From Idea to Mobile App By: Jenna Erickson, Codal Inc ____________________________________________________________________________
Do you have a killer app idea, that you think would go viral, but you don’t know where to begin? You’re not alone. Here’s a short guide to help execute your idea into a product. It’s not just an app. To start, you must take into consideration that this will be a business , not just an app. This means that you need to have a set of skills to manage a business and that you plan ahead, in terms of money, support, and management. Do some research to explore the potential of success. Ask yourself: Who is your target market? What will your revenue model be? Do you need investors? Do you need a co-founder? These are things you need to think about prior to the execution of your idea. Start with the minimal. If you are bringing your mobile app idea to life, you should start with an MVP (minimum viable product) approach. Starting with the minimal amount of features possible will help you prove your concept, save on costs from the start, and allow you to plan ahead. When the time comes that you have a user base and a proof of concept, it’s time to take a step up and build more features. The MVP is great to start with, but you must move forward if you want to build a business. Think long-term marketing. Getting your app in the hands of your target market can sometimes be one of the hardest parts of building a mobile app.
At Codal , we recommend that you spend at least two times of what you spent on development, on marketing. This means if your app costed you $70k, you should be spending $140k on marketing. It may sound like a lot, but is a critical aspect of getting your users to utilize the app. Know Your Users When planning a marketing strategy, you must think about your potential users. Understanding the way in which your users communicate is important when discovering the best marketing strategy. Marketing strategies are different depending on the business and industry, so you must do research on your potential user base prior to coming up with a plan.
Codal Inc www.codal.com