Building An App: Are You Ready?

Building an app from scratch isn’t just about turning your idea into an app. It’s about starting a business. It’s about having a certain state of mind to do all that you can to make it work. Are you ready to take that plunge? Do you have what it takes to make it happen? Find out below with six critical questions you need to ask yourself before building an app startup.

Am I competitive?

You don’t need to see the numbers to know that there are, for emphasis, a shitload of apps. It’s a digital jungle out there and you can’t just sit around waiting to be devoured by the competition. To even have the slightest chance of making it in the app world, you’ll need the drive to compete against current apps, new apps, and, most importantly, apps that have survived the stampede.

Can I manage people?

The term “app development” is kind of a misnomer. Sure, you develop apps, but there are other things you need to worry about too – design, testing, marketing, users, and everything in between. This means you have to know how to manage these different sets of people and events, if you’re trying to build an app from scratch. If you can’t, you better learn fast. There’s no real estate for attitude or egos here, but there’s a whole lot of room for leadership. You need to be that leader – or hire someone else to do it for you.

Can I trust people?

Trust is the pillar of leadership. Not only do your people have to trust you, but you have to be able to trust them as well. You need to able to sleep at night rest assured that they know what they’re doing and that they have your and your app’s best interest in mind. If you have trust issues, go get that sorted out first even if you have to enlist the help of nice leather couch. Everyone knows that you have full confidence in your product. Do you have confidence in the people building your app too?

Can I communicate?

And communicate well? Being able to tell your teams exactly what you want is part of the app-building game. To avoid disasters and misunderstandings, clear communication is key. It’s also the path to enlightenment. For the public, that is. No one likes to be confused. If you can’t communicate exactly what your app does and the value it adds to mankind, you won’t have a very good shot at getting people to pay attention to it either.

Can I take criticism?

There’s no such thing as the perfect app. The first iteration of the app you build certainly won’t be anything close to that. If you have a problem with people saying bad things about you and/or your app, this business probably isn’t for you. Mobile users are smarter now and they expect polished, bug-free apps. You need to be able to suck it up, take criticism, and appreciate negative feedback. Part of the fun of making an app is finding out what people think and taking that feedback to make your product better than ever. (There are also tons of jerks online who get a kick out of being horrible human beings, so you’ll need thick skin and be able to ignore that too)

Am I committed?

Think of launching an app startup as a marriage, except not as scary as the real thing (or scarier, depending on how you look at it). Either way, it’s a huge investment of time and money, but it’s an even bigger commitment to make it work. If you get to the point where you find yourself sitting in the corner of your bedroom sobbing quietly at night, teetering at the brink of failure, with the world turning its back on you, do you have what it takes to dry your tears and get back up again? Will you still be committed to doing everything you [legally] can to get to where you want to be? If you can honestly, truthfully say you’ve got it in you, then you’re halfway there. Happy app-building!