Whether you are a techie or a non-techie, if you are looking for a business idea that’s relatively easy to execute and is low in budget, you find it in iPhone application development. This is what we can call the most impressive plus point of iPhone app development business. It’s one of the rare tech-based business ideas that implicitly suits non-technical individuals too because:
Firstly, you get to learn all the ins and outs of this business handily. The internet is the best reference to accomplish this purpose.
Secondly, the investment is not like you would find in a conventional business. The only thing is that you have to be highly determined and persistent in the matter of success on this platform and need to be selecting the right people to build up your project development team.
Investment vs. potential earnings
For developing or selling apps on Apple’s iPhone, you will need an Apple computer, an iPhone, and subscription to the iOS Developer Program. This all could take an investment that may go a little beyond $2000, and adding to it would be the cost of the personnel you hire and your marketing budget. While the development cost may vary depending upon your different needs, a basic marketing budget would definitely fall in the range of $900 and $1000.
Talking about sales, most of the paid apps sell for around $1. Apple takes 30% commission on all apps sold through the iTunes Store. Your potential earnings would, thus, largely be determined by how well you market and promote you app to make it popular on the App Store. The better you do that the more you earn. The current picture reveals that iPhone app developers make anywhere from a few tens of dollars to several million dollars per year from their app sales.
The pros and cons of this business
The factors that make an iPhone app development business advantageous include low start-up costs, no infrastructural needs (like an office) as you can run it anywhere using just a single laptop or a computer, no need of putting in full-time hours (can be done alongside your main occupation), and a short-time marketing demand (from a few days to a couple of months).
The negative aspect, however, is that it’s a big challenge to stand out from the crowd in this business as it is a crowded, hit-driven marketplace where new apps keep getting developed and released on a daily basis, and in addition to that, the selling price for the apps is largely fixed as there’s hardly a scope to retail an app for more than $0.99 and also because many of them are free (though there’s still a possibility to make money from free apps).
Finally, how to start with it…..
1. Acquiring the required technical skills and hardware, in case you don’t have these. Alternatively, you can hire a freelance programmer or partner someone who can completely handle the technical side of it. Once this is accomplished, join the iPhone Developers Program.
2. Develop the iPhone app idea. You may need to hire other professionals, such as graphic designers, sound and music experts (especially for a gaming app).
3. Undertake development and submit your app to Apple.
4. Once your app is approved, start marketing in different ways like sending out press releases to blogs and news sites and telling about it on social media sites and within your personal network. Getting your app reviewed by popular bloggers in the relevant niche can also help draw public attention online. A free demo could be created (a strategy adopted for the popular iShoot app that worked really well for them). Many developers have tried making their app popular by offering it for free to the members of jailbreak community before its official release, which creates a set of fans for the app even before the app is officially released. If you want to earn by other means, you can pick up the “free app” route where you don’t price your app at all but earn through advertising embedded in the app. As the app costs nothing to its users, it is likely to gain an easy popularity and boost your ad revenue.
Even if you are not an iPhone app developer yourself, there’s a great business opportunity lying in iPhone app development that just takes your sharp business sense in terms of investment and employing technical skills and a good marketing and promotion ability.