Many of us would like to become an entrepreneur and start an online business – we’ve all had that moment when we thought that we have a good idea for an app that could make us rich but then it never got anywhere. So what can you do with your idea of an app? How can you turn your app idea into reality?
As the number of mobile users increases year after year, there are more and more opportunities for aspiring entrepreneurs who have an app idea. Mobile apps are strongly connected to the service offered by a business, they can help drive more sales that can translate into more revenue.
Whether you want to reach out to new customers or have strong retention over your existing ones, here are a couple of tips when it comes to understanding how to develop your application.
Make a list of all the features that you want your app to have
It is essential that you put your points down on paper – absolutely everything that comes to your mind should be on paper. Mobile apps do not have any practical value if they only stay in your head – that’s why it is essential for you to move away from that “I have an app idea” phase as soon as you can.
By writing down all the features you’d like your mobile app to have, you’ll adhere to those ideas and add more to them later on. This refines your idea to a point where you will have a clear vision of how to turn your app idea into reality.
You will also have to remember that this feature list will have to contain unique features – that are essential for differentiating your product from apps that are already available on the market.
Analyze the Market
After you have written down the list of features you’d like your app to have, you will have a rough understanding of how to develop your app idea.
The next step before turning your app idea into reality is to get an idea of the apps that are already out there, trends, and specific requirements of the market. Firstly you should look at apps that serve a similar purpose when compared to your app and then keep track of their reviews, feedback, and ratings – this will allow you to get an idea of their weak points.
Once done with the market research, add those features that are capable of making your app unique and more attention-grabbing to your feature list.
Know your audience
The success of your app depends on your audience. Their type range may include particular industry orientations, region, gender, age group, income group and so on. Now that you know your audience, you need to know something specific or special that your audience or users desire to have.
The better you know the needs of your audience, the better you can tailor your app to suit their needs. After all, the only reason why you said to yourself that your app idea would work is that there was something you knew that hasn’t been done before – and it’s something that a specific audience desires.
Find a way to make money with your app
Find out how you can collect the fruit of all your labor – you can make money off of your app using the following ideas:
- Add a subscription fee
- In-app ads
- In-app purchases
- User Data
- Sponsorship
Now that you have the ideas – you just need to know which one is more suitable for your app, audience, and market.
A popular way of making money using applications is by following the Freemium model – this involves making your app free with an in-app purchases option for extra perks.
In-app ads are getting out of date – it’s because nowadays it’s more up to the user experience, which gets ruined if users experience pop-up ads when they are having fun using your app. However, keeping used data ( of course, with the consent of the user) can help you refine the in-app experience for users and help you use it in various other ways to serve the user’s needs.
Prepare the wireframe of your app idea
Put all of your notes to use and start building a wireframe of your app. This wireframe will allow you to define the concept much better- it will also help you refine the needs of your product.
You can start off by simply drawing a rough sketch with a pencil and paper –and use online tools to create a wireframe. After finishing the wireframe you can have a look at the way your concept functions and you can polish off the rough edges. There is no technical skill involved, you just need to use your common sense to come up with an idea of how in-app navigation works.
Using this wireframe and ideas, it will be easier to get estimations from developers.
Get an estimation from app development companies
You have come very far in your journey – now that you have a wireframe and a rough idea of how your app works – it’s time to seek the help of app development companies to take care of the technical part.
For this, you can use Google to search for the best app development companies nearby – and it’s time to get in contact with them. After the initial contact, it’s best to get them to sign an NDA with you, so you can give them the project details.
An experienced app development company will then bombard you with questions – it would be best to answer them – then they will give you suggestions to make your idea better.
Getting a proposal from vendors is wise – with cost and time estimations for development and comparing them properly, you can choose the app development company to go ahead with.
The app development company will build your app and test it for you – obviously, you will have to do some testing yourself, to make sure that everything works as specified.
The final step is Launching your app
Before the launch, you should consider investing in marketing and branding – so your app has a pre-launch hype already built up. Use Twitter and Facebook to spread awareness – these are also the most efficient ways to get new people to use your app.
Now that you’ve read this blog post, what’s stopping you from turning your app idea into reality? An idea is just the start – it’s knowing what to do with the idea is what gets you to jump-start a profitable venture.