Cruise Control

How to Automate and Monitor Your Business

Bang! Crack! Boom!

The sounds echoed off the lake like cannons shooting from old pirate ships.

“Light it!”

“Run!”

I heard the laughter through the volley of shots piercing the night sky. Sprinting off the dock like a mad man, I made it to where everyone was standing, and dropped down to catch my breath.

I looked up to take in the moment. The professional fireworks I had lined up looked exactly like the ones you usually see in major cities on special occasions. Every extravagant burst sporadically illuminated my 80-year-old grandparents who were watching in awe. Turning right, I saw Matty J., my old high school buddy, and the rest of my family members, smiling from ear to ear, eyes glued to the sky.

Every year since I was 18, I would imagine renting a lakefront camp during the summer and inviting all my friends and family. Year after year, my dream was put on hold because of a lack of funds and time and because of my own doubts. I would get lost in a pile of papers and mindless work thinking no other way existed. Typically, my Fourth of July and holidays were spent working and missing out on the excitement around me that I pretended not to notice.

This year was different. While coming down the mountain from heli-skiing in Whistler, Canada, I remembered that Fourth of July was around the corner. I immediately called my assistant, Super Kate, to find the perfect lakefront camp, and set everything up for my friends and family.

Being able to spend time with my family and friends without distractions from work was priceless. I understood, after all these years, what life was all about. I will never forget the happiness I felt that week.

Even after I had my app business figured out and was making good money, it took me about a year to put a system in place that allowed me to run my business on cruise control while enjoying the lifestyle I had been craving.

Later on that evening, for a second, my thoughts drifted to my app business. I realized I needed to text my programmer to redirect some of our nag screens to our new app, which Apple had approved. He was in Germany at the time, and he made the changes. I completely forgot about it again and continued to enjoy the evening.

The next morning, while lying in bed and going through my numbers on my iPhone, I saw that sales had jumped the previous day by 40 percent to roughly $2,500! It was all from that one move that took two minutes. I was blown away.

Having a reliable and dependable team is liberating. I don't have to be at my business from nine to five because my team members get work done and support me. I can think of ideas spontaneously throughout the day and make them happen even while shooting off fireworks in a random lake half a world away from a team member.

Before setting up my system, I had trouble delegating and outsourcing, and I didn't have an effective way to monitor my business. Once I figured out how to outsource and monitor pivotal areas of my business, everything changed. I was able to track my business, checking stats and managing my team on my iPhone every morning, even when I was on vacation.

In this chapter, I show you ways to do the same thing and put your business on cruise control so you will have time to do what you love in life. That's why we got into this business, remember?

BE DISPENSABLE

By now, you have researched many app ideas, launched a few apps, marketed them, and started making money. The goal is to grow your business without adding more work for yourself. You do this by hiring a team. Your trusted team will help you leverage your time, while you are taking a zip line in Costa Rica, taking your spouse on vacation to Paris, or checking something off your bucket list.

The peace that comes from knowing you can count on others to work on your business when you're away is priceless. Your efforts become more calculated. You spend your time optimizing the areas of your business needing your attention, while maximizing your free time. This efficiency puts you in a more relaxed and positive frame of mind, and work doesn't feel like work anymore. Once you reach this level, you might even have a skip in your step. I know I do.

What I am suggesting is a huge U-turn for many people who feel married to their business or job. Traditional entrepreneurs and businessowners are led to believe this is how it is supposed to be. I fell into this trap myself but to benefit from the app business, you need to relinquish control and divorce yourself from many aspects of your business.

We like to think we're indispensable, but that is true for only certain aspects of your business. The trick is identifying those and allowing yourself to let go and delegate everything else.

When should you start growing your team? At first, like any startup, you'll have to put in some sweat equity and grow as necessary. You will most likely only be working with the programmers you hired to create and manage your first apps. At some point, when your income and workload increase, you will want to scale your business. Saying when that will be is difficult, but I've found that many people wait far too long. They think they should add team members when they have made a lot of money or are making a specific amount of money per month.

I recommend you scale as soon as you can even if this takes away from your bottom line because you can use the additional free time you'll get to double or triple your business income. Another way to decide if you should start hiring is by asking yourself these questions:

• Am I the bottleneck of my business and will hiring someone allow my business to grow faster?
• Am I spending most of my time on little tasks that someone else can do, as opposed to focusing on key aspects?

