Our first iPhone application iHappyBirthday has been in the App store for a week now. The following are a few of my thoughts regarding this entire experience.
On the day that our application appeared on the App store, we saw a competing product released on the exact same day! But we didn’t worry too much about it because our application looked better and more polished. But this just illustrates the importance of timing. If you have an idea, it’s almost a sure bet than someone else does too.
Being that this is a two man team, we are really struggling with resources. There are so many things we would have liked to do more with iHappyBirthday but couldn’t due to lack of time and resources. One thing that sorely needed more of our attention was marketing. We didn’t do enough advertising for our first application. Immediately after releasing it, we were hard at work developing our second application. But we’ve decided to spend a bit more time on iHappyBirthday and release an update (version 1.1) before this week is over. And this time, we’ll attempt to do some advertising through review sites and such. And perhaps even think about releasing an ad supported, free or lite version.
The question that begs to be answered is, “Has iHappyBirthday been a success?”
We’re definitely not getting rich. I was hoping it would do better because it is a cute little application that appeals to a wide audience. But once again, perhaps it’s our lack of marketing experience holding us back. But we think that the application has been a wild, run-away success in terms of what we learned from the process. After accounting for all the expenses in creating the application, we’ve made a profit of about $20 (as of today). So at least we didn’t lose money in the process. And hopefully, it will continue selling a steady number of units for the near foreseeable future.
The entire process has been a thrilling experience, but not an easy one. The number of times I refused to go out for a night out of drinking and partying because I had to be home working on this too numerous to count. I’ve neglected a lot of things, such as my sexy figure. I think I’ve put on a few pounds since I started this journey. And with a full time job and graduate school, it’s proven to be quite a challenge. But I sure do feel more productive than dousing my liver in poison. Though I must admit, I did really enjoy the wine I had last night while doing absolutely no work. But I think it’s important to realize that you do need to cool down and take some time off to recharge every now and then.
Our second application is around 70% complete. We’ll be constantly working on new applications, so please check back frequently to see updates.
And also, feedback is always welcome!