I Have An App Idea Domain_10

One of the most common types of cold emails I receive is from someone pitching an app idea, and request what I would recommend they do next. Here is a contempo Facebook bulletin I received and my response.

Question: "I accept an astonishing idea for an app -- something that would be so beneficial for moms, parents, friends, and so many others. Would you have any advice y'all could offer as to where I can go to make this app idea more than an idea?"

Respond: Earlier you take whatsoever action steps, you demand to know what your goals are with this idea. Do you want this to be your life? Is this something that can assist y'all accomplish your life goals? Is this something you lot desire to create then sell?

Everyone has cool ideas, but rarely exercise they plough into successful businesses. Execution is what matters most.

Tin you lot proper noun five businesses that exist today solely because of a truly unique and innovative idea? Facebook wasn't the first social network, Google wasn't the first search engine, and After Schoolhouse certainly isn't the outset social network dedicated to teens. Your goals, and then actions, are what will make your company successful or not, not the initial idea.

If this idea is what you want to spend the adjacent decade of your life on (or more than) and it aligns with your goals in life, then it's time to have your first steps in the correct management. Before investing whatever boosted time or coin into your app idea, accept these three steps:

ane. Research: Ignorance tin can be bliss. The majority of people that come up to me with an idea for an app that has "never been done before" haven't even washed a search in the App Store.

It's very likely that not but is your idea not the beginning of its kind, there are fifty or more competitors. If you lot do an App Shop and Google search and find many variations of your idea -- GREAT! Now you can test competing apps, collect data, read reviews to discover what people loved and hated about your competitors, and store information on who is as well targeting this market. Your idea doesn't take to be unique, but your product has to be improve or offer something that your competitors aren't or can't. The only logical commencement footstep is to exercise your enquiry to know where your idea stands and what yous will be competing with.

2. Launch without Technology: Afterwards you've done your enquiry, it's time to test. The great thing about testing business ideas is that you don't need developers or a world-class tech squad to test it. You lot are building a business and in it's simplest course, doesn't need an app to function.

For instance, ZeroCater, "Pandora for office lunches," began with a guy and a spreadsheet. Arram Sabeti didn't even accept a line of code, but had a tested business thought, was able to recruit a programmer, and got accepted into Y Combinator because he built a concern start, not an app. If this is a business you actually desire to showtime, freaking start it! Don't wait until you lot have a beautiful app. Investors and developers would much rather take a feasible business with customers waiting for a ameliorate platform than an amazing looking all the same untested app with no customers.

3. Now information technology's Fourth dimension for a Developer: Most apps stall considering the "founder" fails to find a programmer. In reality, this happens because the founder didn't have action to test and build onto their idea without technology. At present that you have a tested model and have constitute a true need and market for what yous want to offer, finding a developer will exist 10x easier.

Use the data, traction, partnerships and revenue from your tests to attract a developer looking for more merely a rough idea to work on. Trust me, if they are talented, they accept been pitched hundreds if not thousands of app ideas. Rarely are they pitched active and proven businesses that need an app to abound further. Proven concepts make for a sexy pitch, and fifty-fifty if you don't immediately land your dream developer, you have a business that yous can continue to abound and develop.

Now stop searching Google for other articles that tell you a different way to pursue your app idea and get started. Your idea is worthless without doing something almost information technology. If this is something you lot want, get get it!

Have a question for me? Tweet @Cory or e-mail cory@afterschoolapp.com, and I'll feature your question in a post just like the one you but read.

Cory Levy is Co-Founder and COO of After School – a private social network that allows teens to connect and share with their loftier schoolhouse. He is also the founder of Internapalooza, the premier one-day outcome for Silicon Valley Interns, keynote speaker, and writer.

Cory's work has been published in Under30CEO and College Startup Mag, and he has been featured in Fortune , Fueled , VentureBeat , and TechCrunch . Cory took an absenteeism later on studying CS at the University of Illinois to start what is now After School. Connect with Cory on Twitter , LinkedIn , and read more than on CoryLevy.com . For more information about Afterwards Schoolhouse, visit the Later on Schoolhouse web log .