- So you have an idea for an app.
Today I'm gonna show you three steps
to actually get started
in building the app of your dreams.
- This is Raw Startup.
- I'm the founder of Vivino the world's largest wine app.
We have over 50 million users around the world.
Our users look up two to 3 million wines, every single day.
Now that's what I call a good idea for an app.
And the third and final section of this video
we'll look into how you can start building an app
even if you're not a tech person.
Things have changed quite a bit in the last few years,
and it looks like you can actually build an app today
without writing a single line of code.
These new tools are amazing
so what can you actually build with them?
- You can create anything from social networks,
marketplaces, internal tools, which is by the way,
massive segment.
- We'll get back to Michael.
He's the expert.
He'll tell us exactly how to get started.
You can't even imagine how often I've heard this statement.
"I have an idea for an app."
It sounds like everybody has an idea for an app,
which is fine.
Sometimes I do wonder though,
if I was building cars, would people come up to me and say,
"Hey, I have an idea for car."
Not so sure.
Anyway, let's stick with apps.
But I am getting messages every single day
from people that have an idea of an app.
Some good ideas, some bad ideas,
some truly horrible ones.
Today we're gonna help people
take that idea to the next level,
turn it into something that's more than just an idea
in your head.
Something you can show people.
Ideas really don't have that much value
you have to build something.
Just be clear this video is not about programming.
It's about finding out what to build
and finally build something without programming.
Some amazing tools are out there now
to build apps without programming,
and we'll bring an expert on in just a second.
With that, let's get started.
Step number one, do a sanity check.
Let's be honest.
A lot of the ideas I see have not been through this step.
The idea just wouldn't pass a sanity check.
Basically the sanity check is about finding out
if this idea is worth pursuing.
Just a sanity check to make sure it makes basic sense.
You do not wanna start building something
that nobody wants or needs.
Ask yourself the following three simple questions.
Is there a problem that needs to be solved?
Is the problem frequent enough to enough people?
Can the app that we're building actually solve the problem?
You need a pretty clear yes on all three of these,
especially if you've never built a piece of software before.
Again, this is not a market analysis
it's just a basic sanity check.
Simple sanity check,
but it doesn't mean your app will be the next Facebook
or Vivino for that matter.
Rather sanity check will save you from immediate failure.
And please be brutally honest
when you answer these questions.
You have to be super honest and super pessimistic
when you answer these questions.
Otherwise you end up building something for nobody.
If you wanna dig a little bit deeper into this part,
I have two videos that could be relevant.
How to evaluate startup ideas
and finding product market fit.
Okay, let's take a look at Vivino for the sanity check.
Yes, it clearly solves a problem.
I don't know what wines are good
and wines are not so good.
So Vivino can solve that problem.
Number two, yes, millions of people
probably have this problem
as millions of people buy wine on a weekly or daily basis.
Number three, that's actually a maybe,
we were not sure that we could solve this problem
as we didn't have the ratings and reviews
on all the wines in the world.
We had to take a gamble and say,
we can build this over time.
Now, many years later,
it looks like we did succeed in that as we have
over 200 million ratings in the app.
If you can say yes to those three questions,
it's at least less likely that your app will fail.
Step number two, do a mockup of the app.
This is not hard.
Anyone with basic computer skills can do this.
So do not worry.
So, time to build a mockup.
It's basically a drawing of what you wanna build.
There's no design, no colors,
just really simple black and white drawing
of what you wanna build.
This is pretty straightforward.
You could even use a pen and paper for this.
A lot of people do that.
I prefer to use a tool for this.
There are many tools out there
that can help you build a mockup.
I've used Balsamiq for like 10, 15 years now.
It's simple, I like to use it.
These are actual Balsamiq backups
made over 10 years ago
when we tried to figure out what to build
and how to build Vivino.
So try Balsamiq, it's very, very easy to use,
there's a free version out there,
so you can just get started right away.
Recently, I've also come across Whimsical.
It's a little bit more of a modern tool.
Looks really, really nice,
but also very, very simple tool to use.
Both tools have a free version.
And there's a link in the description.
Start by building one screen.
The most important screen in the app.
Whatever is the most important part of the app.
It doesn't have to be the first screen,
but the most important one.
If you see any of my other videos, you know,
about minimum viable product.
I talk a lot about minimum viable product.
So, when you build a mockup,
make sure or it's minimum viable product.
This means that the first version you build
should be the smallest possible thing,
as few features as possible,
minimum but still viable.
For any feature,
any button you put in there, ask yourself,
do I really need this?
This should really be the philosophy when you do this.
Only need to have no nice to have.
This is not easy so be very discipline.
Now it depends on how far you wanna go there,
but you can build multiple screens
and even make them clickable,
so you can click from one screen to the other.
So, go ahead and build that idea.
I can't tell you what to do.
It's your idea.
So go ahead and drag and drop that amazing app idea.
And always remember MVP.
Step number three, start building.
