’ve run a long way to reach the third base. It’s time to show your app to the whole world and upload your app to the Google Play or App Store. At this stage, your main goal is to get noticed. Take the bull by the horns, and find out how to drive more users.
Consider promoting your app via various marketing channels - websites, social media, emails, PPC ads, etc.
Have you got your own success story? Share it with us in comments below!
Short Bio:
Tasha Bronitska
She runs a blog at IDAP Group. Tasha stays tuned for more news regarding app development and other geek stuff. The app market is changing at a blistering pace and staying under the sun, developers, as well as SMBs, need to be a step ahead. Want to be the first to read her must-use guides and ultimate coverages, follow IDAP on Facebook or Twitter.
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