Building an App Company

oddball · May 3, 2012

Figured I would make a thread to track my progress. I have wanted to get in the app world for some time now. I had an app I was going to make but never went through with it. Ended up watching someone else build it on the android market and made several hundred thousand dollars off it, and he knew nothing about app building. That got me to look back into it more.

After reading that article I posted, I did a lot of research. I have always jotted down app ideas that I wanted to make. I used what I learn to figure out if there is a market for them or not. After some research, I eliminated a few and have a few that could work. I completely figured out my best choice, covered ever aspect of it, and starting find some programmers on elance. Working on getting a few quotes right now, then I will decide who I want to build it.

My goal isn't to create that one home-run app like instagram, although it would be nice, I can't rely on that. I plan to to constantly come out with new apps while maintaining the old ones. I want to create a pool of several successful apps that will create a solid income that will allow me to sell for the highest price.

Tonight I am working on the second app since I have some free time. App #1 is fully thought out, just waiting to hear from a company. Just sent an email to another company tonight to get a quote. I am getting quotes from 3 companies and then making a decision. I have just been going to any similar apps like what I want, seeing what they do good and bad, reading all the reviews, and trying the app. My approach was going to be the lite with ads and paid version for revenue, but after some research, I am going with the free with in-app purchases. Most high grossing apps use this approach, statistics on the in-app purchases is stunning.

So hopefully I can get the first app up and running soon. Between the 3 companies I am going to choose from, I know I will get a good quality app. Then it will be up to my marketing, that is the key with apps. My friends buddy made/makes a ton off apps, his key and secret is marketing. The book I read gave a lot of good information, and what I witnessed from some other apps, I think I have a good idea what to do.

So thats it so far, going to keep progress here. If anyone has questions, comments, or tips for me, please post them up.

Thanks

oddball · May 18, 2012

Haven't posted an update but I've still be working. Spent most of this week working on getting someone hired. After a few quotes from bigger companies that were pretty high, I found a great one from Canada. He gave me the best quote and actually helped me a lot. He first pointed out something that might be an issue with getting it approved by Apple. Luckily it was something small so we got that taken care of. Took him a couple days to get me an estimate but it was a COMPLETE breakdown. The other few estimates I had to ask for breakdowns and they were vague. I mean, this guy sent me an excel doc that had what each thing was going to be, how much, and some had suggestions. I was able to look at it and cut some costs on the initial app. I will incorporate additional things in updates once I get some revenue. He suggested getting the sounds myself to save money, quick elance ad and I got someone to do it for 1/10 what he quoted me at.

The sound guy I found has done apps and games before and the examples he showed were great. Not the cheapest I could have gotten but I think he is the best fit. Hopefully with both, I can create lasting relationships with so I can continue to use them for more apps. I know I am no pro at this since its my first time, but I used me research and think I picked them pretty well. The sound guy said he should have all my sounds within the week, waiting to hear back from the app guy on a more accurate quote after making the changes then I will have him get started.

Tomorrow/Today I plan to do a lot of research again on marketing it. I need to finalize and have a solid plan with some backups ready. Just from watching the app store daily and similar apps, I need to be fast and swift with any changes. I'm sure anyone who has looked or done apps before know changes can happen quick to put you on top or knock you down.

I keep thinking about the app idea I had and didn't execute on and someone else did an made a lot of money. Not going to let that happen again. I realize all these people started in the app business at one point, they were in my shoes not knowing what they were doing so I have to learn somehow. I've already learned a ton but have a long ways to go. I really don't care what people say or what it takes, I am going to make this work. I want to be able to look back on this, and say I did it. Prove to people who think I just have "hopes and dreams" that its not just that, it can be done.

Mike39 · May 18, 2012

I am almost to the point of finding a developer for an app of mine, would be very interested to hear how much (ballpark) its going to cost to get yours built and how complex the app is. Also your experience in finding a developer would be awesome to hear as well. Feel free to PM me if you want. Good luck on the app as well!

oddball · May 18, 2012

PM'd.

Here is a response to the finding developers...

As for experience finding them. I avoiding anything from Asia, that was everyones advice so I stuck to it. I knew the US was going to be expensive so tried for Europe but Canada proved to be best. I basically went through on elance to see what their rating was, how many customers did more work with them, how many jobs they've done, how much revenue they have, and their past work. Also, I wanted a company with a team, not just an individual doing it all.

