I just had a first tryst with creating apps. I wanted to build something on my own. And I started with an app.To me it was a very satisfying experience. There were few things about building your own app that were very appealing as I look back at the experience. It taught me about managing your own business as well. Lets take a closer look.
1. Low cost of development: I created my first app within $400. I released the next version within $600. One has to go through some steps initially like finding a good developer and defining the requirements but once that is done, you are on your way. Don't get me wrong, the app costs can go really high particularly if your app involves a lot graphics as in games. But you can start really small, test out the market and then expand if you want to. It is possible to go to market with something really really low cost.
2. Access to the market: If you develop an app on global platforms like the Apple, Salesforce, Android, the world is your market.I have seen my app getting downloaded from faraway countries like Malta, Sri Lanka, South Africa as there is a good installed base of all these popular platforms across the globe. Imagine if you create your own product and you have to sell it in all these countries. Not only would sales expenses rise, but also the marketing, traveling costs etc. So this is a great benefit of creating apps.
3. Learn business basics: When you start small, you can spend time learning your numbers and keeping them in tight control. I am talking about your costs for development, expenses for marketing. You cannot control your revenue but all these app stores provide you with lots of data (ex. demographics of your users) for you to get better understanding of your target market. This allows you to focus your efforts only on that market. So the basics of business can be learnt by creating the apps. For advanced learning I would recommend you to graduate to a building your own product and build the entire ecosystem of sales, marketing, support etc. once you are ready.
4. Opportunity for experimentation: You have ample opportunities to experiment and make errors. You can create multiple apps with some feature differentiation to see which one works and which one does not. You can experiment with new channels to the market. For example, I put an ad on facebook for my app to reach out to facebook users who used iDevices. You can build a new support model and try it out. For me, the number of support complaints reduced after I created a youtube video. When you go end-to-end on your own, these opportunities can be expensive.
5. Ideas are hard, execution is harder: You may very often find that the idea you have in mind has already been developed. But more often than not, the best way to execute it is still undiscovered. And to discover it and to execute it will truly differentiate your app in this highly competitive marketplace.
1. Low cost of development: I created my first app within $400. I released the next version within $600. One has to go through some steps initially like finding a good developer and defining the requirements but once that is done, you are on your way. Don't get me wrong, the app costs can go really high particularly if your app involves a lot graphics as in games. But you can start really small, test out the market and then expand if you want to. It is possible to go to market with something really really low cost.
2. Access to the market: If you develop an app on global platforms like the Apple, Salesforce, Android, the world is your market.I have seen my app getting downloaded from faraway countries like Malta, Sri Lanka, South Africa as there is a good installed base of all these popular platforms across the globe. Imagine if you create your own product and you have to sell it in all these countries. Not only would sales expenses rise, but also the marketing, traveling costs etc. So this is a great benefit of creating apps.
3. Learn business basics: When you start small, you can spend time learning your numbers and keeping them in tight control. I am talking about your costs for development, expenses for marketing. You cannot control your revenue but all these app stores provide you with lots of data (ex. demographics of your users) for you to get better understanding of your target market. This allows you to focus your efforts only on that market. So the basics of business can be learnt by creating the apps. For advanced learning I would recommend you to graduate to a building your own product and build the entire ecosystem of sales, marketing, support etc. once you are ready.
4. Opportunity for experimentation: You have ample opportunities to experiment and make errors. You can create multiple apps with some feature differentiation to see which one works and which one does not. You can experiment with new channels to the market. For example, I put an ad on facebook for my app to reach out to facebook users who used iDevices. You can build a new support model and try it out. For me, the number of support complaints reduced after I created a youtube video. When you go end-to-end on your own, these opportunities can be expensive.
5. Ideas are hard, execution is harder: You may very often find that the idea you have in mind has already been developed. But more often than not, the best way to execute it is still undiscovered. And to discover it and to execute it will truly differentiate your app in this highly competitive marketplace.
