"I have a great idea for an app, but I need to make sure before I bring it to you..."
This is how the introduction to a conversation about developing an application between a potential client and a service provider usually sounds (except for clients who need an application to streamline their own business, but more on that in another post). As an IT company that develops mobile and web applications, we get a lot of calls like this. In addition, a lot of ideas come from employees themselves, acquaintances, existing clients, friends... If an IT company took into account at least 2% ideas for which it receives a request and developed them itself, based on your request, it wouldn't have time to do anything else. And all of that needs to be financed, which is also no small matter.
“Idea's worth nothing, execution is worth everything” – that is, your idea is worth as much as you are willing to pay for it. Often, potential clients offer us to create an application based on their idea, and in return they offer a percentage of any profits when it is published. Sometimes they also offer 50%. But you have to ask yourself 50% from what? Practically from nothing. But if you want to invest in creating the application yourself (related to your idea about it), want to invest half of the value of the development or you have found an investor – that is a completely different story and your idea can be worth millions. Then it gains real meaning and value.
To begin with, research the market and find out if there is already something similar. Don't let it discourage you if it exists. Namely, it is an interesting fact that the social network with the most users - Facebook, is the third social network on the market. Find out what are the shortcomings of any existing application and try to correct them in draft your application. Then try to create an image How much does it cost to create an app?. Define a rough budget and, if necessary, start looking for an investor. Decide how you want to make money from your new application (charging for downloads, advertising, etc.). Think about how you want to present it to potential users and decide which marketing channels you want to use to distribute it. Once you have done all this work, find the company you will contact for production, and at the same time take care of long-term cooperation and choose a partner who will be able to follow you through growth and development, who has a sufficient number of employees and professional people, who has a long-standing tradition and is not threatened with closure in a short period of time (he is not "the one -man band"), which, after all, will also offer you a Confidentiality Agreement if it is a truly revolutionary idea that you want to protect at all costs.
It is important to mention that you can develop an application in several stages. To begin with, order the development of the most important functionalities and then immediately publish the application (all in cooperation with the service provider, of course). This way, you will attract the first users, see if there is any interest in your application at all, and listen to the market. Then, in the next stage, add new functionalities, and you can provide a lower price to the first users, etc. This way, the development itself will be cheaper for you, and you drastically reduce the risk of failure. Everything mentioned in this post will help you take a step further, to "move away" from just an idea and actually realize it. If it is good (it does not have to be perfect or unique), it will certainly very quickly become an additional, and very likely the primary source of income.