Hi all, I published an Android App a couple of weeks ago and the governing body has been in touch and wants to talk about officially endorsing the App - whilst lending their own ideas to it and ultimately an iOS version too. This is completely new territory to me and came out of the blue - I am hoping the community has some advice as I don't know what or how to position myself, what to ask for or indeed how to play it generally!

Many people would like to be in that situation! I think you should define your own goals for the app first. Is it a labor of love, something you would want to backup with your own money or time, or is it something that you would like to do as a job? You know what they in books about getting rich: find a need and then fill it; it seems that your app has already cut a dent in the universe, the need is there, otherwise they would not be contacting you. However, if they have their own ideas... well, you should end up getting paid for that! Similarly, you should get paid for the iOS version as well, since it is not something that you would normally do out of your free will. Something like that.

Thanks Dusko, therein lies the problem I guess. The Apps I push out are fun to make and use (I think anyway) and are mostly done in my spare time as I hold down a full time job. A couple of my Apps are earning pocket money for me (enough to fund a second-hand iMac anyway) so next phase is getting into and used to iOS / xcode dev. I believe these people would be looking for something more invested on their part which may cause me an issue. If the App was official, it would be free (currently is paid for) so updates, functional enhancements etc would be reasonable endeavours given my current commitments. So do I charge an upfront fee for the App as-is, considering potential loss of revenue and then work on a price per modification / app maintenance etc? Quite lost really as you can tell!

I would charge them a fee to amend the Android app plus projected loss of revenue and a hefty fee to make the IOS app. Then, determine an ongoing fee for maintenance etc (you could include projected loss of revenue also.) Try searching the forum - I did come across a contract David comped up that might help you to look at. https://www.buzztouch.com/files/howtos/sow-sample.pdf

Thank you Becky - amazing really as I write SoW documents every other day for my day job and hadn't entertained that! I was thinking about handing over the Android App with their commitment to a scheduled maintenance agreement - as that would in itself would cross promote my existing apps too. As for iOS - yes, fully dev costs to get it up, running and accepted into production and then a similar agreement for updates / maintenance etc. Plenty to work on and think about - thank you for your input :)

Hard to say without knowing the specifics but if they are so keen, then you should milk the situation. Ask what they have in mind if they haven't said so, such as ongoing retainer or simply selling them the app etc. Then charge them a fortune. Everyone else does. If the want you to keep the app updated, for example, how about £500 - £1000 a day? They frequently pay that to all sorts of consultants.

Charge something like this... *Initial App Fee *Yearly Rolling app fee *Fees for push notifications *Update fee (or buy 6 updates and save 10%) *Charge server maintenance / web hosting fees

Great advice thank you all much appreciated. Ill let you know how it progresses!

My two cents. Firstly, make sure they understand how into this OR NOT you are. How skilled you are. How capable you are of doing this the right way. Your up-front-honest approach will go a long way. you've not mentioned who the client / partner is so it's tough to advise the best approach. Ultimately nobody will win if the app is not developed and cared for by somebody who genuinely wants it to succeed. Like you say, these things are a labor of love! Most projects like this head into the dark phases after about 90 days. Everybody's happy, everyone has stayed up all night pondering ideas, code get's written, a version may even get released. Interest slips away, devices change (ios 9 comes out), the entire market changes, ether goes a different direction. This is very very normal and something to consider. Like the first paragraph mentioned: Help these folks understand just exactly HOW MUCH is involved in making an app successful and how you may or may not fit in their goals. Then SELL IT TO THEM. Get their check, one, capitalize on your effort, idea, skill while you can. In most cases you'll do better this way than trying to stretch it out. Remember, their budget and plans are not permanent. Keep your day job, get a fat check from them, help them become the owners of whatever you've done. Smile. d.