Got An Idea? Check if the App Already Exists Before you Proceed According to the data presented by Statista, about 2.8 million Android apps and 2.2 million iOS apps are available on the respective play stores
By Mehul Rajput
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.
An idea can be unique or general. Today, in order to survive the cut throat competition we need ideas out of the blue, which should be extraordinarily exclusive. This prospect becomes more evident if we are planning to design mobile apps because here there is no margin for error. The mobile app market has gone beyond the boundaries of imagination and is stretching even further posing a tough challenge to come up with something distinctive that stands apart in the crowd.
According to the 2017 data presented by Statista, about 2.8 million Android apps and 2.2 million iOS apps are available on the respective play stores. We have innumerable numbers of apps for each of the categories viz. health, travel, sports and games, music, e-commerce, social media and many more. Each of these apps are developed with a specific idea and planning after framing a strategy.
But the point is how do the app developers get an idea about developing a particular app and how do they succeed in executing their plans into actions? Furthermore, the most crucial question is how they know that their idea is original and unique and has not been implemented before.
Several things cross your minds when you are developing an app. It is not that every thought that clicks your brain is unique. The business strategy says that you need a very thorough and extensive research before you sit down to design an app with the team members. Besides it's quite important to know who your competitors are and what their approach is for developing an app of same category.
An Extensive Study to Gather Minute Details
For instance, you are planning to design an eCommerce app, then probably need to look out for Amazon or Flipkart. Study their website as well as the app minutely and note down the details. Plus, what major distinction did you find in these two leading apps. Based on your research and study you can think about ideas that will distinguish your app from the others. Well, it's a hectic task and it's not as easy as spreading butter on the bread.
Thus, if you really want to be familiar whether the idea you want to execute has been adopted earlier or not, the best part is keep on researching. You can take the help of search engines like Google to take out the facts and get a hand on the popular apps trending in the market.
Also by using the search engines you will come across some diverse set of information which may prove useful for your venture. Obviously one click of idea will lead to another and this is how you can proceed further. Don't just go behind the stories of successful apps, but do read about the apps that failed to grab the attention of the end users.
Paying Attention While Adding Features
It is true that it is the features that provide an app a distinctive identity. It also plays a crucial role in its success or failure; so you need to be extra careful while incorporating your ideas into the features. For instance, if you have made up your mind to create a gaming app, then you need to decide what features to include so as to make the game interesting and exciting for the players.
Talking about the game apps, their numbers are getting multiplied but not all games are popular. People are fond of cricket or football and they like to play the same in their smartphones too. So, you have to take a call what features you can add up to spice up your app. And obviously, you will get the idea only when you visit the number of other gaming apps and review their ratings.
Don't Just Rely on Search Engines
The market out there is extremely competitive and challenging and so relying upon only one tool for searching will not help your cause. You need to move out of the traditional ways and adopt what is known as advanced research strategies with the help of more sophisticated tools.
You can take the help of advanced tools such as App Annie, AppStatics or AppTrace to find out the app ranking, user response and also get the free monthly report. Besides that these tools will also be useful in providing you the exact figures and data of the market with respect to sales.
You can find out even better keywords that help improving the visibility and traffic generation. All these important aspects will help you to carve out original ideas, thereby making your app popular admit the target audiences.
Don't Worry if Your App Idea Already Exists
The app developers may find it a little disappointing at first when they are confirmed that their idea is not unique. However, there is nothing to stress about. You must remember that it is not the exclusive idea that will win you the game but your execution plan is the actual player.
Come up an Unexpected Plan for your App
Now you know that your ultimate aim is to reach out the users and give your app a kick start to compete the market. So you have to do something unexpected and take a few risks in the beginning. Let's illustrate this point with an example.
There are a number of apps for which users have to pay a monthly subscription. Most of these usually include the gaming apps found both in Google Play as well as iOS App Store. So, if you are developing a similar game app and offer it free of cost to your customers, then you can get the best of responses. In addition, you can also give a tough competition to your rivals.
Develop the Best of Products without Compromising
You can only compete and succeed by providing a healthy competition. So, don't leave any stone unturned in delivering the right product. And you can offer the best of the products only if you have studied the market carefully. In terms of business this strategy is better known as 'fast follower'. The results may be time taking but surely it will be in your favor.
Just think about the transformation. It was the personal computers that made its first entry. And then it was the notepad or laptop followed by tablet and lastly this is the era of smartphones.
Same App with Totally New Features
Suddenly you sprang up with an idea that you will develop the same app as your competitor but all the features available will be totally new. For this to happen into reality, you have to understand all the features very sharply and have sound knowledge on the app. That will be a jackpot if everything falls into place.
Conclusion
With thousands of apps getting underway, it is very difficult to get an idea which hasn't been implied before. And to be precise you cannot just sit back and think that you won't execute your plans as someone else is already using it. You can of course try to find out a unique way but if don't come across anything then framing the right business strategies help in this regard.