Key Takeaways
Technology continues to advance, and more and more entrepreneurs, small business owners, and investors start recognizing the benefits of buying apps, as well as other digital assets.
Since more and more people are attached to their smartphones, tablets, and other electronic devices today, the digital world has become one of the greatest sources of professional and business opportunities, especially when it comes to purchasing a successful app business. Many businesses today use mobile apps in order to reach their target audiences successfully.
If you are currently thinking of buying an app, and you want to know more about it, this article is for you.
Worldwide Mobile App revenue has been steadily growing and is forecasted to grow to almost a trillion USD.
Find more statistics at Statista
Here is another interesting statistic that shows growth rate of available apps in the App Store by category:
Find more statistics at Statista
It is obvious that mobile apps offer great revenue generation potential. Question is how to invest in an app business as an investor?
Where To Buy An App Business?
Here is a list of top places that allow you to buy or sell apps:
Flippa
Flippa is one of the most well-known platforms where you can buy an app, as well as a website, online business, or domain. It is considered one of the most popular and reliable marketplaces where you can select the most suitable apps to buy and sell.
As a buyer, you receive access to detailed insights into listed online businesses, including demographics, channels, analysis, financials, and others.
If you are a first-time buyer, there is “Flippa Finder” service for you providing useful expert tips for a $50 fee.
One of the best things about Flippa for buyers is that you can easily find the exact type of app you want to purchase at a great range of prices. Flippa lets sellers and developers explain the app they are selling in detail and include all the necessary information.
Empire Flippers
It is another popular marketplace for buying and selling apps and other types of online businesses. Its home page includes business listings that include niche, monetization methods, expected price, and monthly net profit.
One of the key features of this marketplace is that it has a search for businesses that is based on monetization methods, including ads, affiliates, e-commerce, dropshipping, and others.
One more benefit of this website is its refundable deposit option. As a buyer, you will have to pay only a 5% refundable deposit of the price of a business you decided to purchase. In addition, you also receive access to all the information you need before completing your purchase.
Also, there are only legitimate apps on Empire Flippers because the platform removes all fake listings before they go live.
SellMyApp
It is one of the most famous and biggest platforms where you can purchase app templates. It sells the source codes for both apps and games, and it has a team that will help you with reskinning and launching an app you purchase.
You can purchase app templates for Android, iOS, and iWatch that are built using different frameworks, including Native Android, Cocos2dx, libGDX, Unity, Native iOS, and Buildbox.
FlipTopia
Unlike many other marketplaces, this platform allows you to purchase apps that are already issued in the app store. It sells not just the source code but the entire app, including its user base and the IP rights that are associated with it. Therefore, at first, it may seem to be an expensive platform for app buyers. However, it gives you an opportunity to become a sole proprietor.
Code Canyon
It is an app marketplace from the Envato Family that allows you to purchase ready made apps for affordable prices. The website has a buyer protection policy, which makes the refund process easy and hassle-free.
Even though the platform does not offer any launch or redskin services, sometimes sellers of apps may provide these services.
What running an app business is like?
If you decided to start running an app business, there are certain things you need to know and take into consideration because the mobile app markets are competitive, and it is hard to stand out. Here is what you need to know before buying an app for your business:
Your Market
You need to research your market and use your knowledge to find a gap that your app will fill. You should learn about your competitors, the strategies they use, their selling points, strengths and weaknesses of other apps similar to the one you want to buy, reviews from your competitors’ customers, etc.
When you collect all this information, you will avoid the mistakes that your competitors make and be more successful in an app business.
Your Target Audience
You need to know your target audience, their problems, and understand how an app can solve them. Remember that any app is useless if it cannot solve the problems of the audience.
For this reason, when you are starting an app business, you should understand what is the main purpose of the app, its functionality, how your audience will benefit from it, and what business goals this app will help you achieve.
The Right App Type
There are three types of apps to choose from – a hybrid, native, and web app. The choice should be determined by the purpose and functionality you have defined. Here are the key differences between these three types:
How To Monetize an App?
Knowing how to invest in an app is not enough – it is also important to be able to monetize your app business. There are different methods of monetization, including the following:
Ad Network
An ad network (also known as an online advertising network) is a company that connects advertisers to websites that host advertisements. The most popular and reliable ad networks that you can use for monetization are:
Freemium Model
Today, many apps use subscription models to generate app revenue. A subscription model means that a user can download an app for free. Then, after the app is installed, the use received access to certain features in it for a limited period of time. Once this period is over, they have to pay a recurring fee in order to keep using the app.
Freemium models work best alongside compelling apps characterized by clear user experience and functions.
In-App Advertising
This strategy has been popular for many years already, and without in-app advertising some apps would not even exist. It is one of the easiest monetization strategies, and it is quick to implement. Here is a list of the most common types of in-app advertising:
App Store Optimization
There are millions iOS and Android apps. For this reason, it is very important to know how to stand out in this crowd of competitors and make your app to be noticed. Here is a list of tips that you can use for your successful app store optimization:
What Are The Benefits of running an app Businesses?
There are many benefits of being in an app business, including the following:
What Are The Risks Of An App Business?
Just like any other business, an app business has its own risks that need to be taken into consideration. Here is a list of some of the risks to watch out for:
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Who Is Best Suited To Invest In Apps?
Actually, anyone can benefit from investing in apps. App business is the right investment for you if you are an experienced investor, and you want to expand your revenue stream into a completely new area.
It is also suitable for complete newbies who do not know how to invest in an app at all. Buying an income-producing app can offer an easy entry and become a great source of income.
Happy Investing!