What is this - is anyone making money?

[Todd Fabacher]

 > As many of us I have paid for the licenses, put money out for free
 > development expecting some wanted features, continued for Indie
 > advancement payments (hope to live beyond the licenses expire),
 > I have to ask my colleague developers, are you making any money with
 > the apps you develop (with LC)?  Or is it just fun?


This is the question that is on the lips of so many developers I meet in
the LiveCode community in the last year since I have started to use LC as a
development tool. The real critical problem is many expect LC to be a genie
in a bottle and grant you three profitable apps.

Mostly, it is lack of experience that has created this illusion. The lack
of profitability is more related to a void in understanding how to develop
profitable business apps vs. LiveCode. I have been working with dozens of
developers from the class to help them on their journey.  But that is a
small amount of the 500+ who are taking the class. Many do indeed purchase
LiveCode like they do language software and thing the will learn to speak
French simply by osmosis.

At DP have been like elfs, quietly toiling away for a year, but are about
to launch 5 very profitable Apps in addition to the 16 Apps [we still have
4 to go] that we helped LiveCode with for the "Create It With LiveCode"
class. Granted I have more resources than most, but here is what we have
done in a year:

*UBook24-7*: A management App + online scheduling website which allows
people to book appointments online, and the owner uses the App to manage
the business. The main focus is barber, hair salon, sports instructors and
personal trainers. Price $229 / year including a website and hosting.

*Express Event*: A management App + online eCommerce website for Events and
conferences. It provides a complete solution including event ticket sales,
speaker management , class registration, multi-locations for event "Tours"
and lots more. We also have an option for the event to have their own App.
Price $299 / year including a website and hosting. Plus another one time
fee of $299 if you want an event App.

*Build a Tour App*: A management App + online website + Custom App Tour App
designed by them for self guided Tours. We are in Full beta with cities,
universities, a wine area in NZ and a cruise line. A desktop app allows
them to manage and design their tour app [text, images, audio, video and
languages]. We take their data and match it agains a pre-build LC App
template, charge them $499 for the App and $29/ month for a website that
promotes the App and acts as a central server to update the app data and
advertising on an ongoing basis.

*MenuMania*: A management App + online website + Custom Menu App designed
by them with the desktop management app. For many hotels, restaurants,
airports  or other places where language and speed are an issue, we have
developed a simple "menu maker". So instead of giving them a menu, a tablet
is provided or is attached to the table. You see this in many airports now,
but will begin to move to all food services. You can order and pay on the
device and the food comes right out. Several New York restaurants are
interested more in using this as a wine list as it can make suggestions
based on the menu, and will provide a more information on the winery which
people are always interested in. We have just started connecting with
the Culinary Institute of America to try and make this not just about fast
food. $499 for the App and $29/ month for a web server. Also we are looking
into a kitchen management system to go with it, but that is 2016.

*PlayLand Armenia*: The team in Armenia what to do this, so I said OK. No
it is not profitable and in actuality I am loosing money on it, but it was
a great team builder and help teach some critical skills. It is an app
where Armenian kids 5-10 around the world can play online games together,
become friends and learn Armenian. This was the teams contribution for the
memory of the 100 year Genocide. So rather focus on the negative, they
provide a way for the Armenian kids around the world to still feel
connected.

*3 large Contact Apps*: We are doing 3 apps on a contact basis. These have
helped us learn new technology and provided the revenue to teach new people
LiveCode.

So my point is, I could do these in any language, but LiveCode allows me
several critical advantages. Multi-platform, ease of use so I can hire and
train people who have never even coded before and get them up to speed in
4-6 months, seamless connection between the app and LC web server using
revIgniter and a great interface with WordPress which we use as the website
for many of the web portion of the apps.

I hope this answers your question.

--Todd