Don't fall into these common traps when turning your amazing app idea into reality

5. Only need it on iPhone

Just because you and the five friends you asked only have iPhones or Androids this doesn't accurately represent the market shares of these two platforms. In NZ the market is roughly split 50/50 between them.

4. Add as many bells and whistles as possible

You have this great Core Idea, and then you think 'We could add this!' and that, and the other thing. It's a mistake to pollute your Core Idea with too many other features. Wait until you can be sure they are desired by your users.

3. You already know what your users want

Spoiler alert: you likely don't. Start with your Core Idea as an MVP (Minimal Viable Product). Get it out to customers and then improve it on their feedback. Rinse, repeat. This is known as Agile development and is the most efficient path to the best possible product.

2. Build it and they will come

Developing an app is only the first part of the picture. The other major part is marketing. You need to sell your app. In many cases the cost of marketing may actually be larger than the app's development cost!

1. Just slap some ads on there

If your app is your product, then you need to develop a business plan around it. There are a number of different ways to make money from an app and you need to make an informed decision on how you want to go about doing that.