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Now that you’ve had your light-bulb moment and you’re certain you have the next big mobile app idea. What should you do next?

It’s not simply a matter of just quickly developing it and putting it in app stores. Even the best ideas fail miserably if they’re not executed properly.

With 2.1 million apps for Android and 1.8 Million for iOS as of June 2019, you have a lot of competition. However, your idea could still become the next big app with a little hard work.

Write It All Out

You can’t just excitedly explain the idea to everyone you meet. Instead, you have to write it all down. It might seem like free-writing to start with, but you can organize it later. You need a clear feature list, purpose and target audience in place when you’re finally done.

Why does this matter? If you want to develop it yourself, you’ll need all those notes. If you want someone else to develop it and/or invest in it, you’ll need your plan in place to present.

Discover Competition And Audience

This might seem like the first step. But until you have everything laid out, it’s difficult to understand. Your next big app idea may not be unique or even wanted. Once you have your plan in place, do some market research. One of the top reasons the majority of apps fail to take off is they weren’t researched well enough.

For instance, if you develop an app similar to a dozen others, and has the same major flaw, it’ll be ignored. With research, you’d discover the flaw, fix it and have a major advantage over the competition.

If you think your idea will lead to the next big mobile app, make sure everyone else feels the same. Check out the competition. Look at user reviews. Do surveys to see what people think. It’s better to spend time researching now than try to figure out why your incredible idea isn’t going anywhere.

Create A Rough Draft

Whether you do it yourself or hire someone else, you need to create a rough draft first. Use a wireframing tool to work up a rough overview of how your app. The wireframe will display how it works and how users would interact with it. If you want to get more technical, start working up the UI and UX design. It doesn’t have to be perfect but this will get you started. It also gives you something to present to investors, developers and potential users to see if there’s any interest.

Determine Who’ll Develop It

Now for the hardest part – who will turn the next big mobile app idea into a reality? Your first instinct might be to do it yourself. After all, with so many free development tools, why not? However, unless you’re an experienced mobile app developer, you’ll likely run into major issues, such as:

• Keeping app consistency between platforms
• Understanding app permissions (and whether your app can work without them)
• Considering differences in devices
• Ensuring security, such as not leaving flaws for hackers to exploit
• Having an unbiased view of the project (professional developers can point out flaws that you may not be able to see yourself)

Of course, this doesn’t even include all the technical details. Just a single misstep could render your app useless.

If you choose a professional, evaluate their reputation carefully. Don’t just look at their estimate. Even more importantly, ensure they have a history of working alongside their customers and not just for. This is your idea and you should be involved throughout the process. To ensure you get the app your customers deserve.

Interested in learning more about turning your app idea into the next big app? Contact our team today to find out how we can help.

Image: Jens Johnsson