I have an idea for an app. Where do I start?

Going from idea to app is a multi-step process that requires meticulous planning—and more than just a single app developer. You may be thinking, “Great, I have an app idea; where do I start?”. There are a few paths you can take, from pitching an app idea to sell to staying involved in the process from start to finish. Regardless of your chosen path to a published app, we will walk you through the considerations for each stage from ideation to launch.

When you have a great idea for an app, your next thought is likely, “How do I protect my app idea from being copied?” Frankly, it’s a good question and reason to consider the following steps before launching:

Copyright your idea: A copyright will protect the intellectual property of your app idea. Copyrighting your app is a must!

Share selectively: Don’t overshare your idea, even if you’re asking for help. Vet the people you plan to talk to about your app idea, especially in the early ideation stages. This applies to everyone from friends and family to coders and investors.

Always use NDAs: Even if you trust your friend who is a coder or the person you hired to help find funding, you should still employ non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) to ensure the confidentiality of your app is guarded.

Trademark your business name: Register and trademark your app name and logo to legally own both. If you don’t have the name of your app and/or logo yet, make a note to revisit this step later after defining your unique app branding.

Next, you’ll need to choose your path forward. Do you want to sell an app idea and move on? Or do you want to maintain ownership over your idea? If you choose to stay involved, you can either develop the app yourself or find someone else to create it for you.

Keep in mind that the development process doesn’t look the same for all apps. The process is unique for every app and changes from one vertical (app category) to another. While different app verticals have distinct concerns, a few best practices apply to all verticals. Let’s begin by tackling these universal steps for starting an app.

1. Research the app market and competition

Your first step to building and launching an app is to do your research. Not only do you need to understand the app market as an industry, but you also need to take a deeper dive into your vertical. For example, launching a gaming app is quite different than building a travel app. The audiences and their preferences aren’t necessarily similar. So, examine the following:

• Know your competition: What will your app improve on compared to competitors? What will set it apart? Understanding your competitors tells you if there is room for your app in the market, and it allows you to build a strategy for differentiation. Competitive research will tell you what works, what doesn’t, and where your app can make an impact.
• Study your target market: Who will your app serve? This will inform everything from how to market your idea to how to monetize your app. Therefore, defining your user personas is integral to the success of your app launch.

2. Set your app development budget and app marketing budget

Start off by fully researching the cost of developing an app to make a decision about whether you’ll be able to self-fund or get funding. Once you have made some tough choices about how you will fund the app development process, it’s time to think about your budget.

Do you have to bootstrap the process with a tight budget, or can you spend investor money on hiring a top-notch development team? Will you be able to afford a multipronged marketing campaign when you launch your app or do you need to consider how to achieve great word-of-mouth to get off the ground? Knowing your budget will help you answer these questions.

3. Understand your funding options

While financial situations and resource needs differ, most apps require funding to exist. There are various funding options available to startups, and only you can decide which one is right for you. Are you willing to give up equity to investors? Can you self-fund the process long enough to get it off the ground? Only you can decide, but here are a few funding options to consider:

• Personal network: Contact friends and family to raise the money you need for an initial investment.
• Private investors: Look for private investors who have a vested interest in your app, such as local businesses that might benefit from your hyper-local delivery app.
• Funding contests: If your idea is strong enough, consider entering it into a contest not only for the prize money but also to gauge if your idea has merit.
• Angel investors: Look for individuals who invest in early-stage startups in exchange for a share of your business.
• Venture capital (VC) investors: If your app is already in development, VC investment may be possible.
• Bank loans: Banks are always an option but often have stringent requirements.
• Crowdfunding: When all else fails, turn to the internet and use a crowdfunding platform to find a large group of people willing to make small investments in your product.

How to pitch an app idea to get funding for my app

Pitching an app idea to secure funding requires a strategic approach that combines clarity, passion, and thorough preparation. Focus on these key elements to build your pitch:

• What problem will my app solve?
• What are the main competitors, and how will my app stand out?
• Who is my app for?
• What is my go-to-market strategy and marketing plan?
• How much money will I need, and what will this go toward?
• How will my app sustainably generate revenue?
• How long will it take to repay loans?

