How To Make Your App Idea A Success

Whether designing a web app, a marketplace app, or a mobile app, turning it into a success is tricky.

There is considerable competition now, so it’s necessary to stand out. Also, for programmers or UX designers – or both – coming up with commercially-viable ideas and executing them is an unfamiliar skill set to learn.

Here are some suggestions for how to make your app idea a success.

What Type Of App To Develop?

Developing a marketplace app like a new solution to facilitate e-commerce is entirely different from a basic mobile app to run only on Android devices. Similarly, developing a WordPress plugin is different again to a platform-agnostic web app that can be accessed through a web browser.

An essential part of creating a successful app of any kind is to start with a detailed plan. Otherwise, it’s all too easy to choose the wrong app type and only realize later that you’ve made a critical mistake.

What’s The Target Market?

What kind of users will be interested in your app? Do they need it?

Will they wish to access these features in the manner you wish to present them? In other words, if it’s a world clock app, is it best provided via a mobile app, one modified to work well on a tablet, or as a web app?

Asking these kinds of questions is illuminating because it helps clarify what platform and device type are most suitable for your app idea. If you only plan to develop web apps or mobile apps for iOS alone, it’s possible to use basic analysis to screen out ideas that won’t fit your requirements.

Does Your App Need To Be Cross-Platform?

Some apps benefit from having versions available for iOS, Android, web app, and even available on Amazon’s Fire tablets and elsewhere. Others only need to be on both major mobile O/S platforms or in a web app form.

Being cross-platform can be something that suggests a larger development team is required from the outset. Or it can be part of a medium-term plan, by focusing on iOS or Android first and broadening the reach later.

What Is The Revenue Model?

Revenue is generated in multiple ways for apps. Sometimes, it’s possible to create multiple income streams. Other times, developers aim to generate a series of quick app ideas, launch fast, and see which app idea grows exponentially. Then they double down on that success to create a sustainable app business.

Look at other apps in the same target market to see how they generate revenue? It could be through advertising – AdMob on Android is part of Google’s collection of advertising platforms. A subscription-based model or both a free and premium app via an in-app purchase are possible too.

Bear in mind that depending on the app, users may already have a preference for paying (or not). If your future competitors use a premium-only app approach, that’s either the way to go or you have an opening to offer users something different.

Never fall into the trap of developing the app now and figuring out the revenue model later. Apps like this die on the vine because their developer loses interest, they’re unable to hire anyone, and the app is almost impossible to sell.

Start With The End In Mind?

Even though you may begin hugely enthusiastic about developing your next app, understand that your interest will wax and wane over the years. You may reach a stage where you’d like to take an extended vacation, cash out, or start something completely different.

Starting with the end in mind avoids biting off more than you can chew or not having a clue what to do after your passion has declined. This also ties into choosing an app that has huge growth potential with eager paying users because it provides options later for an attractive digital exit.

Successful apps are planned well from the start. While you can occasionally get lucky with a random idea, most of the larger ones were more carefully considered.