Building Android apps has always been a profitable business for the top few.
However, there are a lot of businesses/teams who have lost their passion for developing Android apps because they were not able to monetize their work.
So you might be wondering why we suggested an android app? Well, with the recent change in how software is built, you can make a decent business for yourself out of Android apps.
The key is to build SAAS apps.
The app idea:
The idea is to build an android app that forwards all SMS messages from a dedicated mobile phone to:
A webhook/API server
An email address
Via Telegram (as a bot)
Via Slack (as a bot)
And maybe via Zapier.
A lot of businesses need to collect feedback, provide customers extra services like using SMS to subscribe to value-added services.
For example, a small live concert might want fans to vote for their favorite artist, with this they can receive the votes via a webhook and display it live on their website/a screen but they can’t afford to use multiple mobile devices or allow their staff to have direct access to this device.
With your SAAS solution, they can have this service with ease.
How difficult is it to build?
Well, the only 2 major issues you would face while making the app are:
Android requires the app to be the default SMS app on the device so that's why your customers must have a dedicated device(they can have their own or you can set one up for them and sell it to them). This is not so difficult to do if you set it up properly. You need a skilled developer or you can hire me to help.
You need to ensure that Android OS does not kill the app, you can do this with a foreground service.
After that, all that is left is to sync/send the messages to your server and take action on where it gets forwarded to.
Pricing
You can charge either based on usage(total messages forwarded), total devices supported and forwarding features(for example some plans can support email and some just webhook/API). You can charge as much as $30 to $200/month for a start or you can sell credits to your users.
Support
You might be wondering about the level of support you need to provide to your customers. From my research this is a technical app, you might need to provide mid-level support.
You can provide this with:
Live chat
Email support
Help Documentation
Also, you should have a video to explain how they can install & use your solution as fast as possible.
Promotion
You can promote it in:
Reddit
Twitter (including Twitter communities)
Facebook groups (especially with developers)
Create your own YouTube instructional/demo video
Create an affiliate program
Work on your Google Play Store ASO - app store optimization (you can hire me to help)
Write an article on Medium to promote it (You get free SEO traffic).
💡 And keep checking back on the BasedOnSaas newsletter, I will be sharing more hidden ways to promote, retain customers and grow your products.
Server Costs
This solution requires you to have:
A landing page
A domain name
A webhook to handle payment
An API.
A frontend admin panel
A typical shared hosting can handle all this for a start or you can go for a low VPS server and you are good to go for about $50 to $200 per year.
👉 Now make your Android SAAS app or Hire me to help you build it.
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