So you want a great app for your business, but have no clue how to make it a reality. This blog post will provide you the initial steps in making your app idea a business reality, including details about estimating costs, and raising funding for early stage ventures.
Research Your Market
Start by thinking about your app’s placement in app stores. In which categories will your app appear? What kind of competition will you face? What is the thing that will set your app apart from the others? Answering these questions will kick off the first steps to refining your app idea.
One way to research your market is to identify keywords you could use to describe your app. Use these keywords to pick out your top competitors. By checking out your competitors’ listings you can learn what your users may expect from your app.
Define Your App
You need to nail down the purpose of your app, its targeted users, and how it exists within your company's existing brand or the image you want to present with your application. At DS&P our app discovery process covers your business, your audience, your brand story, and your vision. It helps us learn as much about our customers and their users as possible.
Decide Which Platform to Target
Our general advice is to start with the iOS platform first because of the
difference in demographics, cost, and speed to market seen with iOS apps as opposed to Android apps. Generally, iOS users are more affluent and spend more money per app, while iOS apps are often faster to build and less expensive than Android apps.
Give Your App a Name
Once you have an idea of the basic foundations of your app, it’s time to decide on an app name. Naming an app—or a business—is not simple task. An app’s name, paired with the icon, is the first interaction a user has with your app. It is your app’s first chance to make the right impression. At DS&P our App Development Packages include branding solutions which can help you with your app name and image.
Estimate How Much Your App Will Cost
The average v1.0 app can cost anywhere between $20,000 to $100,000. That’s with the average 4-6 month-long build time. Keep in mind that complex app features can take longer to build, increasing the overall cost of the app. Apps that are built for a smartphone and tablet, that have a complex user interface, or that require a significant backend can cost anywhere $100,000 and above.
Reach Out to Investors for Funding
Early stage ventures should look to investors for funding as it helps companies build features for their apps faster, have more budget for marketing, and generally provides a longer runway to test ideas and find their product to market fit.
Almost any early venture is going to be targeting a seed (or pre-seed) round. A seed stage investment generally means that your company is in the pre-revenue portion of its existence and probably doesn’t have an app. The range of investments do vary because of this “pre-seed” round, but you can expect this type of raise to be anywhere from $200,000 to upwards of $1.5 million. The best way to start conversations with potential investors is to get someone to make an intro for you. At DS&P we offer crowd-funding options that would help you get started on this process.
Concluding Note
In some cases, a full-service app agency like DS&P can use their experience to help you nail down the details of your app, identify your place in the market, raise investor funding, and provide further guidance. As you can see, there are a lot of steps to creating an app before development gets underway. The attention given to these steps can determine your and your app's success in the app stores.
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