I want to be able to create a relationship with the companies and have someone to go to for every app. If it comes out good, it will make the next one that easier. Who knows, maybe if I do enough business with them, I can get better deals. I knew this company was going to be good when he started to help point out the possible Apple rejection area. The excel breakdown was great, made it easy to see where dollar was going. Not like the others who said Sound:$xxxx, Programing:$xxxx, etc..etc...

brob742 · May 18, 2012

Would love if you could go into some detail about complexity of app, costs and which sites you liked best to hire from...Also, you mentioned you read a book. What book was it? Did you get the developer to sign a non-disclosure? If so, who drafted it, or where did you get it from?

I'm in the process of finishing a storyboard and looking to post the job for my app. I have a certain budget in mind, but have no idea whatsoever on what this type of app costs to make. Guess we'll see. I'd love to learn more about some of the marketing strategies you're going to use.

Great thread, and I hope to follow some more updates. Great job on taking action.

oddball · May 18, 2012

brob742 said:
Would love if you could go into some detail about complexity of app, costs and which sites you liked best to hire from...Also, you mentioned you read a book. What book was it? Did you get the developer to sign a non-disclosure? If so, who drafted it, or where did you get it from?

I'm in the process of finishing a storyboard and looking to post the job for my app. I have a certain budget in mind, but have no idea whatsoever on what this type of app costs to make. Guess we'll see. I'd love to learn more about some of the marketing strategies you're going to use.

Great thread, and I hope to follow some more updates. Great job on taking action.

It is a game app. Not many levels really, just different backgrounds. Ragdoll type effects with different weapons. Fairly simple idea.
My initial budget was $5k. My first quote was $21k, the next said $12-$15k. Almost trashed the idea then. With the guy I found now, with his breakdown I have got it down close to me budget. At first, he quoted me $9-$10k actually. So its been a lot of back and forth but its been worth it so far. If you want to the contact information for the company I am using, just send me a PM.

I did have in sign a NDA, I got it from the guy who wrote the book. The book was App Empire by Chad Mureta. Can't solely go off what he says, I've done my own research and found some tips/tricks that he didn't talk about a lot.

I will post another post for the marketing strategies later, I have some stuff to get done right now for it first.

brob742 · May 18, 2012

oddball said:
It is a game app. Not many levels really, just different backgrounds. Ragdoll type effects with different weapons. Fairly simple idea.
My initial budget was $5k. My first quote was $21k, the next said $12-$15k. Almost trashed the idea then. With the guy I found now, with his breakdown I have got it down close to me budget. At first, he quoted me $9-$10k actually. So its been a lot of back and forth but its been worth it so far. If you want to the contact information for the company I am using, just send me a PM.

I did have in sign a NDA, I got it from the guy who wrote the book. The book was App Empire by Chad Mureta. Can't solely go off what he says, I've done my own research and found some tips/tricks that he didn't talk about a lot.

I will post another post for the marketing strategies later, I have some stuff to get done right now for it first.

Thanks for the update. Look forward to the marketing strategies and also to seeing the finished product.

oddball · May 18, 2012

My marketing strategy is actually pretty simple. Think of what you look for when you want to download a fun app...the first thing is the icon. So I went with an idea that is colorful and catchy. Hopefully it comes out the way I imagine but I don't care how many times I have to have it tweaked, I want the icon perfect.

Next thing is a good title. I came up with something short and sweet that should spark some interest. Between the icon and title, I need enough to get the person to click it and look at the description or more importantly the screenshots. The screenshots will be another one of my focuses. I know I do, and I'm sure most others, just go right for the screenshots. So I will put 3 or 4 really good ones up, there are 2 similar apps on the market that I will probably copy the style screenshots they use. It worked for them, why not try it? Then I need a good description obviously to get some more interest.

Those are more of the easy things I have covered, keywords it what is more a hit or miss. Everything so far I can look at similar apps that are successful, copy and tweak what they do and see probably get good results. Keywords are different, unless I haven't found it yet (need to check more today), I don't believe you can see the keywords companies use. Actually, I could probably trial and error some keywords to see how where they pop up in a search. But keywords can be huge, thats how someone is going to find you if you are not a top 25, 50, etc. app.

My app is going to be free. Best way to go imo, I am going to have banner ads for some revenue but I'm not counting or expecting that to make me a lot of money. In-app purchases is where I am looking to hit it big. Flurry is an app analysis company that helps you track your apps performance, they showed that the average in-app purchase is $14! Not only that, but there are a lot of people who will buy more than once. The way I have it tiered, purchases can be anywhere from $0.99 to $29.99. The 2 similar apps to mine do have $19.99 options that are pretty popular so thats good. What I may do is have weekend sales where I knock everything down and have the most expensive purchase be $19.99.

