When was the last time you downloaded an app from the Google Play Store or iOS App Store? Mine was just yesterday. I downloaded an app that can help me to select text from images. Yes. You heard me right. That’s how powerful some apps are. In this article, I’ll show you all you need to know and how to get started and make money online in Nigeria with mobile app development.
Apps for the masses
You can visit a website like Jumia on a PC to probably buy a product or service, but what if you’re on the move and don’t have a PC to visit the website? This is where an app comes in.
Mobile apps have become ubiquitous and indispensable, especially with the explosion of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Mobile apps make life easier – you don’t need to have a PC in order to order your favorite pizza from Kilimanjaro, do you? Absolutely no.
Let’s face it. Without mobile apps, your smartphone is just a brick – useless. Mobile apps are what makes your smartphone smart, and there are tons and tons of mobile apps published. Presently, there are an estimated 8 million plus mobile apps in existence, and the number continues to grow.
How can you make money by creating and publishing a mobile app? Can mobile apps make money for you? Definitely. If you can successfully create an app that people want to use, you can monetize it and it’ll make money for you indefinitely. You are essentially creating a SAAS platform to make money (software as a service).
A mobile app could be a source of passive income for you and will make money for you whether you’re sleeping or traveling the world. We all love passive income, don’t we? So, let’s get started.
Why Create an App?
So, here’s the question. Why even bother creating an app? Apps are designed to solve a problem that people may have in real life. If an app will not address a specific problem, then it’s useless. The reason why you download apps is because you need them to solve problems or to be productive.
Before you think of creating an app, ask yourself these questions:
Why would anyone want to use my app?
Why should people download your app when you create it? What problems will it solve? If you can answer this question, you have one reason to create this app. You can’t create an app people don’t really need because it costs a lot to create apps.
Who will use this app?
You need to know who you’re creating this app for. Will it be for accountants? Or for electricians? Will the app be designed for kids to learn the alphabet? What if you’re creating an app for the real estate industry?
Once you figure out who your app will be for, this knowledge will guide you in creating the app. You will know the kind of interface and functionality to build into the app.
What platforms will this app work on?
There are different platforms apps are designed to run on. You could build an app for Android or the iOS platform. You could also build an app for a proprietary platform. An app built for Android will not work on the iOS platform, and vice versa.
How will I monetize this app?
You will need to figure out how this app will make money for you. This is because the process of creating an app costs time and money. So, you need to know how to recoup your investment, otherwise, it isn’t worthwhile.
There are different ways of monetizing a mobile app such as by offering a subscription, or by running ads inside the app. It could also be by paying for the app outrightly, instead of a subscription.
All of these methods have their pros and cons, but it is best to weigh your options before going for any of them.
Different types of Mobile Apps
Apps come with various functionalities, but the major ones are listed below
Productivity apps
These are apps that allow you to engage in a form of work to produce results, such as typing documents, editing videos, creating a logo, creating a spreadsheet, etc. Examples include MS Word, YouCut Video Editor, Pixellab, WPS Office, MS Excel, etc.
These apps come from well-established brands like Microsoft, Adobe, Apple, and others.
Entertainment apps
These apps offer some form of entertainment like music, games, and movies for mobile users. Such apps include PlayerPro, MX Player, VLC Media Player, Angry Birds, Netflix, etc.
Communication apps
These apps enable users to communicate with in some way such as chats and email. Users can exchange pictures, videos, and documents. Examples include WhatsApp, Skype, Messenger by Meta, and Telegram.
Social network apps
As the name implies, these apps allow people to connect by providing a platform. Examples include the almighty Facebook, X, Instagram, Reddit, and LinkedIn.
Financial service apps
These apps provide some form of financial services, either banking or financial technology (FinTech) services. Examples include Opay, Moniepoint, GTBank app, Geegpay, Grey, etc.
Utility apps
This class of mobile apps provide some form of utility, such as unit conversions, calculators, sound recorders, image converters, video compressors, background removers, etc. Examples include ClevCalc, Tubemate, Windscribe, ColorNote, Ampere, Xender, etc.
