Think about designing a medical app? Today’s guest post is from Amanda Bar from RTB Capital Financial Gap who answers your most frequently asked questions on designing an app:
Q: In a nutshell, what does your company do?
Amanda: 100×100 Launchpad brings structure and process to building your iOS/Android App from idea, step-by-step to launch. Of course, we can take a top-secret approach, as needed. Our 100×100 Program includes 100 Days of Development, 100 Days of Marketing & Business Action Items, plus Weekly Coaching Calls and work with our founders to obtain their first 100 Users, followed by a Personal Demo Day, if desired.
Q: Can you tell us how you got involved in helping clients with apps?
Amanda: Through personal experience with my husband’s fintech app that we started in 2015. We encountered problems that founders should not have to face, such as, developers promising to do things and just taking your money, people saying they will join us as equity partners and then trying to take our idea and run, to a never ending development process over a 2 to 3 year period because it was not in a program with clear check in’s points or sprints to accomplish and so much more. We learned the hard way and thus created a program to eliminate such issues when launching an idea, thus 100×100 Launchpad was born.
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Q: What kinds of apps have you helped physicians with?
Amanda: 100×100 Launchpad’s Co-Founder, Adam Webber, built a fertility app to work with the doctors and patients on a calendaring system for timing IVF medication and managing the process.
Q: What are some misconceptions people have about developing an app?
Amanda:
Misconception #1 Building an app is easier than launching a standard business. For some reason, it seems that when people have an app idea, there is this notion that it will be easier to build, launch and grow than a “traditional business”. Yet with the competitive nature of the app market, it can be trickier than a traditional business and one should be prepared to spend many hours and lots of effort with little reward at the beginning.
Misconception #2 An investor will fund my idea right away. The investor landscape has changed as investors have seen many ideas come and go with most failing. Majority of the time, they don’t care as much about the idea but more about the team and their ability to succeed. It is to your advantage to have a resume that highlights your successes or bring on someone that does to catch attention. Also, having traction of users, especially, paying users will help in your invest-ability.
Misconception #3 “I’m the only one with this idea”. In today’s world, people are out to solve problems and make money doing it. You might be the first to bring an idea to market, yet you want to consider factors such as market accessibility and profitability. Competition can be your greatest advantage, so you can learn from their successes and failures to craft a model that is even better. Either way, do your homework, get potential customer feedback and don’t think because you don’t see it, that someone else isn’t thinking it.
Q: What are the most common steps involved in taking an app from the idea stage to a finished product?
Amanda: We have a specialized process we go through, which makes our platform unique, yet to answer in a broad scope, the traditional stages include:
Ideation & Analysis
Features & Requirements
Design & Architecture
Build/Implementation
Testing
Deploy
Maintenance
Project Management
Q: What advice do you have for those interested in coming up with an app?
Amanda:
We suggest asking yourself these 10 questions.
What is your passion or personal connection behind the idea/app?
Are you a team player or like to handle everything on your own?
Am I physically ready – How is my health & energy to take on a new business?
Am I mentally ready – What have I succeeded and failed in? what is my thought process around my capabilities?
Am I emotionally ready – How do I handle stress? Do I have a support system at home or the community?
Am I financially ready – Can I sustain life, as is, for 12 to 18 months without making any money? Do I have a steady job I can work while building my dream project?
Am I sales ready – What is my experience or process in prospecting? How am I at building a team?
Am I fundraising ready – Do I have a set of friends and family that believe in me to fund my project? Why or why not?
Can I self-fund the app?
What have I started and given up on? Why?
Q: Do you think there is real money in app development?
Amanda: There are a million apps on the Apple store with many collecting software dust. The ability to make money goes back to verifying you have a problem that is worth solving at amount that your charging, focused on the target market it meets. Think of funding, if you obtain it, as fuel for your business. The money to be made is in creating a sustainable business with consistent growth that keeps your customers engaged and solving their problem for years to come.
Q: How can you test an idea you have for an app?
Amanda: The best thing you can do to test your idea is to start talking to your potential customers. Listen first to their problem and if your addressing the problem identified, then find out if it’s worth paying for the solution and if your solution is solving the problem. Lastly, what is your potential customer willing to pay for the solution? On a side note, we also suggest filing a provisional patent with as much detail about your idea before talking to others in detail. If you need additional guidance, let’s chat.
Q: What kind of services does your company provide to aspiring app developers?
Amanda: We offer a complete program from Idea to Launch, plus maintenance, and building additional versions of your app. We have a Personal Demo day, which brings in our investor network for potential funding. As the Founder of RTB Capital Group, we can also provide an additional layer of continued support through business consulting, lead generation services, strategic partners to scale, and more to achieve the goals you have set for your business.
Amanda Bar, Ideation Specialist & Startup Coach
Entrepreneur and founder of RTB Capital Financial Group
https://www.rtbfinancialgroup.com/team/amanda-bar
Amanda@100x100launchpad.com
https://calendly.com/100x100launchpad/15min
www.100x100launchpad.com