Step 2
Who it's for and why
Who is it for?
Should it make money?
Will you use it yourself every week?The tools that last are the ones their maker opens every day.
Does the person it's for already do this task every week, today, without your app?An app rarely creates a habit; it makes an existing one easier. People liking the idea isn't the same as doing the task.
Is there an app that already does 80% of it?
Is it a fitness, training, timer, to-do or habit app?The most crowded shelf in the app stores, and the hardest to earn from. Answer by what people open it for: if it's the workout, the timer or the list, that's yes. If fitness is only the setting and they come for something else (stories, history, a game), that's partly.
Step 3 · product to sell
The gate (one week, no code)
Can you name who pays, how much, and why they'd switch from what they use now?
How does it charge?A one-time unlock only earns from new buyers each month. Ads only pay at a scale you won't reach soon.
Is the market leader free, with millions of users?
People outside your family who told you, unprompted, they have this problemPeople who liked it when you described it don't count here. Liking an idea costs them nothing.
Sign-ups or payments so farA one-page site with a sign-up form is enough. No app yet.
Where do your first 100 users come from?
Is your kill line written down? (a date and a number, e.g. "8 weeks after launch, under 20 paying users, I stop")
Is another product to sell active right now? (one at a time)
Is someone waiting for it? A partner, a customer who paid up front, or a public launch date
After launch, will you give at least half your hours to marketing?