Here is how to start up your app, your business

The idea: This is half the game. Your idea for the app needs to be solid, or it could end up as one of those least-downloaded ones. Your idea should be either so fun that it’s a must-have or it should be a major problem solver. It’s the make or break part of your app.

Get started: First up, get yourself an iPhone, an iPad, and a Mac computer. Enroll for the Apple iPhone Develop Program (Rs.4,455). Download iPhone SDK and iPad SDK, the software development kit.

Make your team: If you are an entrepreneur with no developing experience, you may need a team that can develop, research, design, market, and advertise the app. If you are a developer, ask yourself if you are a good designer, a good marketer and a capable researcher. If the answers are no, you need a team.

Know your iPhone and iPad: You must know your toy, its user interface and its capabilities. We suggest you download the 10 coolest apps, and go mad with them! This will help you figure out which features you would want in your app and which ones you wouldn’t. Also read up on the Apple Guidelines for UI design.

Research, research, research: There is no such thing as too much research. Browse the App Store. See what others are doing and what people are downloading. Look at the Apps that are sitting idle and not being downloaded. That should give you a lot of dope on what not to do.

Ideate: Take a diary or a sketchbook, preferably one that’s the size of an iPhone or an iPad. Now sketch, sketch and sketch some more. Figure out what you would like the home screen to be. What colors would you use? What will be the various buttons on the screen? What sizes would they be? Where will the buttons lead? Repeat this exercise over and over again.

Design it: If you aren’t a designer, hire one. You could look for someone who has designed for mobiles at Coroflot and Elance. If you are a designer yourself, download templates that will make designing less of a chore—provided you have fixed on the layout of the app.

Coding time: If you aren’t a developer, look for developers at Odesk and iPhoneFreelancer. Tip: Opt for developers from the Eastern Bloc and Asia. They are as good as the rest and will cost you less (no disrespect intended!). If you’re a developer, just remember to keep abreast of the latest at all the developer forums.

File it: Once your app is ready, your developer will have to take the lead in submitting it to Apple. You would have to do a bunch of tasks with your developer, too, like creating and publishing the binaries for iTunes. Fix a timeline for this and get cracking.

Shout it out: Your app is ready and published. But
no one’s buying? Well, that’s because you may not be shouting out loud about it. Get on Facebook and set up a fan page for it. Use Twitter to talk with your users to get feedback and drive new traffic to the app.

E-mail everyone on your list personally to give them a preview of the app. Make them feel special about it, and they will talk positively about it to others. Also, interact on fanboy blogs and forums where app lovers converge; listen for feedback there. All that’s left to do, then, is adapt and keep going.