There are many ways you can go here,
but I've bonded down to three options.
Option three is exciting as it's relatively new.
We'll get back to that and even talk to an expert about it.
If you're not technical,
the first option is to find a technical co-founder.
Find someone who can actually help you build this.
I also made a video about that
so check that out later.
I guess there are a few relevant videos on this channel.
Make sure you subscribe.
The second option is to pay someone,
to build it for you.
It could be someone locally or you go to a site like Upwork
and find someone remote to build it for you.
This can work, but it's not easy
especially if you haven't built a piece of software before.
It really is something that takes a lot of training
and experience to do.
If you haven't tried it before,
I'm not sure I would recommend it.
If you do go down that route,
make sure you build an MVP.
A very, very small MVP.
The final option is to build it yourself
with these new no-code tools.
These new tools are incredibly exciting.
I honestly think they can change the world.
They will bring software building to almost anyone.
Now let's dig into that with an expert.
First, let's talk about these tools
and what has changed over the past years.
- Yeah, well, in the last years,
what happened is that there are more tools
and some existing tools got a bit better.
Especially when you create mobile applications
for native mobile apps, they got much better, right?
Are those tools actually changing the game
on how to write mobile apps?
Yeah, so in the past, and even today, for most companies,
when they write software,
well, they have to write a lot of code
and hey have to explain to developers
some very complex business case.
The other approach to better approach
is to create visual tools, right?
Where people can log in in the browser,
they can drag and drop stuff.
And it's easy enough, right?
To use to create complex software
that is either on the website or in the app store.
And this is what's happening in the last years
where more and more and more software
becomes more visually driven.
It's more user interface driven.
And the code is somewhere in the background hidden,
and you don't have to deal with it too much.
- Incredible.
Now, what kind of apps can we actually build
with these tools?
- Yeah, I mean, with no-code tools,
you can create almost anything.
Of course there are still some limitations,
'cause it's still early in my opinion, right?
But you can create anything from social networks,
marketplaces, internal tools, which is by the way,
massive segment.
Internal tools to make your employees more effective,
but you can create a vast spectrum of things
with no-code already.
Deploy them, make money with those apps actually
validate that you have product market fit.
Even if your app is not, you know,
the most, you know, animated or beautiful app in the world.
- So now the big question.
(drum rolling)
- What tools should we use
if we have a great idea for an app?
- Yeah, so my favorite tool Adalo.com
because it's very nice to,
very easy to use,
to create mobile native applications that you can upload
to IOS and Google play store.
And there are a couple other tools for mobile app creation,
for example, FlutterFlow,
which does require you to have at least one developer
in the company, but still makes everything else much easier.
Super powerful built on top of flutter,
which is already strong for mobile apps.
And actually is the number one for creating mobile apps
when you develop.
And there is also Draftbit
which is a competitor to Adalo,
and Draftbit has more features, a bit more complex.
It's still no-code.
You can deploy the whole app with one click
and that's very nice.
And they're growing also very fast.
And they have a nice builder, visual builder in the browser.
And so yeah, those three tools,
Adalo, Draftbit and Flutter, FlutterFlow.
Those three are super strong.
And I think the best tools right now to look at
when it comes to native mobile apps.
- Next is to get started.
How do we actually get started?
- Yeah, if you wanna get started.
I mean, there is a lot of content on YouTube
also on my channel if you want to check it out,
but of course you can also go to the websites
that I've just mentioned before,
Adalo, Draftbit and FlutterFlow.
They have great tutorials.
They also have their own YouTube channels actually
showing you stuff.
I want to urge you before you get started
with any of those tools,
you have to have a plan, right?
You cannot just go there and click around.
If you don't have an idea of what you wanna create
you will basically run around in all the directions
and you don't really feel like,
does the tool do what I need?
'Cause you don't know what you need, right?
So make sure you have a plan.
You have some idea what you wanna build.
And other than that, watch a lot of YouTube honestly,
because there are great tutorials out there
on how to build things from the beginning,
from zero.
How to build your database,
how to build your user interface,
how to deal with some issues, right?
Every tool has something right?
That you need to take care of.
So I think YouTube is the greatest resource
for that right now.
There is one more resource you should know about,
which is Makerpad.
And Makerpad is basically,
the whole point of Makerpad is to teach no-code
and also, well, to sell services if you need them.
But mainly they will sell you courses and training material
and show you how to build things in Bubble,
Adalo, whatever they have.
And that's actually a great resource.
If you do wanna spend a little bit of cash
to learn this stuff,
but then at least you get it step by step
and you are not stuck in anything.
And there are also some other people
offering this kind of stuff,
but Makerpad really combines.
Is very easy for you to find the tutorial that you need.
- We have links to all these tools in the description.
That's it.
You're ready to move on with your fantastic app idea.
If you want more content, just like this,
please consider pressing like and subscribe.
So you won't miss any future videos.
Thank you very much for watching Raw Startup.
Now stop watching and go build something.
(upbeat music)