You’re ready to grow as an entrepreneur. You want your customers to think of your business when they’re looking at their phones. Now you just need to figure out how to make an app for your business.

Check out these three powerful tips for how to create business apps.

  1. Decide on Your App Idea

Now, you might think, “My business is my app idea.”  But there are some other details to think about when it comes to mobile app development.

The main goal for this step is to make your app as simple as possible. Start with a list of possible ideas and features for your app. Then pick only one major feature that will be the biggest reason for your customers to keep using your app.

Here are three examples of business apps known for doing one thing really well:

  • Uber is a transportation app that helps people get from one place to another.
  • Postmates is a food delivery app that brings people’s fave restaurant meals to them.
  • Spotify is a music-streaming service that lets listeners enjoy their fave songs and discover new music without spending a lot of money.

So, get on your phone’s notes app, or grab a pen and some paper. Make notes on how your app will work, and what feature will be included, and which feature could become most popular or most helpful to your customers.

  1. Make Sketches of Your App

Now that you have your app’s idea, it’s time to do at least a few rough sketches, also called mockups, of your app’s user interfaces and flow processes.

  • User interface(s) (UI) refers to the screens your customers will see when they open your app and move to different screens within your app.
  • Flow process(es) refers to what happens when a customer is using your app and taps on different choices in your app. It answers the common questions including, “What happens if I tap on this button?”

Create some mockups of your app’s UI and make some notes about how your app will flow or move your customers from one screen to another.

  1. Build and Launch Your App

Think about what images and other visual effects you will use for your app.

You have two choices for designing your app:

  • Do it yourself, using a graphics template. If you go with the DIY route, use a design template that is specifically made for either iOS apps or Android apps. You can also use tools like Photoshop to create a graphic design for your app.
  • Have a graphic designer help you. Don’t be afraid to ask, or even hire, someone to help you with graphic design, if creating awesome visuals isn’t one of your strengths.

If you know someone with graphic design experience, ask them for help. You can even consider hiring an affordable graphic designer through freelancing websites like Upwork if your business is already making some money.

Whether you have a self-designed app or get some help, you want to continue creating your app by:

  • using mobile app development software, like an app builder tool, to create the app
  • then launching the app in the App Store and/or in Google Play

Your Next Steps

Congratulations! You now have a brand new app for your business and your customers.

It’s a good idea to promote your app on your business’ website and on social media. You can also do some research to see how your app compares to other similar business apps.

Whatever you choose to do, remember this: You and your app don’t have to do all the things.

Keep yourself and your app focused on the one main feature that’s most helpful to your customers and keeps them coming back for more of your products and services.

Good luck and we hope you and your customers have fun with your business’ new app!