turkeychicken

There were a lot of headaches and growth issues along the way, but as far as something I would call a true mistake, it would have to be the launch of version 4 of our iOS and Android apps.

The developer who had previously worked on the Android app had taken on the task of developing a multiplatform codebase so we could have a more streamlined launch/release cycle for the apps.

He had built the version 4 (multiplatform) apps and we had beta tested for about a month. We felt pretty confident the apps were releaseable so at the end of June this year we released the apps.

What a disaster. We immediately started getting feedback about some bugs, so we'd fix those and issue a release only later to find out that broke something else. All of this was going on during the 4th of July weekend as well.

I was getting thousands of emails per day from annoyed users. Our app ratings dropped a full point each and some of the hate thrown at us was ridiculous.

I try to look at stuff like this as a learning opportunity. While it was disheartening to hear some of the nasty stuff people were saying to us, you can't let that get to you.

Now we have a much better pre-release testing protocol and it's as follows:

1. Internal test for a week or so

2. Run through a set of 20 test criteria that covers as many use-case scenarios as we could think of

3. Release to open beta testing channels

4. Phased releases to the public stores so we can catch any other issues before they become too big of a deal

The site makes between $15-20k per month. That's excluding hosting fees, taxes, misc business expenses, paying app developers, etc.

I think it's important for people to see that not every app/website needs to IPO for a hundred billion dollars. There are a ton of apps and sites out there that serve a good purpose and make the owner enough money to live comfortably.

Very true. We almost released an update before Thanksgiving this year but waited. Fortunately it went off without any issues, lol

The best advice I can give is to start learning about budgeting and tracking your spending as early as possible. Even if you only have a checking account that you use occasionally for random purchases here and there.

Just knowing where your money is going is extremely important. You'll be shocked at how many people can't tell you how much they spend on food or gas each month. Knowing where your money is going and how much you can afford to spend each month will keep you from spending to excess and potentially racking up a lot of debt.