I think I covered most of it though. Oh, actually I am going to contact the 2 similar apps and see if we can work in linking to each others apps. Could be a win-win-win, everyone is happy. They already have a huge fan base so it could be huge for me.

oddball · May 18, 2012

As for finished product, he said should be around 6 weeks.

PopEmersen · May 18, 2012

Great thread, Im actually getting an android app built. There have recently been quite of few app threads.

Mike39 · May 18, 2012

wado1 said:
There have recently been quite of few app threads.

I have noticed that too

oddball · May 19, 2012

I think its still not too late to jump in the app game. Like I said before, I had an app idea that I never acted on, someone made a similar one for the Android and made a lot of money on it. It cost him $4k to have it built. $4k to build an app that could make you a lot of money? that is a risk I want to take. I learned my lesson, this time I am doing it, and I am going to do it right or at least learn how to do it right for the next one. Seems like a lot of people post on here and do a lot of talking about building things, myself included, but how many actually do it? I might as well take that step now and do it.

BBarakti · May 19, 2012

Awesome.. Good for you... you can't go fast if you don't actually take the chance to merge into traffic.

Good luck with this.. subscribed.

Kuhzaam · May 21, 2012

Oddball,

I'm trying to learn as much as I can about apps development (just started reading Mureta's book as well), but it is all very new to me. Currently working on some storyboards for an app I would like to have developed. Thanks for posting this thread, I am eager for updates.

Here is my question. Up until reading your thread, I assumed that the best route would be to sell for .99/download. However, I am now going to research the concept of offering a free app, along with the in-app purchases, like you mentioned. Would you mind elaborating on the idea of in-app purchases? What kind of in-app purchases are you going to offer, or what would be an example of popular in-app purchases that other apps currently offer?

oddball · May 22, 2012

For my app, in-app purchases will be for coins to unlock things. You can buy different weapons and normally you have to earn coins by playing. For those too impatient to earn the coins, they will be able to buy them and get the weapons right away. I think its better than the $.99 app purchase because research has shown people are more likely to spend money on in-app purchases than buying apps. I'm going to try it out and see how it goes.

oddball · May 24, 2012

Not much going on right now. Just got updates from the sound guy and the dev. Sounds are basically all done, just a couple more left. The dev wanted to address one issue that could cause an error getting it approved, I think we have it all sorted out so he should be able to continue that.
In the mean time, I have been working on my marketing strategy. Trying to figure out the best keywords to use, I don't want to use popular ones that will bury me at the bottom of the search. This has taken the most thought so far, and I feel is the biggest area to determine success or failure.

oddball · Jun 5, 2012

Been a while since an update so figured today would be good.

Ok, so the sound guy sent the last sounds over but they were what I wanted. He is making some changes and hopefully I will have those in the next couple of days.

Here are what the characters for my app will look like:

A little different from the other two apps like this one, actually a third one just came out. While the dev has been working, I have been reading up and fine tuning my market strategy. I have a lot of work to get done with that before launch so that is my plan for the next couple weeks.

Also, have been taking the time to jot down a few things for more apps. Like I said before, looking to build a company and it won't stop at 1 app no matter how good/bad it does. Thought of a utility app that I think would be fairly simple to have built. Problem is it wouldn't be a frequent use app/long use so I would most likely have to put it at the $1.99 value. I will have to research it more first. The other 2 apps I am thinking about are games again. One is a very popular style of game, but not many at all in the way I want to make it. One did do my method years ago and made lot off it. Couldn't find it now though so that could be good for me. Would go with the free/$.99 style with IAP on that game most likely. The 3rd app is based off a small online game that is popular, would plan to do that one last. There is a lot to it.

Well, I think that is it for now. Will keep you guys posted in the future.

Tarheelfan2009 · Jun 5, 2012

Good job on following through with the development of your idea. Hope its a success!

I also read App Empire by Chad Mureta just a few weeks ago and have been inspired. The past few weeks I have been trying to network with developers and such. Actually had a project being programmed by a local development start-up team and things fell through due to a miscommunication that caused some headache for the development time table....learned some valuable lessons so far and looking forward to trying other ideas.

Keep us posted!

Jake · Jun 6, 2012

Nice update. Great looking characters. Keep pushing forward :eusa_clap:

oddball · Jun 9, 2012

Need some opinions, if you saw this in the app store, would it grab your attention and interest you to click it?
I'm thinking of having them add the semi circle at the top to give it a bubble look, or shadowing around the edge, maybe both. I like the image but feel it looks too flat? Not sure if that is the word I am looking for but yea, please lmk what you think.

itsme · Jun 9, 2012

As you probably know, Apple applies an effect to the images once it's put in the App Store. I used the image you supplied to add to a empty application and uploaded it to my phone so you can see what it would look like when it was all said and done. It might give you a better sense of what it would actually look like. Good luck!

