In less than a decade, mobile apps have taken some sheen off web development in terms of activity, funding, and popularity. As the web ecosystem evolved over a longer period of time, it is mature now. Mobile app industry, on the other hand, is fast growing and attracting lots of young entrepreneurs who want to join the bandwagon of success. As an entrepreneur, chances are you haven’t remotely been associated with any app in the past nor do you have the required technical know-how. This is, in fact, true with the majority of app entrepreneurs but this industry offers great opportunities when people put their heart and soul into it. To taste success here are a few things that you must know.

# They Say You Need A Profitable App Idea
If there was some yardstick to judge a ‘profitable app idea’ we would perhaps have only a fraction of apps available and all of them would have been successful. Profit is a function of different factors and most of these are beyond your control. What you need to have is a good idea and a great execution plan. If you foresee demand for the app based on quality research it is your starting point and you don’t need to measure its future profitability at this stage.

# All App Ideas Must Be Validated
In most cases, your app idea doesn’t need to be validated. If you are thinking of an app that is similar to others that are already there, your competitors have already validated the idea. For instance, if you are planning to build a food delivery app, you need not try and prove the demand for such app as this is well-established. However, if you are promising something out-of-the-box or something where there are no major players yet, you will need to establish the demand before your investors.  

# You Should Seek Funding Before Developing The App
Five years back you could have done so before writing a line of code, but not anymore. Angels and VCs are skeptical as thousands of apps are launched every day and only a small fraction meets their goals. The odds are badly stacked up against you and hence you can’t simply ask for money based on your ‘cool idea’. It is much easier to raise investment and hence build an MVP (minimum viable product) before you go out looking for money.

# Great Apps Aren’t Always Built In-House
Most app entrepreneurs believe that they need to have an in-house team of developers to build an app. Well, this is just one of the ways of app development. Among successful apps, quite a good number of them have been build using the outsourcing model. Some have even been built using easily available templates. So, there isn’t one single model of app development and you should choose a path that best suits your needs.

# Successful Marketing Model
You might have come across resources on the best app marketing model. All of them suggest some common strategies and add a few inputs of their own. So, which path should your trade? Well, there is nothing such as a successful app marketing model and you need to choose one based on your own circumstances. Don’t put your foot forward on all channels as this is counterproductive. Choose a few marketing channels and be aggressive on them. If some of these channels don’t pay any dividends after a while you can look elsewhere.

When you keep these things in mind you will be able to taste success with your app. Remember you don’t always have to follow the rules and can create them.