In business, staying ahead of competition is always a concern, but the presence of competition is important. In the app world, we constantly hear about competition:

• “Does this exist?”
• “Is there an app to help me do this?”
• “Isn’t someone already doing this?”

Successful companies are built by solving problems and adding value for consumers or businesses. If someone hasn’t already experienced and attempted to solve the same or similar problem, market validation becomes that much more important. The lack of a competitor offering at least a vaguely similar solution to yours is cause for concern. No competition often means no demand.

If you have an app idea for your company, don’t be deterred by competitive products. Instead focus on these three tips.

Create a list of people or businesses you know who will buy this product when it is built

Check out your competitors to understand your target market. Most companies like to advertise who their best customers are. Build a list of potential customers you can be confident in. It doesn’t have to be a long list. It just needs to show that you know people who all experience the problem your app will solve. It needs to answer the questions:

• Who will use this?
• Why will they use this app instead of the competition?
• How much will they willingly pay to use this?

If you own or work for an established company, ask your customers how you can better serve them through technology. If applicable, then ask, “What would you pay for that?” You may be surprised what they say.

Write down your specific goals

Having a thorough understanding of what success looks like will help you make wise choices along the way. Reference your goals throughout the project to prevent getting sidetracked by things that don’t move you closer to your goal.

• How is your product going to have an impact on your industry in a way your competitors don’t?
• How does your monetization strategy stack up against the others in the market?
• What competitive advantage makes you stand out?
• What will keep your customers loyal to you instead of switching to another player on the field?
• How will you respond to a dissatisfied customer?

Find a professional to help you

If technology is an important part of your business, you probably have an in-house team. For a lot of businesses, that’s essential. But, there is nothing like an experienced outside perspective to breathe life into a new project.

We have an incredible team of top notch engineers and professional software consultants, but we hire consultants when we’re promoting a new project or event and need a fresh set of eyes. If your team of engineers have their heads down working on your core product, the last thing you want to do is introduce the chaos of a new project. If you’re working on a new project and want to throw around some ideas, let us know.