Living life on the edge-of a tectonic plate

I have my daughter to thank for my latest invention.  Or rather my daughter’s lack of interest in managing her finances.  As she started to earn money as a model we started to question her more about it.

Having two financial parents is not easy for a teenager.  Her dad tried.  He sent her spreadsheets to use that would make the financial statements of a large bank seem simple.  I tried.  I pestered and nagged her about her income and her somewhat large expenditures.  The former financial advisor in me reminded her to save for retirement.

It all fell on deaf ears as she texted, facebooked and instagrammed her way through her day.

Suddenly, I had an epiphany.  What if tracking her income and expenses was as easy and fun as tagging her friends in a picture? What if she could do it all on her iphone while she waited at her auditions? I wanted to create a tool that would help her take control of her career and finances.

So, I set to work on an app.  As you may or may not imagine, developing an app is not as easy as it sounds.  One day, I will devote an entire post to it  but suffice it to say, I could not have done it all, by myself.

Here is a brief synopsis of the steps I went through:

Do a thorough search (or have a lawyer do one) to ensure your name and concept are unique

Register an LLC, limited liability corporation – so that all earnings (and losses…) and liability would flow through the company.

Set up a corporate bank account, to deposit said earnings into. Obtain an Employer Identification Number for the IRS, so aforemetioned earnings can be taxed appropriately.

Find an amazing app developer to turn your vision into code reality. (I can recommend one if you are interested)

Source funding for development – creating a sophisticated, complex app takes time and money.

Spend 5-6 months in development, defining and refining your vision.  I think I spent more time with my app developer (in my pyjamas, on skype) than I did with my husband in those 5 months.

Set up a website to support the app and to help brand your product.

Create a social media, networking and marketing plan for the app.

Submit to Apple for approval.

Wait.

Get Approval!

Celebrate with a glass (or two) of wine and write a blog post!

iModel is now available on itunes.  Coming soon, iGig  for musicians and iAmNotASalaryMan for freelancers.

http://imodel.halcyondays.ca