If the answer to these questions is yes and you've got the funds, it's time scale up so you can spend your time on tasks that will bring in the most amount of money.

SETTING UP YOUR TEAM

The ultimate goal is to hire qualified people you can trust. Do your due diligence and follow the strategies outlined in Chapter 5 for hiring programmers. A lot of them apply to other hires as well. I often start people off part-time. I always give them a one- to three-month test period and let them know this is what I'm doing. If I'm excited about their performance during the test period, I will make them permanent team members. If not, I let them know it is not the right fit and move on.

Your team members' visions must align with yours. If not, those people can sabotage the company, and their discord can spread like a virus. You might have potential hires take a personality test like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), so you know if the candidate's personality type is compatible with your team. Do not cut corners when hiring people. You can find cheap labor, but that can result in poor quality work or drama that will cost you much more.

In addition to programmers and graphic designers, you will need team members who can handle other technical issues such as analyzing statistics, marketing your apps, setting up systems, and performing administrative work. Have an accountant and a lawyer on hand, too.

A fully scaled app team has eight positions: programmer, graphic designer, project manager, marketing manager, data analyst, technical assistant, accountant, and lawyer. Depending on your needs and your team members' skills, you could have one person covering several positions when you're scaling up. As you grow, you might need several people for each position.

1. Programmer

   The role and importance of programmers has been discussed in detail in Chapter 5. They will create your apps and initially be your entire team. When it comes to programmers, have several on call so not everything comes to a halt when a programmer becomes unavailable.

2. Graphic Designer

   In Chapter 5, we also discussed graphic designers. They will create the visual components of your apps and your marketing materials. You want them to be part of your programmer's development team. They can be independent contractors but development will be much smoother if the programmer and graphic designer are under one roof.

3. Project Manager

   Project managers play the most critical role on your team. They will manage everybody else and report back to you. They have to be versatile and be able to handle all parts of the business. They need to understand your vision and communicate with your team members to ensure the moving pieces are heading toward your vision. When you get started, you will be the project manager, but I suggest you find somebody for this role as soon as possible and when financially feasible. This will allow you to focus on the company's direction while the project manager is handling daily operations.

   Once I started making money, I decided to bring in my friend who was running his own app business and gave him 10 percent of the company. He was the one who told me to get into the app business in the first place so it seemed like a good fit. He became an integral part of the team, and we doubled and then tripled our income. We did so well that we started two more companies together, which became equally successful. I would not recommend giving away 10 percent of your company unless you're 100 percent sure that person will bring extreme value.

4. Marketing Manager

   Marketing managers should be current with all marketing tools and tactics to get your apps more downloads. These people constantly check the market, learn what strategies work, and implement them. They collaborate with data analysts to see how your app network is performing and create tweaks. These managers will write marketing copy and suggest changes that increase the app's traffic and sales conversions. This is a critical position because things are always changing, and the marketing manager has to stay current.

   In my business, this is my role. I don't outsource it because it is my strength. One of the reasons for my success is that I check the market every day and adapt quickly. If you don't do this job, hire a high-level person who has proven himself or herself in the app marketing business.

5. Data Analyst

   The data analyst's primary job is to collect and assess every piece of data your business is generating. This includes downloads, sales, user analytics, app rankings, and so on. This person constantly looks at all of your data and is responsible for helping the marketing manager determine what areas need improvement. You want someone who can look at the numbers, see the trends, and give advice.

6. Technical Assistant (TA)

   A TA helps with daily technical tasks. These include submitting app updates, testing apps, and changing app names, nag screens, and promo pages. This is a vital role because the technical assistant is in the trenches. He or she ensures all of the project manager's orders are executed quickly and correctly. The TA needs to be available at all times. This person needs to be tech savvy and meticulous. There is no room for error here since something as simple as a mis-pointed nag screen can cost you several hundred dollars a day.

7. Accountant

   You must have an accountant on your team. She pays all my bills and balances my accounts. I approve the payments, but I don't deal with paying anyone, and that frees up my time to work on something else. She pays the taxes, monitors my accounts, and gives me tax advice. She looks at the overall business budget and the budget for individual apps to see if expenses are where they should be.

   Your accountant is an independent contractor and will work for you on an as-needed basis. Spend some time finding the right one because the accountant is critical to your financial success.

