Launching a Tech Startup Without Technical Knowledge

Having an idea about how to solve a particular, common problem is your biggest asset and is more important than knowing how to build an app.

We all tend to imagine a tech startup entrepreneur as a Silicon Valley geek who lives and breathes code. Mark Zuckerberg might be a college dropout, although he fixed that recently, but the man has coding at his fingertips. However, this may come as a surprise, but you don’t actually have to be a software programmer or an engineer if you want to build an app or web service. Of course, it will take a lot of work and persistence, but it’s not impossible. 
A technical co-founder would be a welcome addition, but it’s not a must. There will be some rough patches and bumps on the road, you can count on that, but with a clear vision and a talented team, you can make it, even if 01000001 is nothing more than a string of numbers to you. 

I’ve got an idea 

This is a fundamental building block of any new application, service, or product. Having an idea about how to solve a particular, common problem is your biggest asset and is more important than knowing how to build an app. So, the first thing that you should do is conduct market research and see whether there’s a need for the app or service that you plan on launching. Identifying your target audience’s pain points is crucial for the development of your potential offering. If you put a lot of effort into all this, you‘ll be able to spot a gap in the market and fill it. 

Product/market fit

Your idea might be brilliant, but before proceeding to any further development, you need to find out whether your concept can meet ever-increasing demands of the oversaturated market. When it comes to creating an MVP, it’s of vital importance to build something that will successfully address and solve your target audience’s problems. That should be your main concern, as your primary idea is to help your customers, right? 
Many entrepreneurs get carried away with tech details and focus on building a product, forgetting about their primary goal, that is providing their customers with an effective solution to their problems and obstacles, along the way. Many successful startups didn’t have an automated platform or service, and they manually performed some of the tasks, thus making sure that people were willing to pay until they actually built their products. 

Technical support

This is a tricky step. Namely, when the time comes to start building and developing a prototype, you will have to hire developers. If you don’t know the first thing about coding, it will be virtually impossible for you to interview candidates, as your lack of technical knowledge means that you wouldn’t be able to assess their hard skills and expertise. One way to solve this is to find a tech partner, but if you don’t want to get into that, you might hire a superstar coder to help you find the best people for your team. 
There’s another dilemma that many startups face at the beginning of their journey: outsourcing or hiring in-house. According to some experienced entrepreneurs, outsourcing is a good option when it comes to building the first version of your product. After you’ve established product-market fit, you should hire developers in-house. The main reason for such a suggestion could be put down to significantly higher costs of the second option. 

Create your business’ identity

Before you officially hit the market with your product or service, you need to distinguish your business from your competition and create its unique identity. Choose a short, memorable name that reflects what your business is about, and get a suitable domain. Your website and landing page are extremely important for your business, so hiring experienced web designers should at the top of your list. Luckily, it’s easy to find reliable IT support and make sure that your digital presence is properly implemented and maintained. There’s no need to wait until your product is built to launch your landing page. Use it to generate leads and keep them updated about the release. This way you can also create buzz and anticipation among your audience. Last but not least, create your company’s logo, but as visual identity is very important, don’t resort to free solutions. 
It can’t be denied that having technical knowledge is a big plus, it’s still possible to launch a successful startup even if your tech skills leave much to be desired.