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The following a slightly exaggerated story based on actual events. Names have been changed to protect the innocent.
Johnny Appleseed was out driving recently and while waiting at a stop light something caught his eye. A sign attached to a telephone pole read:
Johnny thought that sounded pretty good. He quickly jotted down the telephone number listed and rushed home so he could see if this was the big break he’s been waiting for. After what seemed like 20 rings, a recording came on the line.
Johnny pressed ‘1′ and learned the secret to making $5000 per week from home. The message said to build a simple, useless application for the iPhone and publish it to the App Store. After that Apple would do the rest to ensure that thousands of people would buy the app every day. Johnny could hardly contain himself and immediately conjured up hundreds of iPhone app ideas. Brainstorming turned to daydreaming as Johnny imagined his future on a sandy beach sipping margaritas. All thanks to iPhone.
We receive hundreds emails a week from people interested in creating iPhone apps. In a previous blog entry earlier this year I discussed the iPhone as an exercise in entrepreneurship. I think it is terrific to see people from all walks of life — not just experienced software engineers — exploring the brave new world of iPhone app development.
With the new world comes a wave of opportunists like Johnny who are blinded by dollar signs and not prepared for the challenge. Developing apps is hardly a cakewalk as is evident by the inventory of poor quality apps that liter the App Store.
Consider any other market segment in the business world. Startups come and go. Those that survive and thrive may not have had a unique idea. Entrepreneurs often talk about this. Ideas, they say, are a dime a dozen. Execution is what determines success or failure.
I have a few suggestions for anyone consideration iPhone app entrepreneurship:
- Choose the right monetization strategy
- Respond with haste to all support issues
- Set a very high quality threshold
- Don’t forget the rest of the world
To determine price, you need to first figure out who your target market is. Hint: for most apps, your target market is probably not “all iPhone users, everywhere.” Far too many apps are priced for volume on the App Store despite not having a larger enough target market. If your niche app can command $9.99 from those users or industries that would benefit from what you offer, why price your app at $0.99? All you are doing is reducing your chance of breaking even and turning a profit.
If someone tries your app and has a problem, your ability to respond swiftly will set your apart. The majority of iPhone app publishers don’t have rapid turnaround time for support issues. This is understandable since most of the 10,000 apps on the store today were built by independent developers. This is a great opportunity to differentiate, turn someone’s problem around, and ultimately earn their trust. iPhone users have been burned by sub-par paid apps so word of mouth advertising has become very important. Think of great support as a great way to generate referrals.
Resist the temptation to ship to the App Store just because you have basic functionality in place. Is your artwork perfect? Is the app stable? Is your user experience right? A great quality filter is to try to think like Apple. How would your app be different if Apple built it? Strive for that bar.
iPhone adoption internationally is growing quickly. Localizing your storefront description as well as text in your app can go a long way to increase the size of your target market. This doesn’t mean you have to support every single language out of the gate, but have a strategy in place to roll out additional language support over time as you find reliable translators.
The App Store is remarkable example of entrepreneurship in action. However, it is vital to recognize that like all other ventures the App Store isn’t a free ride. If you aren’t willing to approach your app idea as a business, don’t expect the impossible. If you are willing to invest the required time, energy, and money to get it right then the App Store offers a tremendous amount of opportunity.