Be ready to answer questions confidently, showing that you've anticipated potential challenges and have plans to overcome them. A compelling pitch combines a strong narrative with concrete evidence, making investors excited about the app's potential and confident in your ability to execute the vision.

4. Explore monetization options

There are a variety of ways to monetize your app, and understanding the nuances of each is the only way to pick the right option for your app. Shopping or e-commerce apps have it easy here, as selling goods is a means of monetization. However, the best monetization strategy is one that is diversified across methods.

Consider whether you will charge users to download your app, or make it free to download, and if you will run in-app ads, allow in-app purchases, and/or adopt a subscription model. Without a plan for app monetization, you do not have a viable business model.

5. Consider app development options

There are many app development options, each with pros and cons. There is an option for every budget, from fully custom development—which can be expensive and take months or even years—to simple no-code options. Using a no-code platform allows you to develop an app for free but limits your ability to customize it and its features. Low-code requires more knowledge but is a lower-cost option.

Deciding on one of these options will allow you to establish a timeline. Do you have a few weeks to prepare your launch plan? Or will you be waiting a year (or longer) for a finalized app?

6. Build a minimum viable product

You have to start somewhere, right? Having a minimum viable product (MVP) will allow you to alpha test your app internally or beta test with a small audience. The testing stages provide valuable information about what features users are responding to, what you need to add, or what you need to rethink. Having an MVP also gives you something to show potential investors.

7. Start developer accounts with Apple and Google

This one may go without saying, but if you’re new to apps, it’s worth pointing out that you will need developer accounts to get your app in the marketplace. Apple currently charges $99 per year, while the Play Store requires a one-time fee of $25. You’ll also need to start thinking about how you’ll optimize your app store listings with app store optimization (ASO).

8. Build your app marketing strategy

Developing a mobile app marketing strategy for launch is the final, crucial step in ensuring your app’s success. You could have created the best app idea in the world, but if no one knows it exists, your journey might end there. A well-crafted strategy will drive app visibility, increase app installs, foster user engagement, and ultimately propel your app to success.

Key elements include building a landing page, optimizing your app store video and search engine optimization (SEO) for discoverability, creating a content marketing plan including social media promotion and email campaigns, and leveraging paid advertising to power user acquisition.

Certainly, your app’s vertical will determine a fair amount of how you develop, market, and launch your app. Below we cover tips for launching apps in the gaming, shopping, and finance verticals.

1. Considerations for mobile gaming apps

When creating a mobile gaming app, you’ll need first to determine which gaming engine you’ll use to build your game. Gaming engines are software development environments designed for creating video games. Not unlike some of the low-code and no-code options we discussed earlier, gaming engines come in various options, including:

• Game templates only allow you to change basic details of the game like music, characters, or backgrounds.
• Drag and drop options give developers a list of actions that can be applied to objects in the game.
• Visual scripting allows you to graphically create programs without writing out code.
• Coding is the most flexible and fully customizable way to develop a game.

While an in-depth role-playing game may require custom coding, a hyper-casual game can likely get away with a less customizable option. To learn more about the industry trends and drivers that are shaping the mobile gaming market, read our Gaming app insights report.

2. Considerations for shopping apps

Developing shopping apps can be a complex task, with constantly changing inventory, payment collection, and other considerations. This may be why even the biggest names in shopping choose to create hybrid apps. However, there is another easy alternative, Android Studio, which allows people to develop apps for all devices and provides templates for shopping apps.

3. Considerations for finance apps

Whether you want to build a traditional banking app or even a crypto exchange app, security is imperative. If your app will deal with sensitive information of any kind, including finances, privacy and security are of the utmost importance and need to be one of your top concerns. To learn more about the industry trends and drivers that are shaping crypto and digital assets on mobile, read our Finance app insights report.

It’s never too early to plan your user acquisition strategy for your new app. Check out Scaling your app to 1 million users: The ultimate guide. Part 1 for the latest insights and tips for exponential app growth.