8. Attorney

   You need a seasoned attorney on your team to create the non-disclosure and contractor agreements that all of your subcontractors will sign. The documents you sign with your independent contractors will protect your intellectual property. In most cases, you can use standard agreements, but you should still have your attorney examine them. Find an attorney who has expertise with technology and start-ups.

REMOTE MANAGEMENT

Once you move away from the old-school mindset of having employees under one roof, you will feel comfortable managing your team from anywhere, even far-flung places, like Fiji or Chile. Online project management sites like Basecamp (appempire.com/basecamphq) will help you coordinate with all members of your team. Everyone can be working on the same project from multiple locations around the world.

Your programmer and technical assistant need not meet in person. Online tools like Skype and Basecamp allow you and members of your team to communicate and coordinate any time to get the task done.

I manage all my employees from my iPhone. With the Basecamp app, I can see what my team members are doing, and how far along they are for any given projects. I can communicate what needs to be done and let them handle their work while I am planning my next adventure.

OUTSOURCING YOUR LIFE

While you're optimizing and automating your business, don't forget to do the same with your personal life. We do many things on a daily basis that we could outsource. Once you get to a certain level, it will make little sense for you to handle things like booking your hotels and flights, answering calls, and buying groceries. Many people think they have to be rich to have a personal assistant, but this is false. You can free much of your time without spending much money.

Imagine having somebody who helps you out 20 hours a week for $15 per hour. That's $300 a week or $1,200 a month, which will buy you an extra 80 hours a month. You can use that extra time to spend time with you family, go on a new adventure, or execute a plan to double your income.

I wanted to free up more time and take my lifestyle to the next level. So, I hired Kate, or Super Kate, as I call her. She used to be a personal assistant for A-List Hollywood actors and actresses. Now I have someone to answer calls, check my mail, set up my transportation, find the physical therapists I need for my arm, and so on. Super Kate allows me to spend more time in the zone, doing the things that I want to do. I am more productive, happier, and more fulfilled.

If it's time to take your lifestyle to the next level and, if you have the money, hire yourself a Super Kate. Even if you get somebody for a few hours a week, do it. You will be happy you did.

THE SEVEN PILLARS OF AN APP BUSINESS

You can outsource almost everything in your business besides the businessowner role. You will always need to maintain a bird's-eye view of your business at every stage of growth. Even though others might steer at times, you have only one captain per ship and your responsibility is to plot the course and ensure everything stays on track.

The key to monitoring your business while letting your team handle most of the action is to consistently focus on and check in on seven key areas. I call these the seven pillars of the app business:

1. Psychology and a Winning Mindset
2. Market Research
3. App Development and Maintenance
4. Analytics and Tweaking
5. Marketing and Monetization
6. Team and Systems
7. Professional Networking

I check in on these key areas every day. Even if I don't take action in every area, this reminds me of what I need to focus on. I've created specific questions for each one of these areas and reading these consistently puts me in a resourceful state and gives me new ideas to implement. Here is a brief recap for each area and the questions that you should answer on a regular basis. You can use these as an initial guide and add your own as you see fit.

1. Psychology and a Winning Mindset. A winning mindset is vital because this is where everything starts. If you don't have a vision, don't feel passionate about what you do, and do not have the flexibility and tenacity to adapt to the market, then you will have trouble focusing and maintaining the energy to make your business a long-term success.

Questions to Ask Yourself

• What is my vision for this company, and am I moving toward it?
• Why do I want to be successful in the app business? Who else will benefit from it?
• Is my attitude consistently positive and resourceful? How can I reinforce it?
• What can I do to strengthen my mind, body, or spirit more?
• Am I aligning myself with positive people who share my passion?
• Am I flexible and willing to change as the app business does?
• Do I believe I can make this work, or am I sabotaging myself by second-guessing my actions?

2. Market Research. The app store is your market, and like any market, it dictates how you need to run your business. The store fluctuates constantly, and you must monitor it so you can adapt to these changes quickly and seamlessly. Unlike most markets, it runs globally 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with no downtime.

Questions to Ask Yourself

• What's working in the Top 200 app charts? Which apps are making money?
• What are other developers doing that I can emulate with my apps?
• What new apps can I develop?
• What are the long-term business trends?
• Read online articles and blogs to discover:
  • What are current market trends?
  • What are top app developers discussing?
  • How can I take advantage of the new phone hardware or software?

3. App Development and Maintenance. You always need to have one or more new apps in the development pipeline. You need to tweak your existing apps. This allows you to increase the traffic of your app network and to sustain and increase your income.

