Technology is a great thing, it always has been. Everything it can do and how it connects people has me in awe of it since the debut of the internet. However, it is not my cup of tea, my passion, nor an interest of mine. As long as I push a button and it comes on, I’m good. The coding, the languages, the hardware and software of what makes the internet the internet or what makes a computer work, I’m not that interested.
That is until the digital age developed Apps.
Apps were described to me as “digital real estate”, but it never sunk in what the cost of that “real estate” would be. God gifted me with an idea and I decided if I’m ever gonna take a chance with business this might be a good way to start. So I started doing some research. Do you know how much is out there to give you a reasonable foundation to build an app? Quite a bit, in fact I felt like I had been reading things for months that gave me a pretty good understanding of what it would take to develop an app. At the time the clubhouse came around so I listened and messaged and talked with those who were a bit more savvy than I.
Great. Now it’s time for the app development companies to woo me with their sales pitches. A larger American based company lured me in with a reasonable price to do the discovery and wireframes, then BAM … they wanted $80,000 to develop the app…. Absolutely not. Spoke with some more people and was given the idea to go overseas because it may be cheaper…. Okay so I interviewed three Indian based companies. Thus began my journey with company X.
Company X had great sales people, colorful reports and contracts that were very eye catching to present a convincing story of how they are invested in your app and will provide the very best work in a timely fashion. Right…. As a non tech founder, you don’t know what you don’t know. I was diligent in meeting with them early in the morning before work and emailing information over to them. I was asking questions for things I was not clear on or didn’t understand and they were very accommodating to explain those things to me… I learned a lot. Then Covid hit. The timeline kept getting pushed back. The emails were not getting answered in a timely fashion. Frustration set in. I began to feel I needed help, technically. What could I do? They were 13 hours ahead of me in a country across the world. It’s not like I could pop up and see what the heck was going on, so I stewed.
Finally, finally my app was ready. I was so excited to send to my investors and get a beta test going and it became too complicated just to let the people who invested in me and my idea, to get the app for free! What the heck?!I asked some friends and family to try it out, but was told they couldn’t find it on the IOS and Google play store…hmmmm. Long months went by, no income. Tried some marketing strategies, no income. I’m thinking to myself, “what? Why is this not working?” I reassessed, came up with some updates and new ideas to make a fresh new approach… company X says another $1000 plus $10,000 to make the upgrades. Oh by the way I’m still paying monthly to maintain the app so people can find and use it. End of year 1.
Year 2 begins and the app is still not making any income. Frustrated at the sense of dismissiveness from Company X and how my app is now not a “priority” I still believe in the product and want it to work. Now that I am not a priority to Company X my account is being handed off to several different people who still are not responding to me in the way that I would like. The second round of updates are finally complete after months of waiting with no income in sight.
After about 2 years of being a dead stick in the water, I think about shutting down shop and selling the app. However with not that many users or downloads the app is not worth anything NEAR what I have put into it and I say “ nope, there is another way.”
Just after the beginning of year 3, I was introduced to @vivfysolutions. This company turned the whole thing around. I shared my story and the staff said the hear it regularly and created their company to support people like me so that we don’t have to go through the foolishness. Since the principal founder of @vivfysolutions has a technical background, the amount of information they gave me as a non technical founder ASTOUNDED me.
That’s when it hit me, as a nontechnical founder, you don’t know what you don’t know.
The app is not making money because these safeguards are not in place, and you need to have this in place to make that work. Listen, these app development companies are not invested in ANYTHING you have, they want your money. As long as you keep giving it to them, they WILL take it. In the interim of finding @vivfysolutions, I interviewed several developers who were the right price, located in the states, and willing to “help” me out of the situation I was in. But if not for God…. So many red flags were coming up and I said this is too much money for me to lose over some flags I see waving all over the place.
If you have an idea for an app, no matter how much research you do, I URGE you to find a technical partner. You don’t know what you don’t know! Since working with @vivfysolutions things have been so much easier, timely and accurate.
My app Business Builderz, has transformed into THE business development tool for new entrepreneurs to gain skills and create a business plan template free. This tool gives you the best opportunity to build a foundation for your business. It provides a guided approach for your business operations along with business templates and resources to start your business.
What do I need to start a successful business? Faith in yourself and your abilities, financial support, and Business Builderz!
This journey has opened my eyes to what I don’t know as a nontechnical founder. It’s a hard lesson to learn with A LOT of money attached to it. Take my advice, find a technical partner founder or person, because this App game is too expensive to be out here not knowing things. If I can help somebody…..
As always, building the skillz…..
Baumtech visionary
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