Hi. Thank you for watching this 4th video in our video series. I’m Jody Chaffin, and today we are discussing what an entrepreneur needs to consider before starting a mobile app project. If you watched our 3rd video titled, “Who is Our Typical Customer?”, you learned that we typically work with entrepreneurs and internal innovators. This video is going to focus on entrepreneurs and our next video will focus on internal innovators.
We are going to discuss several things that an entrepreneur needs to consider (bold items would be a list that we can display):
- What problem are you trying to solve? – Before you do anything else, you really need to understand what problem in the world or your industry is causing enough pain that people would be willing to pay for, or at least use, a mobile app to resolve it.
- Once you have identified the problem, are there other solutions already available? – If so, why don’t they solve the problem efficiently? How is your idea better? Why would people choose your solution over the existing options? If there are no existing solutions, why not? Is the problem too little for people to care about or are there alternatives to mobile apps that people are utilizing to solve it? These questions don’t disqualify your idea, but they help you refine it and make sure it is something you truly believe in.
- Once you know that you have a problem worth solving and a good solution to it, what features of your mobile app are required to introduce it to the market? You have to determine the balance between speed to market and having enough features to compel people to buy or use your mobile app.
- Beyond your minimum viable product, what features do you envision offering over time? You don’t necessarily want to develop all the features day one, but you need to have a road map of where you see your product going. Then, as you receive validation from the market, you can begin to offer those new features to increase your market share and retain your customers.
- Next, do you believe in this solution enough to build a business around it? If not, then you really need to question why you would move forward. If so, then it’s time to start thinking about that business.
- What are your goals for that business? Is this going to be a hobby business, a home-based business to generate some extra income, or are you going to make this your fulltime career?
- How will you monetize your app? This is crucial question. This determines how you will recoup your investment and how you will make money with your idea. There are a lot of ways to monetize software and we will discuss that more in a future video.
- Finally, can you do this alone or do you need partners? A good entrepreneur knows his or her limitations and seeks out partners or advisors that can fill the gaps. Do you need financial assistance, business coaching, technical expertise, etc.? Knowing what you don’t know and admitting it is a big step toward success.
There other things you have to consider to startup a new business, but these are the key items you need to consider before you decide whether or not you want to pursue a mobile app project.
I hope this information is helpful. If you have questions or would like to provide feedback on this video, we would love to hear from you.
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