One word that will resonate throughout the remembrance of the last couple generations is “Apps”. There’s an app for pretty much anything you can think of, to the point where it gave birth to the quote “There’s an app for that!”. That is why app developers have the chance to make a lot of money, based on a good idea and a good execution. A lot of people turned into millionaires in the span of a couple months due to an idea they had and put into practice in the form of a mobile App, such as the creator of the equally entertaining and frustrating game Flappy Birds, or the mobile game studio Rovio, which released a little game called Angry Birds, which in the meantime has received its own feature animation movie.
Here are some tips on what to look out for when creating your own app, because even though there are a lot of successful apps out there, they only represent a small fraction of the entire app market available.
Stand Out
There are apps that are completely unique, and then there are apps that have been done over and over again, so unless yours isn’t completely unique, you have to make sure that it offers something the other apps in its category do not. Without a doubt, when searching for a generic app like a calendar, alarm or notes app, you have seen plenty results pop up. Before your app can climb to the top of the app market, it must first climb to the top of its category. That means it has to be the best clock app, the best calendar app, and so on.
According to statistics, not all app categories have the same popularity level, with gaming taking the crown by a large margin, followed by business and education. The lowest popularity goes to navigation, with only 1.17%, so if you want to make a navigation app that will make you a lot of money, you will have a substantially harder time doing so than if you were to come up with a great idea for a game.
Set up a plan
Before you start the actual work or invest anything into your project, you will have to get some perspective of what your app wants to achieve and how that can be done. First off, you have to figure out what your app does and how it is different from others in the same category. What are its selling points and why should people buy your app. Once that’s taken care of, you can advance to doing the pre-project research. This means figuring out where you’re going to sell your app, how, and who are you selling your app to.
A good way of doing this is by observing other successful apps and app developers, and take a page out of their book. Most of them advertise their product online, on websites frequently populated by the demographic they want to sell their product to. Once you know what demographic will want to buy your app, you need to find out where on the internet their spot is, and advertise there. You can also sell advertisement space within your app to other companies to fund your project.
Start the Project
This step can go one of two ways. If you have the necessary skills, you can get started and working on your app. But if you do not, you will have to hire a developer to develop the app according to your vision. Getting your vision across however is only a fraction of the process. Here are some things you need to learn about a developer before you can safely hire them and entrust them with your vision and your time:
- Their experience in mobile app development.
- Their history in making successful apps.
- How much will they listen to your directions and how much will they involve you in the ongoing process.
- How much will they charge for the project.
Once you get all these things down and find someone that suites your needs, they can get started on working on a prototype app, which won’t have any of the real functionalities of the app but will display a demo of what the finished product will look like.
The Final Touches
If you did everything above up until now and your app is almost ready, it’s time to start getting it tested and approved while your developer works on the high resolution screens of the app, which will be used in the app in its final form. You can have friends, family and even strangers test out your app in order for you to get some feedback. The approval may take a couple of days if you are going to use the AppStore from Apple, so don’t get this done last minute or else you will delay the launch day of your app.
Once your app has been approved and you got it up and running on the market place, you will need to keep an eye out for addons, updates and upgrades you can give it from time to time to both fix problems and give your customer base something new so your app stays relevant. Other than that you can watch the revenue pour in, and adjust your business policy accordingly, in terms of advertisement, prices and so on.
Conclusion
It is very important that you do not let the developer take the reins on your project, and your creative control is unlimited. It is your vision, and you are paying for it. Also, rushing an app is just as bad as not preparing ahead, meaning that you need to know what must be done at each step through the project, one step before you even get there. Last but definitely not least, it is all pointless if you do not put in hard work, with so many developers trying to make it big, differentiating yourself will not be effortlessly.
