I have had countless conversations with friends in recent years about different ideas for simplifying life through the use of mobile device apps. Most of these conversations invariably end with one participant conceding, “I’m sure somebody has already created that app.” This is not true in all cases. New apps are being created everyday by people both inside and increasingly outside the tech-sphere, who see a niche area they can tap into in order to reach an unserved audience.
Enter Scrappulous: A simple app that allows you to snap a photo, shoot a video, and jot down a memory to create a digital journal that is as private or public as you want it to be that helps users avoid the all-too-common “oversharenting” on social media hubs like Facebook. Another innovative feature offered allows users to choose your favorite moments and create a “Scrappbook” that will be delivered to your door.
My conversation with the founders of Scrappulous Phil Bellini and Eric O’Connor delves into the origins of the app, the first steps toward creation, and pitfalls to watch out for if you are preparing to dive into the mobile app business.
Can you each tell our readers a little bit about you and your background?
Phil Bellini is the co-founder of Dean Media Group, a four-time Inc. 500 Chicago based media company. Outside of the office, he can be found running to and from sporting events with his wife and 3 little boys (or on the all too rare occasion, on the golf course).
Eric O’Connor owns Allori Photography, a Chicago wedding photography company. When not behind a camera, Eric can often be found running ultramarathons or coaching one of his three boys in soccer and baseball.
How did you come up with the idea for the Scrappulous app?
Phil had the idea about eight years ago. He noticed a void in sharing moments related to kids with families. Then when his kids and mine came along, it was obvious there were not any great solutions for sharing private moments with strictly family. Sure you could share pictures on one platform, notes and comments, and maybe video on another. Yes, closed Facebook sharing was an option but it just didn’t seem right to put our kids on Facebook all the time.
What void does your app fill?
We couldn’t find one place to share pictures, videos, and notes with close friends and family. Searching for moments was also impossible. We have taken thousands of pictures of our kids, written countless journal entries, and have lots of fun video. With Scrappulous we now have instant access to all of them.
We wanted to create a family version of Evernote. We each have three boys. There are hundreds of crazy moments that we want to share with family and friends. Now we can find them anytime from our phone or computer with a few simple clicks. Our favorite part of Scrappulous is the Scrappbook. It’s great to see individual moments on your phone but nothing beats holding them in a printed book in your hands.
What were the first steps that you took in creating the app? Did you end up contracting people to develop, manage or market your app, or are these things you learned to do yourself?
The first step was finding a development partner. There is a wide range of developers, from well established firms ranging from teams of people down to a one-man operation. A good friend of Eric’s works at Cloud Castle, a development shop in New York, and he helped provide insight into the search for a development team that would fit our needs and budget. We interviewed six teams over about a month period.
What was the first big obstacle that you encountered? And how did you overcome it?
Managing a development team in Dallas from Chicago proved to be a challenge in the beginning. It was clear very early on that we needed a way to track their progress. They of course had their own internal software but we needed a way to keep track of our expectations and ideas. Basecamp, formerly 37 Signals, was the answer to keeping things organized.
Was it challenging to tap into a market that you are not specifically familiar with from work experience?
Eric manages the app development and day-to-day tasks. Marketing the app fits Phil and his partner JD’s daily business. We are still in the very early stages of releasing the app.
What surprised you most about the app creation process?
Everything takes longer than you think. What may seem like one small change can actually affect the entire structure of your app. We were constantly faced with decisions to make a change or continue with our original thought process. User testing really helped some of the decisions but others had to be gut decisions on our part.
Looking back, what would you say is the most important thing to know before deciding to create an app?
What is your Minimum Viable Product (MVP). Create an MVP first, and take that to your customer. It’s much easier to add features and functionality than subtract them.
How has Scrappulous been received? Are you hitting the audience you intended?
Moms are loving Scrappulous! Now that we have the bugs worked out from early versions we are ready to go after a larger audience.
What advice would you give to others interested in creating an app but who do not have a background in mobile app creation?
If you are like us and don’t have any coding ability you will rely heavily on your development partners. Make sure you look at quite a few options and get referrals. This development team will be your number one employee for a while. Also, however long you think everything will take, double it. This is true for everything from development to app store acceptance to user adoption.
Scrappulous is available in the app store here. Download now and start scrapping!
Photo courtesy of Scrappulous
