Step 1: Develop the app – brainstorm and visualize
Some good ideas come as a surprise: they pop up one morning and you can start building an app right away. However, if you're not lucky enough to be “haunted” by such an idea, there are other, more systematic ways to generate ideas.
For example, you could identify concrete needs or problems of the target group. Or you can analyze the competition and be inspired to come up with your own, hopefully better, ideas.
A good way to visualize an idea is a so-called “mockup”. This is a graphical representation of the app using various tools. The representation facilitates the identification of potential problems or deficiencies and the adaptation of the concept. A good overview of simulation toolswhich help you visualize your idea, we have summarized them in an additional article.
Phase 2: market analysis
Before you spend a lot of time and energy developing an app, it's important to make sure there is enough demand in the market. One complete market analysis it's also a good way to rule out that similar competing products already exist. The market analysis ensures that the idea you want to develop with the app is unique and stands out sufficiently from the competition.
Define the target group of your app
A clear definition of the target group is required for strategy, validation, ideation, development and marketing. You should think carefully:
- who should be the users of your app,
- why they want to use your app and
- what is the need that users have to meet with it.
It is useful for this to define your target group as person to define.
Step 3: Where the Money Comes From: Planning Your Revenue Streams
Revenue streams are various sources from which a business generates income. Usually an app isn't created just for the sheer joy of creating – there's usually also the goal of making money with it.
For this reason, when developing an app, developers should also think about how to ensure a flow of money. For example, it would be conceivable
- sell the app itself,
- In-app purchases or
- Advertising in the app.
The main thing here is which method suits the app itself and the respective target group best.
Step 4: Calculate costs
The costs that arise when you want to develop an app vary according to the complexity, size, functionality and workload. You should notice the following:
- If the app is optimized for iOS and Android, it could cost twice as much to develop as if it were targeted at just one platform.
- A professional and complex design is usually much more expensive than a minimalist and simple structure.
- The more complex the app's functionality, the more time, resources, and money it will take to develop it.
- The costs incurred for testing and maintenance must also be taken into consideration.
Develop the app – these costs arise
In any case, you should expect the following costs:
- per working hour of an app developer between 70 and 110 euros
- The Apple developer account costs $99 per year
- Google developer account costs 25 US dollars one time
- also calculates the royalty rate to Apple and Google of 30% per sale
- also servers / hosting costs
Work cost-effectively with an agile development approach
To ensure that your app development runs as smoothly as possible, it's best to follow an agile development approach. This means implementing the development in the smallest possible steps and getting feedback from users and stakeholders from time to time.
To organize all the parts Agile Service Management tools like ITILv4 are one of them good addition to hold the reins in hand. It is important to always keep an eye on the costs and compare them with the existing budget.
Step 5: Funding your app development
Once the planning phase is complete, it's time to think about funding the app.
The simple option is this Self-financing. This may mean using savings or taking out a loan.
If you don't want to or can't do it, you still have a number of alternatives. There are a number of fund-raising-Platforms through which it is relatively easy to raise funds from a group of supporters. This requires a solid marketing strategy from the beginning to present the idea well and convince supporters.
A third option is single investors who are willing to provide larger sums and support innovative ideas. The most important venture capitalist in Germany we have summarized in an overview.
Finally, there are a number of public and private ones funding programswhich support app development and which you can get to know.
We'll show you how to write a sound financial plan in ours Financial plan checklist create.
Step 6: Develop the App: Advertising and Marketing
There are various ways to attract new users. Above ASO (App Store Optimization) the program can be optimized in the app stores to create more visibility. Relevant keywords in your app description and creating an eye catching graphic play an important role.
Above social media-Channels and Influence marketing a younger audience can be reached in particular. Depending on the target group, other channels, such as Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, are promising platforms.
Good ratings in app stores help build trust in the app. Here it makes sense to invite satisfied users to leave a review in a low-threshold mode.