When you depend 100% on a closed system run by a company that has all the power in a business relationship then you are effectively making a deal with the devil. Here is what you need to know and do to protect yourself and your business from ruin.
BREAKING UPDATE: to get an idea of the real-world problems with working in a closed system check out this article about the serious problems developers have having right now with Apple’s iTunes Connect.
What I mean by a closed system is something where one company controls the entire process, the process is not transparent and the company that owns the system makes all the rules. As a business “partner” you have two options: play by their rules or leave. They can change the rules at any time and your business could flourish or perish. The overriding feeling though is one of lack of control.
Why Would Anyone Build A Business in Someone Else’s Playground?
If you are an iPhone developer (like me) or a Facebook developer than you know that the reason is: massive audience. From day one my apps have sold a healthy number of copies per day without me doing anything to promote them. Millions of people own iPhones and look at the app store every day. So, the answer is that you deal with the problems of a closed system because you can leverage the system’s audience and build a business that would not have existed in the first place without the system.
The bottom line is that in an increasing attention-driven ecosystem you need to do whatever you can to get people to pay attention to you or your product. These massive audiences that Facebook and Apple have are so valuable that most developers will put up with almost anything to get access to them.
So What’s the Problem?
Hopefully there will be no problem. But, you will always have the risk that one company can just pull the plug or they can change the rules and your app will tank. This does happen. Also, when you are working in this closed system you need to make choices that you may not have made in any other situation and issues can crop up that are out of your control but yet your company still gets the blame.
What Can We Do To Protect Our Business
That is all fine and dandy and to be honest this question has vexed me lately. But, I heard an great tip on the This Week In Startups podcast last week that I feel I should share with you that will help.
The take away solution is that as soon as possible you must diversify your app and decouple your brand from being exclusively on one platform. You also need to find a way to capture your audience’s email. The most important asset that you have is your audience and since Facebook and Apple will not give up our customer’s email you must find a way to stay in touch with your superfans.
Some ways you can diversity your brand are too: get an web version of your app that anyone can use, sell a desktop version of your app, get on all the other mobile devices, get web apps on other major outlets. Get your brand, product, you out to ask many different venues as you can. Keep the product focused in terms of user experience, simply provide it on as many platforms as possbible. Most likely, you will want your brand and your business to outlive any particular technology like the iPhone, Android or Facebook.
So How Does That Help Again?
Two ways: you are not overly depending on one stream of income and you have access to your audience. If you do diversify you will be able to grow your business and stay close to your mission. Probably the best way to view working in a closed system is that you are creating a funnel that will bring over customers from the system into your own.
What Do You Think? What Else Can We Do?
Comment below!!
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