“ A dream without a goal is a wish. A Goal without a Plan is just a dream..”
-Unknown
As we embark on the app development path, it is easy to get caught up in the excitement of the moment and visions of your first app rising up the app charts and neglect two crucial elements – goal-setting and planning. To many of us, setting a goal and gameplan is both tedious and boring.
“C’mon, let’s just skip to the good part!”, you may say. It’s tempting to just plow on straight ahead with a vague idea of what needs to be done, when they should be completed, and how they will be accomplished. Don’t fool yourself, that strategy hardly ends well.
Imagine Columbus setting sail without a compass… He would have meandered aimlessly off the coast of Spain for awhile before returning empty-handed to the monarchs who funded his voyage. Utter failure. (Ya, the natives of the New World would have been spared from the ruthless treatment and subjugation under Columbus and his crew, but let’s disregard that for the purposes of this illustration and hope that your well planned and executed dream doesn’t result in such horror, shall we?)
I’m plotting a course for the app store. There is sure to be many moments along the way when the path isn’t clear and I’m scrambling for GPS directions, but goals will keep me on track. So here it goes:
Goal #1: Operation Re-Skin – Get a Re-Skinned App into the App Store
Reskinning is the process of purchasing a fully developed code for an app and replacing the design and art assets with new design. I understand that this method isn’t looked upon too favorably in some circles, but it does provide a time-effective way to get one’s first taste of app store success. The goal here is to get into the app store as quickly as possible, and begin to grasp the basics of app development and app marketing along the way. I view it as a valuable learning experience and a way of tasting success early enough in the process to keep the motivation juices flowing.
This will be my first leg of the journey.
Goal #2: Code Competency – Acquire Basic Coding Skills
Complete tutorials and training books to become self-sufficient in coding my first real, original app. The goal here is to get enough coding knowledge to create a basic app that passes muster. The language of choice? I am thinking Lua, which is the default language of the popular 2D app development kit Corona SDK.
Goal #3: The Big Launch – Release an 100% Original App or Game
This is the ultimate goal and purpose of this blog. I intend on creating an app 100% from scratch (including code, art, music and sound) and launching it in the app store. I will document every step in the process as a resource for other newbie developers and burgeoning app entrepreneurs. It is my hope that I will leave behind a trail of blog posts that will help guide devs on everything from market research, brainstorming app ideas, app development, app marketing, monetization and so forth.
Watch this space, the journey is set to begin. In my next post, I will detail the plan for #OpReskin.
Leave a Reply