Questions to Ask Yourself

• Do I have a new app in development?
• How long is it going to take to get new apps out? How can I accelerate the process?
• How can I improve my current apps?
• Am I investing enough revenue in my new and existing apps?
• Can I use some existing code to create new apps more quickly?

4. Analytics and Tweaking. Monitoring your analytics will allow you to make informed decisions about your business's direction. Analytics give critical feedback about the performance of your apps and your app network. Keeping track of this information and responding to it is vital to your success.

Questions to Ask Yourself

• How can I automate the tracking of my numbers?
• What numbers should I be tracking?
• How are my apps doing, and what can I tweak to increase sales?
• What are the results of my previous tweaks?
• Are my app rankings going up or down? Why?
• Are my downloads going up or down? Why?
• Are my sales going up or down? Why?
• Can I use the feedback in my reviews to improve my apps?
• How can I improve my apps to appeal to more users?

5. Marketing and Monetization. Effective marketing of your apps is as important as their development. Consistently tweak and improve your marketing efforts. Always look for ways to generate the most amount of money from the traffic you have. Mastering marketing and monetization is a must if you want to make a lot of money with apps and keep the money coming for years.

Questions to Ask Yourself

• Am I using all known strategies to monetize my apps?
• Am I looking for new ways to monetize my apps?
• Are my marketing materials translated? What other languages can I translate to?
• Am I using affiliate links in my apps?
• How can I further improve my apps' icons, titles, descriptions, screenshots, keywords, and categories?
• Are my nag screens and promo pages set up, and are they pointing to the right apps?
• How can I add in-app purchases?
• How can I increase ad revenue?
• What can I do to increase traffic more and grow my app network?
• How can I get other developers to cross-promote with me?

6. Team and Systems. You must have a well-trained team in place. It will help you execute quickly and free up your time so you can focus on key business areas. Surround yourself with positive and intelligent people and take full advantage of technology to systemize as much of your business as possible.

Questions to Ask Yourself

• Has my business reached a point where I need to add another team member?
• What role do I need to fill?
• Where can I find the best talent?
• Am I delegating and managing my team?
• How are my team members performing?
• Do I need to fire any of my team members?
• How well are my online collaboration tools working?
• What else can I automate in my business?
• Am I a positive role model for my team and inspiring it to improve?

7. Professional Networking. Networking within the app community creates an environment where you and other appreneurs can learn from each other. When you're part of a network, you will learn much faster and grow your business more easily. Other appreneurs can infuse new and lucrative ideas into your business, and you can do the same for them. It's beneficial to be part of a community that you share similar interests and aspirations with.

Questions to Ask Yourself

• Have I checked in with my developer network recently?
• How can I help other appreneurs?
• What do I want to ask my appreneuer network?
• How can I meet other appreneurs?
• What online app communities can I plug into?
• What app industry conferences, meet-up groups, or workshops can I attend?
• How else can I grow my developer network?
• Am I growing my mastermind group?

YOUR DAILY ROUTINE

The best way to check in with the seven pillars of your business is to create a daily routine you can follow. I developed my routine when I was recovering from my accident. To this day, I lie in bed every morning and review my analytics from my iPhone. I use this time to research the market to see what's working.

In addition to tracking metrics and doing market research, I spend some time making a list of things I want to get done for the day. I pass on my tweaks to my project manager, and let my team execute them. I check in on the progress throughout the day and see if the team has any questions.

I use unplanned “net-time” to check in with these pivotal areas. By that I mean I use free time throughout the day to check my apps and my team, like when I'm waiting in line somewhere, when I'm traveling, or when I have other idle time that would be unproductive. I use these brief moments to look at the market and take pulse of what's happening with my business.

This may seem a bit counterintuitive at first. Many people are used to working or playing for extended periods of time. The faster you can adapt this more free-flowing work style, the sooner you can enjoy the appreneur lifestyle.

Your routine can differ from mine, but turn it into a habit like brushing your teeth every morning so you don't have to think about it. You do it, and your business keeps humming along while you are enjoying life.

What I Learned

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Actions to Take

1. Decide to be dispensable.
2. Hire team members and scale your team as necessary.
3. Set up online systems to manage your team remotely.
4. Hire a Super Kate and outsource your life.
5. Check in on the seven pillars of your app business on a daily basis.
6. Create a daily routine for your business.