Developing mobile apps and custom software for entrepreneurs and startups is exciting, engaging, and full of unique challenges. If you’re new to the app industry or building an online business, you probably have tons of questions about how to make your virtual idea become a reality in the hands of people all over the country–or the world!
Not only is there a lot of conflicting information concerning technical questions that may be outside of your area of expertise, but you may also be asking questions like how does the app submission and approval process work? How do companies seem to just pop out of thin air and achieve high levels of success in this space? How can we entice users to download our app with our App Store and Google Play listing?
If you’ve begun perusing our website and project showcase, you probably already know that Winnona Partners is always available and willing to help you answer all these questions and more related to your specific project.
However, just as you’ve likely come up with a never ending laundry list of questions concerning whether or not your idea is practical or even possible to develop (see our FAQ for some possible answers), our team also has questions we like to ask people when we’re first getting acquainted.
Since our missions is to build technology that fits your business needs long term, we also want to ensure that we’re going into a relationship built on trust, transparency, and openness. When the rubber meets the road, we’ve got to be able to ask each other the tough questions!
Here’s three questions we always ask clients during our initial free consultation session:
1. What is the main problem you’re trying to solve, and how do you think technology can help?
There’s probably no question more important than this: What is the main problem you’re trying to solve, and how do you think technology can help? This may seem like a fairly obvious starting point, but it never ceases to amaze us how often we hear ideas for apps or other software projects with loads of details and features, and yet there’s no main problem or issue to address. Basically, we want to know what’s at stake?
We ask this question because we’ve found the two most successful ‘appreneurs’ are those who already have an established business or large online following, and those who have come up with a better, easier, or more efficient way to do something using technology.
2. What is your monetization strategy?
How do you plan on making money with your app or software project? Similarly, we want you to ask yourself: Are you creating something that people will need or enjoy so much that they’ll be willing to pay for it? Your answer to this line of questioning shows us that you’ve gathered enough evidence to conclude that your idea is worth seriously pursuing.
If you’re interested in creating an app that can be profitable over time, then you’ll want to conduct as much research as possible in advance to confirm that you do in fact have a viable idea that people will be willing to buy it.
If you’re not interested in developing an app for profit, that’s perfectly fine too! We love developing apps that benefit communities, individuals, and help increase brand loyalty and awareness.
There are recurring costs associated with having an app developed, such as server costs or annual developer fees from Apple and Google. This puts even more importance the need to choose a worthwhile monetization strategy before a single line of code is written.
For more information on fees and associated app development costs, check out our FAQ on the subject here, or you can download our free resource guide The Essential Guide to Developing Successful Mobile Apps. Understanding the various monetization strategies and which ones may apply best to your idea is crucial, and we’re happy to help go over the pros and cons of each any time (or possibly work with you to develop a totally new strategy)!
3. What is your ideal timeline for this project?
As we get to know you better and discuss your project in greater detail, we want to make sure that each party has a shared understanding of the development timeline and expectations. At Winnona Partners our emphasis is on developing technology of the highest standard, with the fastest turnaround time possible.
Another question we often ask in relation to this one is: How much time and availability do you, the founder, have to spend on this project in a given week?
While our team works diligently to meet deadlines and show you the results of our labor quickly, we also hope that you’ll be able to invest the time and energy it takes to build an online presence if you don’t have one already, outline go-to-market strategies, and continue to collect vital customer feedback that can help you and our team make the best development decisions moving forward.
Thanks for taking the time to read our article! Do you have an idea for an app, web app, website, or just business in general? You can contact Winnona Partners anytime to get started!
New to app development and aren’t sure where to get started? Check out our free guide here!
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