Just answer this amazing question-
Which one people love the most; either the Angry Birds app or Michael Jackson?
If your answer is Michael Jackson, sadly you are wrong.
Angry Birds app has been downloaded for up to 200 million times more than Michael Jackson’s biggest-selling album Thriller which sold only 110 million.
Interesting, isn’t it?
Today, mobile app has become the next power in the modern world and is the first choice of every startup company, entrepreneur, enterprise, and business organization who want to boost their business growth or establish their new ideas.
It is not only a great source of earning but also turning many people into millionaires, and some of them even billionaires.
Mark Zuckerberg, the owner of Facebook app and the world’s 5th top billionaire, is a developer by profession, and many new entrepreneurs are making millions through their mobile apps.
If you are an Appreneur who want to establish a business and make huge profits from a mobile application, you must be thinking-
Can a mobile app make you a millionaire?
In this blog, you will know the secrets of how some mobile apps are making millions of money and turning their app owner into millionaires.
You will learn from the success of some entrepreneurs who are young in their age yet they developed a mobile app that generates high revenues.
How famous apps are generating millions annually?
Do you know which is the top-grossing mobile game in 2021?
It is Honour of Kings that makes $258.8 million revenues per year. It has been developed by Tencent, the same company who developed the PUBG mobile game.
You can see a game app is able to make millions of revenues annually.
Yes, you can say that this game application has been developed by a well-known enterprise Tencent, and small companies or startups generally don’t have many resources to invest in mobile game development at a large scale.
Okay, that is a valid point. But wait, before getting to a conclusion read this short story of another game app.
Clash of Clans, built by Supercell, is #1 top-grossing mobile game in the USA and its developers have earned millions since its initial release.
They are able to make profits through an app monetization model Freemium and Pay-to-Wait. It basically means, users can download the app and use its certain features for free, but to use its premium features users need to pay for that.
With pay-to-wait, users had to wait for the higher level to unlock, which could take time anywhere between a few minutes to many hours, or users simply pay to go ahead.
If you pay attention closely, you will find Clash of Clans is a revolutionary application in the mobile game industry that generates high revenues on the basis of a strategically planned revenue model.
Do you know how much they have earned in their entire lifetime since they started?
It is 4314.75 million USD
Incredible! Isn’t it?
And you would be surprised again to know Supercell, who built Clash of Clans, was a small company of about 15 people only; however, they managed to succeed tremendously.
So, how the makers of Clash of Clans got successful?
There is a huge myth amongst app developers that one needs to develop a kickass platform like Facebook or some fancy game like Pokemon Go to become rich.
If you search on the Internet, you will find thousands of articles explaining to you how to develop a mobile app like Facebook and become the next Mark Zukerberg.
It sounds alluring, but there is something unrealistic factor- what is that?
There is huge competition among social messaging apps: Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Line, Snapchat, Tinder, Hike, Telegram, Signal, and behind every messaging app there is strong support by a brand.
These apps have become popular not in just overnight but have traveled a long journey with constant investment in mobile app development. Therefore, practically it is not an intelligent idea to build an app like Facebook.
So, does it mean one should not build messaging apps and make millions like these famous apps?
Of course not!
You must be aware of WhatsApp and probably would be using it too. WhatsApp has over 1billion users and it is the most popular messaging app worldwide, and it’s free for all.
Guess how much its founders have earned from this app-
- Jan Koum- his net worth is estimated at $9.7 billion.
- Brian Action- his worth is estimated at $4.6 billion.
Interesting! The app is free yet their owners made huge profits.
How?
They sold WhatsApp to Facebook for approximately $19.3 Billion.
These guys created a free app and both are BILLIONAIRES today, not millionaires.
So, did the makers of WhatsApp copy Facebook?
Not at all, instead, they simply build an app that hits users’ demand and gets recognized across the world and used by millions of users. For other companies, these massive users are worth money and that is why they were able to make a billion-dollar deal with Facebook.
