Why should you build an app?

Ever had an idea for an app that you're convinced will work out?

Most ideas come from own personal needs and desires: because you want something you assume there are many other people out there that want exactly the same thing. Or maybe you saw an opportunity to copy an existing app or you are trying to digitize your existing business.

Next, you share your idea with your friends and colleagues and receive some positive feedback. Now you are very excited to start, you feel your app has a chance to become the next Facebook, Airbnb, or Uber.

You start googling about software development companies, almost faint at the first quotes you receive and look into any way possible to cut that cost down.

You select the cheapest offer from an offshore company and eventually put together 10-20k of your own savings to develop your MVP, a skeleton compared to the grand ideas you had in mind.

When you see the first version of the app developed, it doesn't look like what you had in your mind and you struggle to negotiate any changes with the developers. At last, you have to invest some extra money to reach the result you were hoping for.

Finally the app is ready and launched in the app store. A few users download the app and you seem to be gaining momentum. However you are not making any money and you don't know why, you are not sure where the problem is and how to fix it.

You try to change direction, add new features, incentivize users but the app just never seems to take-off.

Eventually you give up, having burned almost all of your savings without any return. Back to square one.

Sounds like a nightmare, doesn't it?

I am not going to sugar-coat the reality, apps are a very competitive market, where only 0.01% succeds. You heard it right, only 1 in 10,000 apps becomes successful.

Does it mean you should give up right away? Not at all.

There are plenty of niches and opportunities that await the next big player in the market.

So, what can you do to ensure your app has the best chances for success?

A crystal clear value proposition

Defining your app's mission is the first and foremost step into starting your venture.

There are 3 key questions you should answer before you go any further:

1. What is your target audience?

2. What does the app do?

3. What is the benefit for your target audience?

Make sure you are crystal clear on your mission and use it to advocate your intention as you start to interact with potential customers and partners.

Even more important than answering these questions is to stay true to your mission as your idea evolve and takes shape. You might be tempted to change direction as you discover more opportunities which is fine, providing you don't miss the point of your core mission.

Know your customers inside out

Any successful app starts from a raw idea that is researched, tested, refined and validated, putting at the center the only person that matter: the customer.

Your target audience is made of humans that take rational and irrational decisions every single day. Your job is to discover not only what they think, but also how they behave.

Even though this might sound obvious, I want to emphasize: take feedback only from the people that matter. If you are trying to build an app for teenagers, the opinion of your 30 years old coworker is not relevant.

Make sure you spend enough time to research your target customers, talk ot them, share your ideas and validate the solutions you are proposing.

Don't fall into the trap of thinking you know better than your customers. While you are thinking that something "just makes sense" your customers might think or behave differently.

Assumptions are the very thing that can turn your dream into a nightmare, but you can turn them into your strenght by defining, analyzing and de-risking them.

Stand out from the crowd

Chances are that there are apps out there already doing something similar to what you want to do. Long gone are the days when you could dream about being the first to come up with an app concept.

Nevertheless the door is always open to enterpreneurs that come up with innovative solutions to tackle a challenge in their own unique way, generating more value to the customer than their competitiors.

Spending time researching your competitors, analyzing their strenght and weaknesses, collecting customers' feedback on their products is crucial to elaborate your own original strategy to enter the market.

How are you going to be different?

Your differentiator compared to your competitor can be:

1. a new business model to tackle similar challenges

2. a feature or set of features generating value for your customer

3. a new market opportunity that has not been saturated yet

4. a new customer segment that is currently not served

Once you have identified your key strenghts, this value must be communicated clearly to your customers at every stage.

You don't have to (and you shouldn't) do this alone.

Building an app is a process. As you move from one stage to the next your idea evolves and takes turns that you were not even imagining at the beginning.

If you are serious about bringing your idea to life and you understand what it really takes to build a successful app, then you know you will need all the help possible.

No matter how talented, brilliant and knowledgable you are, there are people out there that can bring added value to your product by using their strenght, skills and experience. Keep that in mind when you are choosing your co-founder, your business coach, your consultants, your developers or any other partner along the journey.

Curintech is here for you.

#app #development #curintech #appchecklists