Let’s say trading your life with someone else is possible. Right now, who would you want to be? Most people would immediately like to swap places with Bill Gates, Carlos Slim, and Mark Zuckerberg. I would not recommend that. A business magnate has to face too much pressure for a multi-billion industry.
For me, I would love to swap my shoes with Dong Nguyen the famous developer who created “Flappy Bird” app. I know it would be little difficult for my friends to pronounce my name correctly, yet I believe with a $50,000 daily income (from in app advertisements) I wouldn’t care much about the right pronunciation of my name.
This way you can enjoy your celebrity like status, all that fortune, along with a life without multi-billion industry decision making. Yet, it proved too much for the poor fellow, Dong Nguyen. He took down his app from the App Store after it became an overnight sensation. Mobile app success is a strange phenomena. An app like Flappy bird can go berserk and a useful app can go flat even despite its the useful functions.
In a recent post, Henrik Werdelin, managing director of Prehype said, recreating Twitter’s experience is not difficult. It will take approximately 10 hours. However, layered features will take time to settle in. I think when he says “layered features” it means making a product relevant and instinctive for the users. According to Werdelin you need $50,000 to 250,000 to bring a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) into the market.
In the same interview, Saul (CMO iStrategy Labs) said that he would need a 20 man team for more than a year with a budget of $2.2 million for an app like Angry Birds. He said the budget may increase if you hire a digital agency. The reason behind such a huge budget is that you need to develop a brand identity, including the logo, color palette and typography. Saul further added that you need to develop the UX, both for the app itself and especially for the game.
It is very true that today you cannot build Twitter, Instagram, Vine, and Angry Birds for a billion dollars. Even if you do get a replica with a couple of million, there is a 90 percent chance that no one will use it. So, what should you do as a young entrepreneur? I think in order to build something incredible, engaging, and new you will have to think differently. You will have to solve a problem or improve an existing process through a better, faster and cheaper app.
Wrap Up
We have analyzed a couple of apps during this analysis and we have found that it is not easy to build an incredible idea with a minimum budget. Even if you’re trying to bring a minimum viable product (MVP) in the market, you still need thousands of dollars. The success and cost factors of a successful app depend upon hiring the right designer, developer and product manager.
