“How can I learn to code?” “Is creating an app difficult? “How much money do I need to create an app?” If you’ve ever found yourself asking any of these or similar questions you’ve come to the right place. Building an app is not an easy process, and if you want to create an app from scratch you’ll have to go the whole nine yards – no shortcuts. This means a business plan, a development team, a budget, etc.
But, if you don’t want to go through the hassle of making a whole business for an app, you can always use a high-quality App Builder and DIY – the choice is yours. Today, we’ll talk about the basic steps of building an app so you can decide which path is right for you.
How to build an app in 6 simple steps
Check out the market
Does your app provide something useful? Are people going to enjoy it? What’s their motivation to download it in the first place? To find your niche, you will have to do some heavy lifting and conduct in-depth market research. If you already have an app idea, you should research it and determine its applicability in the current market. Your software must present a novel product that users can readily support.
An app that allows users to track their packages more efficiently is something useful in today’s society since online shopping is more popular than ever. But an app that converts grams to stones or pounds? That’s only a Google away.
Research the competition
Once you’ve established that your app can bring some value to its users it’s time to think about the competition. It’s absolutely vital to take into account both the number of competitors in a given market and their level of success. This can be a double-edged sword, however. An already crowded marker means lower chances of success but it also indicates that it’s growing, people are interested in and opportunities abound.
You should therefore think about whether your app idea is unique enough to break through. And if you’ll have enough funding to enter the ring with giants that undoubtedly have higher marketing and development budgets. On the other hand, if the market is relatively small or even untapped; it’s advisable to do more market analysis and see why that’s the case.
Plan out the work process
After you’ve researched the market and your competition, good news! It’s time for more research.
There are some vital questions you have to ask before starting the work process like:
- How many people will you need on your team?
- What programming languages do they need to be skilled in?
- Are you planning on hiring a development company or finding your own employees?
- How will you manage the project? A project management tool? Which one?
All of these questions are instrumental to your success so never overlook them. If you should fail to take these things into account, you could end up breaking the budget or having to scrap the project altogether.
Find developers
When hiring developers you can either opt for a team of freelancers or hire a development company. While the latter can be considerably more expensive, it also guarantees quality. That’s not to say that a team of freelancers can’t be just as competent. They absolutely can. But, if you’re not from the tech business yourself you could fail in hiring the right people.
When it comes to complete app creation and deployment, a competent mobile app design and development company typically cannot do anything for less than $50,000. And the process of creating an app will usually take anywhere between 2 to 4 months depending on its complexity and level of detail.
Design
Designing your app is a difficult undertaking, so we do advise you not to get carried away and always think of end product quality and budget first. When beginning the design process, also think about the future or more precisely scalability. The algorithm will determine if the app can grow together with your business. So don’t clutter it with unnecessary details and simple functions.
Focus on what’s important. You should focus on usability, functionality, and simple navigation in your design. Remember to use your company’s color scheme and add some branding such as logos and quotes to assure your brand stays top of mind.
The work isn’t done when you click “Publish”
It’s time to publish your app once you’re satisfied with how it looks so that you can add it to your phone. But the work doesn’t end there. Sure, you’ll get some users, but if you leave it as is, it probably won’t work in the long term. Listen to feedback, and make sure to revise any design mistakes or bugs that pop up accordingly. And just in case you think that won’t happen, it always does.
Final Thoughts
Rome wasn’t built in a day. So there are no shortcuts to a stunning mobile app that can deliver wonderful user experiences. We showed you a list of things you have to do if you want to build an app from scratch Now it’s up to you to decide whether that’s something you want to do or whether you are more of a minimalist and an app builder will do.