Website/App Idea - Zero Knowledge of Design/Dev! Please help?

A19B1C12

Hey guys,

I have a what I feel is a very good idea for an app/website that I am going to make but I have absolutely no knowledge of how to make these things by myself. I was looking into hiring somebody to create it but I contacted a fairly large app creation company and they said it would cost me several thousand euro as they mainly deal with more established companies and I simply do not have that money as I am a student and I do not feel that this idea should cost the amount they quoted me to set up.

HOWEVER, I was hoping that I could find somebody on here, maybe an independent developer around Dublin or somebody with a good knowledge of how to create websites/apps and hire them to help me make it. If you get in contact with me we can talk prices - with good bonuses based on the success of the creation or if anybody has any info they can share with me or feedback they can give that would be appreciated too.

Not going to give much away here but the app has to be able to;

- sync data between accounts on the website/app

- feature calendar integraton

- allow people to subscribe for payment and set up a profile with the website/app (looking into a freemium concept)

An added bonus would be if somebody from around the Dublin area contacted me as I would ideally like to be able to meet the person face to face, but anybody who feels they could help me please feel free to contact me as I am open to all opinions.

If anybody feels they can create this website/app, needs more info to make their judgement or has any tips for me please feel free to PM me or reply on this thread and all input is gladly appreciated!

Thanks for reading,
johnb03.

KonFusion

If your idea is really that great, save up for a prototype and seek an investor to front the cash.

Or learn to code.

Don't expect anyone to work for free.

/thread

mark renton

Do you want a website or an app, or both?

A19B1C12

I'm not expecting someone to work for free - I am saying that I can pay people a decent amount but not the several thousand that I was being quoted. Read the piece. If somebody here could even help me create a working prototype that would be great!

And I was looking into starting with a website but with a view to creating an app out of it as I believe this would be the cheaper and more workable option with a view to getting the project up and running. I really need to talk to someone who is more knowledgeable about these things though as I am trying to learn but different sources say different things.

KonFusion

johnb03 wrote: »

I'm not expecting someone to work for free - I am saying that I can pay people a decent amount but not the several thousand that I was being quoted.

So what platform do you want this app developed for? Android, Java, other?

And what payment can you offer? What figure do you regard as a decent amount?

A19B1C12

I was hoping that somebody here could quote me what they would regard a decent figure for such a project and we could work from there?

I was thinking a cross platform application. Would that be difficult?

KonFusion

johnb03 wrote: »

I was hoping that somebody here could quote me what they would regard a decent figure for such a project and we could work from there?

You need to provide a more comprehensive brief. Any figures you receive based on the info so far will be arbitrary.

A19B1C12

What more info would be needed?

If you could give me a list of questions to answer that would help?

KonFusion

Google software requirements specification and website requirements document/specification and you'll get an idea.

Also, most, if not all, will ask for an idea of your budget. This is not to screw you over, it's to provide a solution that is possible to fulfill your needs, rather than your wants.

A great help would be if you could provide a link to something similar, not necessarily similar in it's aim (as I'm sure you're reluctant to 'give anything away') but something similar in size or scale.

At the moment we know that you want a website and an app, that will possibly be both available on android and iOS. We also know you wish to sync data between accounts on the website/app, have calendar integration, allow people to subscribe for payment and set up a profile with the website/app (looking into a freemium concept).

This I can assure you, since you're here on a forum used predominantly by Irish developers (or shall we say, 1st world developers), will cost you upwards of several thousand euro.

Now you've already said that's too much, so you need to think about what you need to get off the ground, what you can afford to spend, and then rethink the spec.

I'd also recommend calling more companies (as many as possible), and getting more quotes. This might give you a realistic idea of how much these things cost.

Perhaps contact your local enterprise board as-well.

A19B1C12

Ok something similar in terms of its basic functions would be Evernote -

http://evernote.com/

And my budget would be about a thousand but if the idea took off and I began to make profit from it my point would be that I would compensate the person beyond what they would have expected in the first place (if their price range was beyond me)

I'm hoping my idea isn't too hard to implement but if I'm being unrealistic please tell me.

billyduk

I'm not trying to be rude, but being as vague as you are about the project makes it impossible to quote. When creating a quote we would need a good body of detail about the project in order to know the working hours required to develop this. Without that I don't think you will get a quote here. You don't need to explain the idea initially, just start with thinking about all the features that would be available to the user and how they would experience the site in your view. This might help in getting a ballpark quote, but a full quote would be impossible without knowing the idea.

From what you have explained above it seems like there might be a good deal of work involved which would cost thousands minimum to fully develop. I would take the advice of the other poster and get a designer to create a mockup prototype to show to potential investors. If you are really paranoid that a professional designer is going to steal your idea then you can have them sign a non-disclosure agreement.

KonFusion

johnb03 wrote: »

I'm hoping my idea isn't too hard to implement but if I'm being unrealistic please tell me.

You are being unrealistic.

A great, vast amount of time, skill, and money went into evernote. It's not just an idea and then boom they get it developed. User experience, good user interface design, graphic design, advertising and so forth all contribute/contributed in it's success.

For 1000 euro, I wouldn't expect much, or anything in fact, along those lines. I wouldn't even expect a decent website for 1000.

Perhaps if you offered 50% of the shares in the company (at minimum) then maybe you'd get someone. I know I wouldn't do it for 50% ownership. But who knows, maybe I've got higher standards than others.

My suggestion would be to save. Study the market you intend to break into, do some more research, and then when you've saved enough and are sure that it will make money, then seek consultation, get a prototype built, or at the very least, some wireframes, and then seek an investor.

Edit: As always, I would also seek legal advise in anything you do and dealings you make.

A19B1C12

Thanks for your help guys - I have a better idea now.

SalteeDog

You don't need to know how to code or indeed how to architect a website or app in order to write a Business Requirements Document. Start there - describe what the users do and what the website/app does. Describe what goes on individual screens/pages. Describe the workflow in as much detail as you can. From there, you can start to shop it around development houses. While you are at it , figure out your business model to work out what you can really afford.

amen

Ok something similar in terms of its basic functions would be Evernote

so from the evernote site


"Evernote is an independent, privately held company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Major investors include Meritech Capital, CBC Capital, Sequoia Capital, Morgenthaler Ventures, and DOCOMO Capital."

So major investors.

Did you even look at the team members listed on the website?

There are just the top guys. Loads more in the background.

And you want something similar for €1,000?

srsly78

Can we start brandishing our pitchforks now?

billyduk

srsly78 wrote: »

Can we start brandishing our pitchforks now?

Haha! I think he's realised that he has undervalued the work required at this stage. He's still in college so I presume he is a young guy just chomping at the bit to get his idea rolling. Can't fault him for that. He just needs a more solid business plan than:

1.) Have rough idea of a web based service
2.) Try get it built for less than the cost of a small brochure site
3.) ????
4.) Profit

lemon_remon

Ideas are worth **** all anyway. Google wasn't the first search engine and Facebook wasn't the first social network. It's all about execution and the engineer carries out the execution. To expect them to work for such fees you suggest is ridiculous. They are doing the work, which is what actually matters, not the idea.

cerebus

amen wrote: »

so from the evernote site


"Evernote is an independent, privately held company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Major investors include Meritech Capital, CBC Capital, Sequoia Capital, Morgenthaler Ventures, and DOCOMO Capital."

So major investors.

Did you even look at the team members listed on the website?

There are just the top guys. Loads more in the background.

And you want something similar for €1,000?

Just to expand on the theme: Evernote have raised $250M+ from the investors listed above - a large chunk of this was spent on development. Just to give a sense of how much it costs to build and then scale something like Evernote.