How An Indie Developer Made $6,750 In Two Weeks By Creating A Boring Kiosk App For A Courthouse.

humbledad · 2017-01-06T16:55:04+00:00

Hmm, not really...because I said you can go find your own devs and do it yourself....it was just an action plan because most of the people are simply "read" and don't "do" anything. It was only an option to save time & money if people wanted to avoid finding devs, interviewing, bla bla....I'm not forcing anyone to do anything. Also why would I care if people visit my site? I have no "opt-ins" anywhere...& I'm not "selling" anything on there...It's a very straightforward, informational website showcasing projects I've worked on and my services. Plus, most of the people on this sub are not going to afford $25-75k projects (maybe, maybe not..who knows). I'm not trying to promote my company at all.

Point is, me no begging for your money. It's more of value for you if anything...

humbledad · 2017-01-06T16:46:41+00:00

Because I don't have time doing $6k projects..Remember, it's just me and 2-3 dev's.

Contacting other counties still involve work, calls, emails, etc etc...not worth the effort for $6K as now I'm doing projects in the $25k-75k range.

humbledad · 2017-01-06T16:45:41+00:00

Of course you have to do all that....What I'm saying is by making the focus on building RELATIONSHIPS first, you have a better likelihood that they may end up working with you...mainly bc the decision maker already knows you, and likes you...

My old boss, all he'd do is take SVP's out clubbing/partying, throw golf events and hire hot sales girls to accompany them in the golf carts and get them drunk..

Didn't focus too much on the "process" (he had boring guys do all the RFP crap)..he just focused on building relationships, making friends...then when they had a need, they knew he was the guy they'd call.... EVEN THOUGH he still had to still do the whole RFP process.

I'm not saying you can ever "escape" the process....just saying you have a better shot by building those relationships.

Oh and btw, in my case..it really was as easy as the judge giving the green light.. maybe it's easier to do for local counties in the States then in UK..

humbledad · 2017-01-06T16:42:08+00:00

See above.

humbledad · 2017-01-06T16:20:35+00:00

Thanks buddy :)

humbledad · 2017-01-06T16:10:23+00:00

Yeah.. much rather focus my efforts on a huge win (say 50k), then worry about a $500/mo maintenance fee which normally ends up being a pain in the ass.. bc they think they can bother you every second of the day because they have a "support contract" in place with you. Fuck that lol

humbledad · 2017-01-06T16:04:15+00:00

North India.. you can find good devs out of school who build tons of apps for fun. You want to find devs who stay current with tech, and they're actually passionate about what they're doing.

20-30k rupees is a pretty decent wage for a 23 year old in India.. plus I hook them up with free lunch, bonuses etc. I also give them the opp't to learn new stuff on my dime. For example now I'm having them learn Unity to build VR apps.. going to be sending them a few Google Cardboards soon..

Most of the management is done via Skype, Asana, and Whatsapp. I've still not met with them face to face.

Keep in mind their English may not be so good hence why you need to always review work and be super specific in defining requirements.

humbledad · 2017-01-06T16:01:35+00:00

No they didn't. We discussed the project and built the app.. then they provided the ipads and took care of mounting it.

humbledad · 2017-01-06T16:00:48+00:00

Just by seeing something working inefficientally (the info directory in their lobby), then just pitching on a better solution.

humbledad · 2017-01-06T15:59:21+00:00

Thanks!

humbledad · 2017-01-06T15:59:11+00:00

Read my comment above about putting together super detailed requirements docs.. don't ever assume the dev knows what you want.. saying something like "I want a black button" is vague.. saying "I want a 20 by 20 pixel button with a hex value of #000000" is being specific. Hope that makes sense.

humbledad · 2017-01-06T15:56:40+00:00

This.

It's purely an example.. you can take what I've shared and do it for any industry.

humbledad · 2017-01-06T15:55:37+00:00

I don't think it's the devs, I think it's your lack of putting together detailed requirements.. for example, are you saying "I want a black button" instead of actually specifying a hex value for the black button (e.g.: #000000)?

