4 ways to get your start-up app ideas off the ground

Apps are everywhere.

It’s a crowded marketplace and one where a handful of major players dominate. So, how can your startup app ideas stand out and find success?

There’s no quick fix. If you want to develop a successful mobile app, it takes time, research and a solid technical skillset. But that doesn’t mean you can’t do it. With the right approach and the right development team, you can get your startup app ideas off the ground – and it needn’t cost the earth either.

At Make IT Simple, we’ve been developing web and mobile applications for more than 15 years now – for businesses, brands and enterprises large and small.

We’re also highly experienced in the start-up space – where we both work with and invest in startups. This gives us unparalleled experience and insights into the startup market, where we can help you understand what may or may not work for your apps. We’re here to help you get your idea investment-ready.

Let’s start at the beginning and explain how you can get your start-up app ideas off the ground for your mobile applications.

4 Ways to get your Start-Up App Ideas Off the Ground:

1. Do your market research

Market research is key when you’re developing any new idea or product – and a mobile app is no different.

First, you need to see what’s already out there. Depending on your idea, there may be a few applications in the market already that are doing something similar. But just because someone’s had a similar idea, doesn’t mean there’s no room in the market.

How is your idea different? How is it going to rise above the competition? Market research can help you answer these questions. If you’re providing value to your target audience (more on them in a minute) then there’s plenty of space in the market.

Analysing the competition is also a savvy move to help you understand what works (and doesn’t works) for other people’s apps. You can even take the best bits of their app and combine them with your own idea to make an even better app. There’s no point reinventing the wheel.

2. Identify your audience

Your application must revolve around the end-user experience because your audience decides whether your application is a success or not.

You must understand the audience you are targeting with your mobile app. Your users may be from a specific industry, region, age group, income level, different professions or other groupings, for example.

If you can identify the right demographic or demographics, you can cater your application towards their needs.

Again, this is where market research can help you to gain a detailed understanding of their needs and market gaps. This will help you define the reason an app appeals to a specific group.

3. Plan your idea

Once you have completed your research and identified your target audience, it’s time to start putting your startup app ideas into action.

This requires some degree of technical knowledge, where the first decision point is often around what platform you’d like to build for.

Next, you need to answer questions such as: What will the app look like? What will the user experience be like?

Wireframes can help you mock up your ideas and other online prototyping tools can provide you with a safe space to develop and test your ideas. This helps you understand the functionality and the end user experience early in the development process.

These will also help you save time as you start to physically develop your app. You won’t waste time developing redundant ideas or not-fit-for-purpose tools.

4. Find a developer

Depending on your level of technical expertise, you may need a developer to work on the technical side of your app. There are a few options – here are our tips to help you find the right app developer.

Ultimately, you need to find someone (or a team) that aligns with your business and your ideas. When it comes to developing a mobile app, you’ll also need someone with experiences across the right platform or platforms – be that iOS or Android.

You may also want to complement your mobile app with a web application.

Technology is a rapidly developing area, and you need to most up-to-date toolset and knowledge to help you build the best mobile apps.

Taking your startup ideas to reality

At Make IT Simple, we’re a full-service agency who can take your startup ideas from concept to development to hosting and launch.

We’re with you every step of the way – even after launch – building, testing and analysing your mobile application for success. We can help with:

• Strategy: your strategy and deliverables drive our development. Our mobile app developers will innovate the find the best solutions for your startup’s brand identity and budget.
• Design: using the latest tech, our applications design team will create the user interface and user experience like no other.
• Development: you will see your app develop from a wireframe into a living product. We use an amazing agile continuous development system, which is updated every couple of hours. So, you get continuous information on our work – and can send continuous feedback straight to our team. These changes are automatically updated across all platforms, so everyone is working with the right information. There are no errors and no time is wasted.
• Testing: we test everything to perfection, to ensure your application is free from glitches and any other issues that could affect the user experience. We have a whole team dedicated to testing. No stone is left unturned.

Our mobile app design process is tailored to your targets and business goals, giving you complete control over your startup app ideas.

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