Creating an app or piece of software can be an expensive and time consuming process. However the rewards can be huge if you have a successful app which goes viral or produce a piece of software which can sell millions of copies. A lot of development companies have teams of programmers and it can still take months or years of coding and testing for large projects.
Of course if you don’t have a team of programmers you could teach yourself to code however, similar to creating a website, you have some other options available to you. You can either hire an individual/company to create one on your behalf or use a click and edit app builder.
If you hire a company to program your software or app, it will be a higher initial cost but will give you more control over the functionality. A good place to look for someone to hire to build an app is to do a google search for developers in your local area which is ideal if you prefer to deal with someone in person. The alternative to using a local company is to hire an online company or freelancer. This can give you more choice and therefore be cheaper but it means you will have to explain everything over the internet which can cause its own problems. If they are based in another country there can be the issue of trying to communicate across different time zones or instructions can get lost in translation. Either way, hiring a company whether locally or online is ideal if you have a larger project or more complicated design specification.
If you don’t want to hire someone to build it for you the other option is to use a click and edit app builder which will allow you to keep costs lower but you will lose some of the flexibility and functionality of the app or software itself. This is the better suited option to those with a smaller budget and more straight forward concept. Some good click and edit app builders are AppyPie and BuildFire.
Whichever option you choose you will need to do your market research to ensure there is demand in the niche you are going to create the app or software for. Then have a clear plan of exactly how you want your app/software to look and what you want it to do. Set yourself a budget and try to stick to it. Although you can make a lot of money through a successful App or piece of software it can require a substantial initial investment.
Before you build the software or app, you would generally decide how to make money from it. You can do this in one of several ways or a combination of them:
- Pay to Purchase – Becoming less common because of the availability of free apps and software. But you can charge a fee to download.
- Ad Revenue – Showing ad’s to your user. Many different type of advertising available.
- Charging to remove Ads – You can offer a user the ability to remove ads for a charge.
- In-App purchases – Purchasing items, additional services etc within the app or software itself.
- Affiliate Programs – Earning commission from selling other products and services.
Top Tip
You don’t need a complicated or sophisticated idea for an app. Sometimes the simple but addictive game can make you more money than you would imagine. Flappy Bird was one such example which was released in May 2013 as a simple game where the user had to guide a bird through a series of obstacles. By early 2014 the game was pulling in $50,000 a day in revenue.
According to Forbes as of November 2017, all of the top 10 grossing mobile games in both the App Store and Google Play are free-to-play games. They then make money through in app purchases or advertising.
Recommended Reading
App Secrets – How To Create A Million Dollar App
The App Factory Playbook – How You Can Develop Your App Idea Without Learning to Code and Without a Technical Co-Founder
Sites to use
AppyPie – Make an app without coding.
BuildFire – App Builder for iOS & Android.