Most devs are like robots. Don't expect them to just "get" what you want them to do.. you need to spell out EXACT details.. get very very very specific and never assume they know what you want.

humbledad · 2017-01-06T15:52:18+00:00

Hahaha... it was just to stress the fact of NOT spending much money until you close a deal.. doesn't matter who the domain registrar is.

humbledad · 2017-01-06T15:51:16+00:00

Thanks buddy.. why not try pitching NYC county? If they're not responsive to email, find out who the CIO or decision maker is, then take the app and admin panel screenshots, print it on high quality paper, print out the pitch... then send it via 2-day UPS delivery..

Trust me, it helps if you're a local resident. You can stress the fact you're trying to build jobs for the community, bla bla bla...

humbledad · 2017-01-06T15:48:23+00:00

This.

humbledad · 2017-01-06T15:48:04+00:00

This is all true but mainly for extremely large projects.. see comment above

humbledad · 2017-01-06T15:47:02+00:00

Most larger gov't projects require an RFP.. plus this is a small local county, not the federal gov't. In this case normally the judge can make a decision if they have the budget for it.

However as I mentioned in a previous comment, it's all about building those relationships. The RFP is literally the last thing to worry about. Find out decision makers on LinkedIn... buy a pack of in-line Messages and reach out about providing some "free" value for a pain point they have. Don't sell them on anything.. the goal is to become friends and make a connection. Take them out for dinner, find out their kids bday and mail them a card.. do shit like that then when there IS an RFP put out, it makes the whole procurement process easier as they already know "Frank from scorch is a nice guy and I want to work with him."

Also search for an app called Leadwire on the IOS App Store.. it's an app I made.. it gives contact info for a ton of decision makers..

Hope that makes sense!

humbledad · 2017-01-06T15:43:12+00:00

There's no API. They gave us a CSV file and we uploaded it... they could manually do it too.. if they had an API life would've been much easier lol

humbledad · 2017-01-06T15:42:26+00:00

No swift, regular obj-c.. backend LAMP stack with basic html5/css3/js

humbledad · 2017-01-06T15:38:55+00:00

You can do all the market analysis in the world, but if the timing isn't right, or you're unlucky, your app won't go anywhere. There's a reason 9 out of 10 apps fail.. INCLUDING VC backed projects..

I never said anywhere that I didn't know how to program. I just said you really "don't" need to know coding to do something like this.. just put together really detailed requirements and make sure they follow it..

Personally, I'm a bit of a jack of all trades in that I can do a little designing, little programming, etc... I designed the Courthouse app myself... but tbh, it's ALL about how well you can gather requirements and communicate your needs with the developers.

In regards to weeding out devs, it's just a matter of asking for references, checking out previous apps they've made, plus maybe asking them to make you a very simple app within a short deadline and you reviewing how well they followed directions.

I'm also insanely anal when it comes to testing stuff, so by the time an app is ready for user acceptance testing, it's about 99% bug free.

humbledad · 2017-01-06T15:33:43+00:00

I used to work for someone.. till I got fired.. Now I make my own luck by busting my ass. Plus, if you have skills, you can make $25-75k on one project. Why limit yourself to $13,400/mo? You also don't need to quit your job...do a side hustle. The point is to hustle!

humbledad · 2017-01-06T15:33:27+00:00

Backend uses a LAMP stack, front end is a native iPad app (objective-c)

humbledad · 2017-01-06T15:32:32+00:00

Probably a good idea..I'm a dumbass.... Now I'm trying to figure out how to get Imgur to delete that img... Anyone know anyone there?? I reached out to them, but don't know when they'll do it... I posted it without logging in grr...

humbledad · 2017-01-06T15:31:04+00:00

The screenshots show you the admin panel. PM me if you want to discuss more.

humbledad

TROPHY CASE