“If you fully understand what you want to create and build, the rest comes easy.”

Simply Made Apps is a 3 person startup based in Fargo, ND. We believe in making simple, easy to use apps that focus on doing 1 thing very well rather than 100 things not so well.

MO: What issue does your core product help solve and how so?

Bill: Our core product right now is Simple In/Out. There have always been the manual in/out boards that hang around the receptionists desk. There have also been a few digital in out boards as well, but none have been able to come together into one perfect solution that is useful to visitors and employees as well as easy to use for the people coming and going. We built Simple In/Out from day one to be easy to use, quick to update, and even hands off to use. That is why we created geofences for Simple In/Out. Set a fence around your office, and the apps will check you in or out automatically. That is the product we wanted for ourselves, and we knew everyone else would want it too.

MO: What has been your biggest challenge as a business owner and how have you met that challenge?

Bill: The biggest challenge for us, as I would imagine it is for any new startup, is to get recognition and press. We know we have a great product. Our customers tell us every day how great our product is. The trick is to let everyone in the world know how great our product is. And that isn’t always that easy.

MO: Where do you envision your company in 5 years, 10 years, 20 years?

Bill: This is something that we discuss, usually over beers while planning our next feature or idea. All three of us are in mutual agreement that in 5 years, we want Simply Made Apps to be successful enough to pay each of us a modest salary and be able to work with each other full time on the projects that we all want to work on. We all currently have day jobs while we work on making Simply Made Apps a great success, but the ultimate goal is to make it our living.

MO: How do your competitors view you?

Bill: None of our competitors have ever come forward or mentioned us that we know of. That could be because they haven’t noticed us yet, or that there really isn’t much competition for this type of product. We figure we will have made it when our competitors catch up to our simplicity and functionality.

MO: What advice do you have for other entrepreneurs and business owners?

Bill: The best advice to give is to find something you want to create/fix/improve upon. If you fully understand what you want to create and build, the rest comes easy. If your goal is to make money, have a plan on how you intend to do that from day one. Not every company you create is going to get funded or bought by Google or Twitter. So find a way to make money on your own. I also wish someone would have told us to spend as much time and energy on marketing and promotion as we did building the product. The early push with your product will pay off in the long run.