What do you need to Create an App?
First of all, you need an idea.
Once you’ve nailed the idea or problem the app should resolve, you are going to have to either code the app yourself or outsource the coding and development to experts. If you’re going to do it yourself, you’ll need to learn how to code.
Building a mobile app isn’t something you can do all by yourself, because there are several aspects to it. Before an app is ready, the following aspects must be fulfilled
- Coding
- Graphics
- UI/UX
If you can do all by yourself, then you must be a guru. You need to collaborate with other professionals in the other areas if you are going to code by yourself. Otherwise, the developer is going to take care of all the aspects. You only need to pay for their services.
Learn Coding/App Development
The foundation of mobile apps is code. Coding is a specialized skill where you learn how to make computers do something by compiling what we call “code” or computer language. There are different types of code like Python, Django, PHP, .NET, C#, C++, Javascript, etc.
Coding is a high-income skill in the world today, because virtually everything runs on code; computers, smartphones, televisions, industrial machines, just name it. Without code, the world would be like the Middle Ages!
So, the question is, where can you learn coding in Nigeria?
Where to Learn Coding in Nigeria?
There are a few places to learn coding in Nigeria. Coding is so specialized that most companies outsource their coding jobs abroad, because they feel Nigerian software engineers lack the experience and skill to produce high-quality apps.
NIIT and Aptech Nigeria comes to mind because they were among the first in Nigeria. These companies have branches in the major Nigerian cities. There are also other places such as the following
- Sabi Programmers – Ondo State
- HIIT Plc
- Moringa School
- New Horizons
- Andela
- Tech Specialist Academy, Lagos
- Nerdy Eye – Enugu
- Infonet Institute – Lagos
- Maven School of Software & Computer Tech. – Lagos
- Hackspace – Lagos
- Ace Computer Training Center, Lagos
- Decagon Institute
Most of these schools offer both back-end and front-end development, and you can get a certificate or diploma of completion as the case may be. Most of them train in web development, app development, UI/UX, Graphic Design, and coding in major languages.
What about Learning Coding Online?
You can decide to learn coding online, but this comes with its own specific challenges such as support. Most course creators may not respond to your specific challenge on time, and this may be a problem. But then, an online course offers you flexibility and perhaps a cheaper fee to learn coding and software development in Nigeria.
Udemy, Coursera, Alison, Kajabi, and other platforms offer thousands of courses on coding and software development. Once you buy a course, you have access to that course for life, plus support from the course creator.
Many software and app developers learned how to code online, and today they are doing quite well for themselves.
How much does it cost to build an app in Nigeria?
It will cost you a lot, especially if you’re going to monetize the app. Conservatively, from 1.5 million Naira and above. A friend wanted to build a financial services app like Grey and Geegpay, and the company billed him N4.8 million.
See the screenshot below.
That’s a lot of money, especially if you are a young person in Nigeria hustling to survive. This is why I encourage young people to go gain high-income skills like, web design, graphic design or coding so you can be able to make good money. Like, you’ll practically never be broke again!
Publish, and Promote Your App
Once your app is ready, you simply need to publish it to either the Play Store or App Store, depending on which platform it was designed for. At this stage, your work is almost done, and you’re ready to reap the fruit of your rewards.
But wait a minute, before making the money, you need to promote your creation. This is where marketing comes in. You can run ads, discuss your app in Facebook groups or forums, or even offer it free of charge at the initial stage.
With time, you can monetize your app and reap the rewards of passive income.
Concluding Thoughts on Making Money in Nigeria with Mobile Apps
How did this article address your questions about making money online with mobile apps in Nigeria? if you found some value from this post, I encourage you to share it to your Facebook page or group so others will also benefit from it.
Do you think pursuing a career in coding and mobile app development is something you want to do? I think it is. Anyways, let me know your thoughts by dropping a comment below. We have lots of articles on how to make money online in Nigeria. You’re welcome to check them out.
