Sent to the backburner (app biz update 12)

Who is this guy again?

Firstly: Sorry to everyone who took the time to follow my blog / subscribe to my mailing list, under the impression that i’d give you a blow-by-blow of my efforts to start an app business. It’s been 2 months (!) since my last update, i’ve kinda let you down, and i bet a few people are scratching their heads reading this post, wondering who i am again?

So in case you’ve forgotten: I’m Chris, the guy who quit my job to carve a new path as an indie iPhone/SaaS app developer, and got mentioned on startup digest and hacker news several months ago with a blog post ‘I must be crazy’.

Anyway, lots of people have emailed over the months to say that they really appreciate the ‘warts and all’ approach i’ve been taking to document my journey. Well, if you’re wondering where i’ve vanished over the last 2 months: the warts got to me.

Warts

So, what’s happened? Here’s a quick rundown:

• Today app sales, far from settling at a happy plateau, dropped off quickly to zero or one per day.
• Got rejected for the government grant.
• Home builder went bankrupt.
• Newborn baby sleep deprivation.
• And something i’ll only mention on my mailing list, can’t put everything on a public blog :)

Now none of these are out-of-this-world terrible, but they all happened within a few weeks of each other, and you know: i’m not made of wood, so it’s been a bit much.

So firstly, the today app sales plateau quickly vanished to one or none sales daily. So i guess that’s it for my dreams of making a living out of indie apps on the iPhone. If i was to do it over, i’d go B2B SaaS only (even though i really love making iphone apps!). I’ve recently updated the app for the iPhone5, but that’s only because i got one for myself and the black bars bug me. I might make iphone games as a hobby, but i won’t take it seriously going forwards.

Next up, I got a lovely rejection email from the government department i applied for the grant to build an educational iPhone game and teach in schools. This was a bit hard to take after being told a few times that my application looked like it’d be successful. Then my home builder went bankrupt (i’m currently building a house for my growing family) - that’s, let’s just say a few cars worth of my cash gone up in smoke (insurance will cover most of it) and probably a year or more of delays.

What’s next?

Well, for the near future there are no next steps. I guess i’ll finish this one, then do a few more contracts. I’ve put all this ‘indie entrepreneur’ well and truly on the backburner, I just don’t have the energy for it now. Even writing a blog update has been hard to force myself to do. Maybe i’ll revisit it all another year. At least i can say i tried :)

I hope in some perverse way you find this post encouraging. I know personally it helps to see other people’s honest struggles, it’s hard to read all the success stories that make you think: These guys make success look so easy, so what’s wrong with me?

As always, thanks for reading, guys, and thanks for all the encouraging emails i’ve ever received.

Chris Hulbert

(Comp Sci, Hons - UTS)

Software Developer (Freelancer / Contractor) in Australia.

I have worked at places such as Google, Cochlear, Assembly Payments, News Corp, Fox Sports, NineMSN, FetchTV, Coles, Woolworths, Trust Bank, and Westpac, among others. If you're looking for help developing an iOS app, drop me a line!

Get in touch:
[email protected]
github.com/chrishulbert
linkedin

---

Please subscribe to my mailing list:

 Subscribe via RSS