And this is what Clash of Clans did. They started their journey in 2010 as a small company with 15 people working in smaller teams to develop a cross-platform mobile game.
They were working on a game idea when the game industry wasn’t advanced like what we see today in the modern time.
Their superstar game Clash of Clans came out as something code-named “Magic”. They wanted to bring the real, hardcore gamers who loved real-time strategy games to the mobile platform.
They used in-app purchase model in the app monetization which asks users to buy something within the app.
The game got so popular that people addictively love to play it and pay for the gems and in-app purchases etc. In this way, the makers of Clash of Clans are now able to earn $2 million per day from 8.5 million global players.
Now you have understood making a lot of money from a mobile app is not an easy task rather it involves great ideation and long-term strategy to constantly engage users and turn them into paying customers.
If you deeply analyze the success of these famous apps, you will find the:
Formula that helps companies to build a million-dollar app
1. Have a great app idea:
This is the foremost step. To develop a mobile app, it is highly essential that you come up with a mind-blowing idea and work out to determine how feasible is this in the real world. Ensure you get a target audience who love app concept.
You can take a poll to determine how useful people think your app is going to be. Normally, successful apps can either be problem-solving like WhatsApp or simply for fun like the Angry Birds app, Clash of Clans, etc.
You should think about what really is lacking in today’s users’ life. Then you can create an app that you think it can solve user’s problems or provide engaging services.
Android app development company in India can help you in the app ideation process if you struggle to find something extra-ordinary concept.
2. Do extensive market research
According to a report, market research sets the stage for not only the app idea but also for sales and marketing plans. You should follow the top trending apps in your target app categories and use them on a regular basis and become a frequent user.
In this way, you will able to dig deeper into the market and understand what the customer exactly wants.
From this research data, you will know the traits of top trending apps that will give you the right app design approach and strategic marketing insights.
3. Either do breakthrough innovation or copy smartly
Copying a popular idea isn’t a bad idea. You only need to present it in a more effective way than the existing one to win the competition.
If you are thinking about whether you should develop an innovative app that offers something different or simply create a similar app that solves users’ needs. In both ways, it must meet audience expectations and help them effectively.
For example, retro photo trend+ social tagging= Instagram
4. Find ways to monetize your app
To make money is the ultimate goal of your mobile app. Choose which app monetization model suits best your app. However, most apps utilize three types of app revenue models: Freemium, In-app purchase, and In-app ads.
Depending on the market of the app, you should wisely choose the model that works in long term and retain users.
For example, in-app purchase model is recommended for mobile games. Clash of Clans used the same model in their app and the rest of the story you already know.
5. Be an Apprenuer
An apprenuer is a kind of entrepreneur who engages in the business of mobile application development.
Anyone can be apprenuer from teenagers to professional developers or software engineers to an IT expert. You should have some basic technical or mobile industry-related knowledge on how to plan your mobile app development along with:
- How to automate your mobile app business
- How to set up roles for your teams such as app developer, programmer, designer, and even an accountant
- How to ensure the quality and performance of the app before its official launch
- How to improve the errors and changes if you find during the app testing through an iterative testing process
That’s it.
This is the formula that the makers of WhatsApp, Clash of Clans, Candy Crush, Facebook, etc. incorporated into their app development strategy and succeeded to make a whopping sum.
And today, there are many young entrepreneurs who have become millionaires through developing a mobile app that got successful in influencing the market.
Let’s meet those-
Young entrepreneurs who made millions:
App: Summly/Trimmit
Owner: Nick A’loisio, Yahoo!
Revenue: annual estimation $30 million
Nick is an app developer from the UK and an internet entrepreneur. In March 2011, Nick developed an iOS app called Trimmit that uses an analytical tool to condense the text content into 1000, 500, or 140-character summary text.
This app draws the attention of Apple, which later featured as a new noteworthy application on the App Store. Then, the growing potential of the Trimmit app attracted the attention of a billionaire who provided Nick with $300,000 in venture capital funding.
During this period, even iPhone application development company in India find many challenges in build such kind of apps for iOS platform.
