New Application Development – Web? Mobile?

Some Background

I have been kicking this idea around for a year. One of the current business ventures that keeps my family fed is the care and feeding of a hair salon. Rather than hire people to run the chairs, we have decided to rent the chairs out. The stylists each rent a chair, and run their businesses as independent contractors.

This has many benefits in the realm of taxes and paperwork, but it causes other problems. Each user needs to run their own cash drawer, each user has to run their own books, and do their own sales tax reporting. This means that there is alot of overhead in the management of each stylist.

I have tried to think of as many different ways to attack this problem programmatically, but I have found that there are many different facets to the problem. Part of the reason I am writing this entry is so that I can think this through and come to a conclusion. The other part of me hopes that someone will give me a good answer and ease my pain.

So, the problem is, I would like to write a software solution to the above problem. A solution that allows stylists to take care of their scheduling, their appointment histories, take photos of client’s styles, and in the background, generate reports for taxes and income.

The trick is, how to proceed.

It Must Make Money

In the end, I provide for my family by writing computer software. While I love to write software, I still need to make money at the end of the day. I also think that my skills are valuable, and that providing a tool that provides value to a user should provide financial value for me.

At this point, I need to decide a few things. First off, the pricing model. I would much rather charge a monthly fee. This would allow me to keep the initial expense low (somewhere around $10 a month). If I were to charge enough to make my money up front, the initial expense to the user would be much higher.

I need to think this through, but I think this might be the way to go.

Which Platform to Develop for?

Like everyone else, I have heard that the iPhone is coming to Verizon next month. This is what got me to initially start kicking this idea around again. That, and the advent of the Apple App store.

While I do think it would be best to develop for all the platforms at once, there is no way I can do this all at once. As a test for the viability of the product, I would like to write one solution, then, if there is sufficient demand, write for the rest of the platforms.

So, I am compiling a quick pros and cons list to help me decide.

Develop a Web Application

Pros:

• I already know how to develop web apps. I wouldn’t have to learn anything new.
• Easy to implement. It would be be really easy to deploy a first crack at the problem, and update the the site in real time. As feedback was received from beta testers, it would be easy to change the codebase and have everyone access the new changes immdediately.
• There is a lot of screen real estate. You have lots of room to play around with.

Cons:

• The salon would have to have an internet connection. While I am guessing that most do, it still means an extra expense of $25 a month for those salons who don’t have wifi already.
• It would be less messy if the salon only had one machine running a web browser on site. This would mean that the users would have to log in and out of their accounts every hour or so. If someone else was running their clients through the system, that would mean they would have to wait. In a salon of more than five people, this could be a real pain.

Develop and iPhone / iPod Application

Pros:

• I already know how to develop iPhone apps. I wouldn’t have to learn anything new.
• Users who didn’t want to run with a data plan could run the program on an iPod touch. This would allow for most all of the same functionality, and keep the cost of entry (and the monthly data plan costs) to a minimum. Should any functionality require access to the net, it could be done via wifi when available.
• With Verizon picking up the iPhone, there is a huge user base coming to the iPhone.
• The hardware platforms are extremely limited. This means that the user experience is easy to predict.

Cons:

• Most of the stylists I know do not have apple products. Most of the smart phone owners are using Android. At least in this area.
• There is a good chance that an application could be denied for inclusion in the google marketplace.

Develop for Android

Pros:

• Lots of people I know who could be potential beta testers have Android phones with data plans.
• There is no waiting period for submitting apps in the Android market place. They can even be downloaded directly from the developer.

Cons:

• I don’t know how to program for the Android. While I do like the android OS, and I do know java, I don’t know much about what goes on under the hood.
• There are lots of variations of Android running around. It’s really hard to predict what the app is going to look like for an end user.
• While there are some products on the horizon, there is no Android device in circulation that can live on its own, without the need of data plan.

In Conclusion

So, there you have it. These are the things I have been mulling over for the last few months. While I am still not sure exactly how to proceed, I think I might start with the iPhone/iPad, and go from there.

But! I would still like to get more input from the outside world.