Tarheelfan2009 · Jun 9, 2012

Icon looks good! Looking forward to downloading your app.

oddball · Jun 9, 2012

itsme said:
As you probably know, Apple applies an effect to the images once it's put in the App Store. I used the image you supplied to add to a empty application and uploaded it to my phone so you can see what it would look like when it was all said and done. It might give you a better sense of what it would actually look like. Good luck!

View attachment 3091

Oh, I thought when I read the Apple thing it said your image had to have it. Like, look at the line surfer app and Blitz, they don't have it. But thanks for showing me!

itsme · Jun 9, 2012

oddball said:
Oh, I thought when I read the Apple thing it said your image had to have it. Like, look at the line surfer app and Blitz, they don't have it. But thanks for showing me!

There is a setting in XCode that allows you to apply a Retina display. You can choose to keep it like you have it if you want.

oddball · Jun 13, 2012

Not much to update. Started emailing app reviewers this week to see what it takes to get them to review/feature my app. Also starting getting ahold of some people with good fan base on their social media to see if they could post something when I launch. A buddy of mine told me he knows a couple people with twitters that between the 2, they have ~ a million followers. Couldn't hurt to have them say "Oh, check out this sweet game, so addicting!" Who knows, I need to get on top in the first few days if I can.

SmittyUF · Jun 13, 2012

Oddball i also read Chad Mureta's book. I currently in the process of building my first app as well. I also am an investor in an gaming company and just started doing the marketing for our second release. Our first game release was Raise the Village if you want to check it out. I'm being trained by a former EA marketing guy (through an agreement with another gaming company we are partnered with) who specializes in marketing iOS games. PM me I'd love to get a mastermind group going. Here's a site i just found out about that does keyword research on apps, i think you may find it useful. https://searchman.com/

W( )LF · Jun 13, 2012

I usually browse the forum and never post but this thread made me create an account because I'm also creating an app.

I was just wondering how did you determine that it's a good game/idea. Did you have people play it already? I know you are looking for reviewers but what did your friends say when they played it.

oddball · Jun 13, 2012

W( )LF said:
I usually browse the forum and never post but this thread made me create an account because I'm also creating an app.

I was just wondering how did you determine that it's a good game/idea. Did you have people play it already? I know you are looking for reviewers but what did your friends say when they played it.

The game isn't done so I haven't had anyone play it. I looked at what the market liked. I watched the appstore top lists for quite a while, and I still check it every day. Look for apps that are constantly on the top of the charts but don't have many similar ones. The app I am building had 2 similar before I started, recently a 3rd has come out. Not too worried about the third, I think mind has some nice features theirs don't.

W( )LF · Jun 13, 2012

K. I wish you good luck. Let me know when it's up and I'll dl it.

You got a good price on your app development. Hopefully it works out for u.

oddball · Jun 18, 2012

Alright, so this past weekend the dev sent me a test of the app with testflight. It was just the basics, but it looks good so far. There are a few things at this point I wanted to change, not a big deal. Paid for milestones 3 and 4 (character damage, weapons, sounds, coin system) today, so those should be done in a week and a half or so. I have 75% of the app funded right now, which is nice to know I have been able to keep up with funding no problem. Going on a business trip tomorrow overnight so hoping to have some down time in the evening to get some work on a webpage/twitter/facebook and get them looking good. I will try and get some screen shots from the app uploaded later.

Welcome to the only entrepreneur forum dedicated to building life-changing wealth.

Build a Fastlane business. Earn real financial freedom. Join free.

Building an App Company

Bronze Contributor

Bronze Contributor

Gold Contributor

Bronze Contributor

Bronze Contributor

Bronze Contributor

Bronze Contributor

Bronze Contributor

Bronze Contributor

Bronze Contributor

Gold Contributor

Bronze Contributor

New Contributor

PARKED

Bronze Contributor

Bronze Contributor

Bronze Contributor

Contributor

Platinum Contributor

Bronze Contributor

New Contributor

Contributor

Bronze Contributor

New Contributor

Bronze Contributor

New Contributor

New Contributor

Bronze Contributor

New Contributor

Bronze Contributor

Sponsored Resources: Jumpstart Your Fastlane

Post New Topic

Fastlane Insiders