Issue #14 - Sumio
There has been a lot of interest in the Black Friday features that I’ll be running during the Indie App Sales event. In you are a developer and are part of the event don’t forget to complete the submission form so I can get in contact with you.
App Spotlight
App Name : Sumio
Developer : Lukas Soukup - Twitter/X
What is Sumio?
Sumio is a privacy-first mobile app for tracking net worth including stocks, crypto, and precious metals. Our long-term goal is to make a health app for your money and make financial planning easy. Right now, Sumio can provide answers to questions like what is my net worth, how it changes over time, how are my assets and liabilities allocated, and what their value is.
Where did the idea for Sumio come from?
We were discussing business ideas with my friend, now my business partner, and we both liked the idea of independent financial planning because we had experience with traditional financial advising and banking and thought that it would be great if there were apps that would not try to sell some financial product, stock or crypto, but instead help users to analyze and plan finances in an honest way, apps that would be working for the user, not for any bank or a broker. We thought the concept of independent financial planning could be appealing to others too.
What’s one stand out feature you’d like everyone to know about?
Sumio gets market data for thousands of assets including stocks, funds, and crypto, and automatically calculates the value of your holdings in any currency you choose. It calculates key financial metrics and shows the allocation of your assets and liabilities.
We are working on adding the possibility to model the future value of your assets and liabilities.
How do you promote Sumio?
I run a small campaign in Apple Search Ads. I’m trying to promote Sumio on Twitter, and Reddit and get it listed on different app directories. I’m also playing with app store optimization. Marketing and promotion for an indie app like Sumio are still something I’m trying to figure out.
How did you decide on the pricing?
Our business model is freemium. We offer a generous free plan but from the start, we also offered a premium subscription plan, because we wanted to test, whether we would find users willing to pay for an app like Sumio. I believe having feedback from paying users is the most valuable.
How did you launch Sumio?
We used ProductHunt and did small campaigns using Google Ads and Facebook. I started to promote the app on different Facebook, Slack, and Reddit groups and established a Twitter profile. I got in touch with several YouTubers and bloggers in the personal finance space to test and promote Sumio and handed over promo codes. The launch itself was an important milestone but I think it is more important to consistently promote the product and do “small” (re)launches often.
How long did it take to get to the first version?
It took us more than a year. In the beginning, we thought we would be able to have the first version of the app within a few months. However, we decided to develop the app both for iOS and Android and integrate it with two market data providers. Designing, developing, testing, and tuning the UX took more time than originally expected.
Is there anything you’ve learnt that stands out?
Prototyping can save a lot of development time, help with research, shaping ideas, and facilitating product discussions. I now regularly use Figma to create prototypes of new features. The other thing that stands out is marketing – finding the right way to promote the product takes a lot of effort and testing of different approaches. It is important to have a plan, but only after you launch and talk to users, you get a real sense of what works, what messaging resonates, and what channels are effective.
Any tools or apps you would recommend others check out?
I would recommend checking out Localazy if you plan to add many languages to your app and need a solution to manage your translations. We have also good experience with Codemagic which is helping us with CI/CD. For ASO I would recommend Astro developed by a fellow indie developer.
What's one tip you would give to someone starting out?
Focus on building a community of potential users from the very start. Don’t be shy to share feature ideas, prototypes, and even small progress on social media relevant to your app or just anyone willing to listen to you. Constantly test the value proposition of your product and collect feedback.
Where can everyone go to find out more?
You can check the website of Sumio or get the app on the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. I am on X / Twitter or LinkedIn if anyone would like to get in touch.
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IndieAppSpotlight - Mastodon, Twitter/X
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