It made Nick one of the youngest self-made millionaires. In March 2013, the app was sold to Yahoo! for $30 million.
What made his app successful: His Trimit app condenses the blog posts and emails with an algorithm for especially iOS platform.
App: Kiip
Owner: Brian Wong
Revenue: annual estimation over $20 million
Brian Wong is a Canadian apprenuer who came into the limelight when his app Kiip created a buzz in the market. Kiip is a mobile app rewarding mobile platform that allows companies and brands to give real-world rewards for in-game achievements.
It sends 500 million moments of achievement-based reward notifications to customers on a monthly basis through its own network.
What made his app successful: This app used the idea of a rewarding mobile platform that appreciates users’ performance and motivates them to use the app continuously.
As a result, this app helped companies retain their existing users for a long time and turning them into loyal customers.
App: Fingerprint Security Pro app
Owner: Chad Mureta
Revenue: annual estimation $900K
Meet this man who is a true definition of an appraiser. He was a real estate agent before he got fame for his Fingerprint Security Pro app. He got the idea of his app accidentally when he noticed the doctors at the hospital were looking through his phone and thought about security.
It strikes Chad’s mind and then he started working on an app idea without any background or knowledge in mobile app technology.
After few months, he came up with the Fingerprint Security Pro app that allows owners of an Android device with a fingerprint sensor to secure the app with users’ fingerprints. This app managed to earn $30,000 per month and later it reached $120,000 in one month.
What made this app successful: It was the first kind of mobile application that provides mobile app security with a user’s fingerprint.
It means, if you come up with an extremely useful idea that offers great benefit and it is not available in the current market, chances are there your app is going to be successful in the market and turn you into a millionaire.
App: Bubble Ball
Owner: Robert Nay
Revenue: annual estimation of $60,000 million
He is probably the youngest app developer who got the inspiration to develop an iPhone app from his friends.
Robert Nay didn’t have any past experience or knowledge of coding or programming, however, he went to the public library and researched how to build a mobile game.
Then, he came up with his game app called Bubble Ball which is a 72-level physics puzzle game, released in Dec 2010.
This app gets downloaded 2 million times on the App Store in just first two weeks and today, it has over 16 million downloads and he became popular among top iOS developers. It generates an annual estimation of $60,000 million.
What made this app successful:
A 14-year old boy took the mobile app development on fire by creating a game app based on a physics puzzle concept, making him the youngest app developer millionaire.
This app teaches you that even a simple app concept has the potential to make a huge amount of money if it is able to meet people’s demands.
App: BYJU’s app
Owner: BYJU Raveendran
Revenue: annual estimation $495 millions
Although his age is 38, he is still the newsmaker in mobile app development India. BYJU’s app is an eLearning app that offers online tutoring to users.
This app has gained huge popularity in India because it provides next-generation education to the learners of primary class to higher secondary, and even for international exams such as GMAT & GRE.
BYJU’s app contributed to the growth in the market of Android application development in India and generates an annual estimation of $495 million and the owner of this app is a Billionaire.
What made this app successful:
BYJU’s app used the concept of tutoring through digital animation videos. As humans have a tendency to get attracted to visual graphics, students loved this concept and this idea made the app highly popular in the industry.
Conclusion
So, can a mobile app make you a millionaire?
The answer is- Yes!
But it’s not so easy.
It involves a lot of market research and innovative ideation to develop a mobile application that generates millions of revenues annually.
Successful entrepreneurs have put great efforts into thinking the idea for their app and worked on a long-term scale to meet user’s demands depending on the market nature.
You have witnessed the power of mobile app how it can turn a 14-year old app developer into a millionaire.
As we said, the formula is simple, come with a unique idea and do deep research and work on a long-term strategy and you will get success.
At eSearch Logix, our team is equipped with highly experienced app developers, marketing professionals, and technologists who can build an innovative mobile app and help you earn a significant amount of revenue.
Or if you have an app idea that can fascinate our audience, we would love to read it. Share your view in the comment box.
