What You Should Do if Your App Idea Already Exists
Did you know that there are 2.2 million apps in the Apple App Store, and 2.8 million apps in the Google Play Store? Chances are, your one of a kind app idea is not so unique.
But you shouldn’t let that stop you from executing your vision.
Build a Superior Product
If your app is already in the App Store, the best way to overcome your competition is to simply build a better product.
This is also known as being a “fast follower.” In fact, business experts everywhere are now advocating this strategy over being an “originator” or “first mover” in your industry.
“In their analysis, Golder and Tellis found almost half of First Movers in their sample of 500 brands in 50 product categories failed” — Steve Blank
Take Apple for example. The iPod wasn’t the first music player of it’s kind. Cassette and MP3 players existed long before the 2001 release of the first iPod. But what Apple realized was that people wanted to listen to their music on the go, not just an MP3 player.
Steve Jobs and the team at Apple took the concept and ran with it. They created the first music player of its kind by developing a new technology that organized and played music (thousands of songs to be exact) while fitting snug in your pocket.
Carve Out a Niche
Figure out if your app has a different feature set or value proposition than your competitors and market it to a specific group of people. In the idea phase, you can even create completely new features for your app.
Take the niche dating app, Bristlr, for example. Their mission is to “connect those with beards to those who want to stroke beards.” The app’s main concept is the same of every other dating app: connecting potential love interests with each other with just a few taps/swipes. Except the company solely targets people with beards and people who like beards, as opposed to an app that anyone regardless of demographic/interest can use.
Execute Better
What are people saying about your competitor’s apps? What areas are they lacking in that you can excel in? Are people leaving negative App Store Reviews about a certain feature or functionality? Nit pick at everything your competitors are doing, find those gaps and execute.
Maybe one of your competitors has a poor App Store description, not enough funding, or an amateur team. Use their weaknesses to play to your strengths.
This is a common strategy used by gaming apps. Out of the 2 million apps in the App Store, approximately 444K (24%) are gaming apps. Because the gaming market is extremely competitive, the few who succeed tend to have smarter marketing strategies than their competitors.
Conclusion
If you have been hesitant to the idea of pursuing the app of your dreams, because “Someone else already did it” or because you “Know it won’t be as successful as [insert app name],” get rid of that mentality! You shouldn’t let those thoughts stop you, because holding on to assumptions will keep you from doing anything worthwhile. After all, you miss all the shots you don’t take.
Scott Adams, the creator of the comic strip, Dilbert, once said, “Ideas are worthless, execution is everything.” Ideas that aren’t backed by actions are meaningless.
What if Travis Kalanick kept the idea for Uber to himself? Uber wouldn’t exist. What if you kept your app idea to yourself? Hopefully, we won’t find out.
This post originally appeared on our App Partner resource center. Click here for more.
