The Beginnings of a New App Business
I have always dreamed of achieving financial freedom and have invested a great deal of time / money into trading on the share-market, buying real estate investments, get rich quick schemes and the list goes on.
So far these initiatives have provided limited results however developing iPhone Apps was something I hadn’t ever dreamt of doing!
By chance I had the opportunity to catch up with an old friend who was having great success as an App Developer creating apps within a niche market that he was involved in. After showing me that he was making significant profits selling iPhone applications, and I mean significant, I was “hooked”.
After a little encouragement from my friend I decided to take the plunge into App Development and started Sideys Apps!
To get started and to develop my understanding of the App World I read the App Empire EBook and this was a fantastic opening to the endless opportunities to make passive income from starting your own App Business…
Barriers To Entry in the App Development World
Forms and Paperwork
I found that the process in starting out as an App Developer was quite involved after signing up. In Australia there are certain requirements to getting started such as applying for an Australian Business Number (ABN) and also then Registering for GST (Goods and Services Tax).
Waiting for these accreditations to be set up and approved can be an arduous process in itself and several phone calls to the Tax Office to verify your business venture is a legitimate one.
Starting your own App Business needs to be treated as a real business because without putting in 100% you will fail.
Tools of the Trade
Having the correct equipment can also be a significant barrier to entry as it is costly to own a MacBook Computer, iPad and iPhone. Without these to use as tools in creating, testing and assessing your applications you simply cannot begin.
You will find that the costs associated with App development can become quite expensive therefore many people are scared off by this or never progress past their first app if it fails.
Developers and App Programming
Next comes the hard part!
Finding a developer to turn your idea into reality is an extremely hard task when you’re starting out.
- Is the developer capable of creating the features your app requires?
- Will they do it within your budget?
- Are they reliable and will they provide what you have asked of them?
There are so many different questions that need to be considered whilst trying to find a developer.
I didn’t have the available funds to have the iChangeFaces app made locally as the costs in Australia to develop an app are very high! Outsourcing my job overseas was the key!
I personally knew what I wanted and through the Elance.com website, I posted a job looking to hire a developer. I found one. He was based out of Romania of all places, yet communicated with perfect English via effective emails in which I could have the app created.
Continual ongoing support is required from a developer in order to maintain your app as new iOS systems are developed, app updates are needed or fixing bugs that may arise from users operating your app. Hence a reliable developer can become quite important.
If you decide to purchase an existing iOS application from a developer, buyers beware!
Generally they are selling them in order to offload a non-performing asset or be wary of developers and include a refund clause in your purchase contract so that if the app is rejected by the app store, you can get your money back.
Once you have found a developer you like and trust, reward / praise them in some way so that they enjoy working with you and in future you may find that they go above and beyond when helping you out on your next app.
Simply getting used to using the Xcode program used to develop apps is quite difficult. Without the help of YouTube, Google and developers forums I would have found it very hard to learn the basics of this program and getting an app ready for submission to the App Store.
The internet is a fantastic source of information however unless you find the exact answer for your question, you can waste many hours searching and then end up pulling your hair out!