What options do you have to build your app?

You may not be at this point yet, but you may be wondering or you may be held back by the fact that you’re not sure how you’ll build your app once you've gotten through the other phases outlined in my 6-step intro guide.

First, I’m going to assume a few things about you. I’m assuming you’re non technical and new to tech or tech adjacent. If all of the above are true, you have 4 options to build your app:

1. Find a technical cofounder.
2. Hire a freelancer or company to build your app.
3. Learn to code and build it yourself.
4. Use a no-code platform.

Let's talk about what each of these might look like so you have a sense of what might work for you.

If one of your goals for building an app is to build a business/company, you could consider taking on a technical cofounder.

This is someone with a technical background (aka a developer), to whom you would offer a piece of your company and closely collaborate with to build your app. Both you and that person would experience the growing pains of a new company (aka startup).

They wouldn't expect the traditional paycheck or payment for their work, so this works out from a budget perspective. Instead, they would hopefully just want to be a part of the company you're trying to build and are as motivated as you are to see it through until you both get paid.

Finding someone who cares about the problem you're solving just as much as you can be hard, so an alternative could be to hire someone to build your app.

It can be a full time employee, a freelancer, or a company. If you remember from my previous article, the cost of doing this can vary greatly and will be the most expensive option. You won't have to give up a piece of your company, but you will have to shell out some cash.

This is a viable option if you've got some money saved up to put towards this idea.

Learning to code is an option that gives you the most control over what is built but will take the longest to execute if you're new to code.

If learning to code is something you've considered before, this could be a viable option. If this sounds boring, terrifying, or exhausting, it might be more trouble than it's worth.

If you do decide to learn to code, my recommendation would be to learn to code by using your app as the practice project instead of learning to code in a silo and then trying to build your app.

The most viable and inexpensive option for most people is to use a no-code platform.

No-code platforms allow anyone to create an app without the use of traditional code. Instead, they provide an interface that leverages methods such as drag and drop to create your app. Think Squarespace but for apps.

This has opened up the possibility for anyone to create an app without a technical cofounder, without shelling out thousands of dollars to hire someone, and without learning to code.

Though it comes with its own limitations for what you can build, this is the most viable option for those new to this space. It allows you to build what you want, when you want, and how you want (for the most part).

When considering these options, it's important to consider the app you're trying to build, the network of people you might have, the funds you have available, and your resiliency for figuring it out.