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App Development
6 minutes read

How to Sell an App Idea 

By Robert Kazmi
By Robert Kazmi
App Development
6 minutes read

If you think you have a great app idea, you might wonder if you can sell it to buyers interested in mobile apps. Of course, you can try, but the mobile app market is full of great mobile apps, and potential buyers are unlikely to be interested in an unproven app idea. 

Do you want to know how to sell an app idea? First, you’ll have to create a business model, go through the mobile app development process, and demonstrate that your app idea can become a profitable app before potential buyers are interested in it. 

If you want to know how to sell an app quickly, you have come to the wrong place. Nobody is interested in buying an app idea. Instead, you must demonstrate your project’s business concept to sell an app. 

This post will explain how to sell an app, from the initial app idea through launch to app stores. Of course, if you are interested in selling apps, you must spend time and resources building them first. 

Selling Mobile Apps: The Key Steps 

If you want to know how to sell an app, there are a few key steps that you will need to follow to start an online business and develop an application. They are critical steps because you cannot sell an app that doesn’t exist. 

Here are the important steps you’ll need to follow before the sales process can begin in earnest:

  • Come up with an app idea 
  • Perform market research
  • Develop a business concept 
  • Build the application
  • Launch and grow the application 
  • Find investors/sell the app 

Come Up With an App Idea 

Whether you want to sell an app or start an app business, the first step is coming up with an idea. You should be able to fully describe your mobile app idea. This includes:

  • The features it will have
  • The value it will deliver to users
  • Design ideas
  • Name
  • Monetization strategies
  • And anything else related to your mobile app

The ideas you have during this period are not set in stone. Things will change and improve as you learn more about the market and your audience. First, however, you have to start somewhere.

The more detail you can provide at this point, the more you will have to work with when you begin validating your ideas and developing a business plan. 

Perform Market Research 

No matter how great your app idea might seem, you must validate it with market research. If you fail to do target market research, you might find no demand for your application.

It is better to discover that your target audience or the particular market doesn’t find your app idea useful before time, energy, and resources are spent on development. In addition, you might discover the market size for your idea isn’t large enough to warrant investment in app development.

During this process’s research phase, you should understand the market conditions, the direct competition, and the ideal target customer your app business will be marketing and selling to. 

App developers that fail to research before development take big risks. Often research will help hone your app features and monetization strategy. 

Develop a Business Concept

Once your idea has been validated through research, you need to develop a business concept. App businesses have several paths to generating revenue. The path best suited for your app will depend on what you learned during your research.

For example, in some industries, in-app purchases perform better than subscription apps. However, in other instances, subscription apps might be a better approach for the market than in-app purchases. 

The ability of your app business to develop a business concept that demonstrates a path to profitability will be a significant factor in whether anyone is interested in ultimately buying your app idea. 

You don’t have to consistently generate a monthly net profit before selling your app, but you should have a clear business plan that potential investors can review. 

Build the Application 

No one will pay for just an app idea. Therefore, you must employ app developers to build your mobile app before you can hope to sell it. Developing software is an in-depth process with a lot of moving parts. 

We are not going to explore the specifics of development in this post. If you are interested in learning more about this topic, there are a number of great resources in our blog that you can explore for more information regarding application development and design. 

Launch and Grow the Application 

Before launching your app, it will undergo thorough testing to ensure that it functions properly and is free of bugs and other vulnerabilities.

Potential buyers will not purchase an application just because it exists. Now that you have an application, you must demonstrate that there is user demand and grow the user base. Continue to develop your application and add new features to it. 

Increase the visibility of your application and maintain a solid reputation among users. You will be ready to sell your application if you can do this. 

Find Investors/Sell the App 

If you have followed the previous steps, you will be in a good position to sell your app. In some cases, tech giants like Google, Facebook, or Apple will contact you to buy the application. However, you cannot count on this. 

If you are motivated to sell your app but haven’t been contacted by any businesses about acquiring it, there are some steps you can take. 

  1. Create a list of companies capable of buying your app. Search online for information about tech unicorns. Read about recent acquisitions and investments in the tech industry, and don’t limit your search to only your locality. Potential buyers can live in any country. 
  2. Narrow the list down to companies relevant to your app/business. Do further research on the promising companies and look for companies where your app will fit their business model and development roadmap. 
  3. Find contacts in these companies. You will want to look for people who handle investments and business development. In a perfect world, you will find the contact information for the person responsible for business acquisitions. 
  4. Contact the appropriate people and pitch them your app. At this point, if you have a good application, the pitch should be simple. You will demonstrate the value of your app idea and how it can benefit the business that will acquire it. 

How to Sell an App: Final Thoughts 

Companies don’t want to invest in mere app ideas. They are looking for apps that already exist and have some traction or success, even if they are not profitable. Selling an app takes time, so don’t be discouraged if you don’t have immediate success in this endeavor. 

If you want to learn more about how to sell an app and app development, reach out to an experienced software development partner like Koombea.

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