Budgeting My Projects: $16K for 2025
In the last post, I set two goals for 2025: (1) Launch 3 apps by June, and (2) Grow each app to 2,000 MAU by the end of the year. In this post, I want to develop an appropriate budget to achieve these goals.
Criteria
1. Affordability
Since I’ll be funding the projects myself, I need to consider my affordability. Based on my current income and regular expenses, I can likely afford up to $20K for the entire year.
2. Expected tasks
To estimate the operating costs to build and launch apps and grow them to 2,000 MAU, I need to account for the following:
1/ Development
Design
- Logo/app icon
- App UI/UX
- App Store product page
- Website/landing page
Engineering
- iOS app
- Website/landing page
2/ Marketing
- Organic
- App Store Optimization
- Blog posts
- Social media
- X
- Short-form videos
- Paid
- App Store Ads
- Social media ads
- Influencer marketing
3. Tools needed
Hardware
- MacBook Pro
- iPhone
Software
- Development
- Xcode
- Figma (or another design tool)
- Cursor / Windsurf
- LLMs (e.g., ChatGPT, API credits)
- Server or backend tools
- GitHub Pro (for Pages and private repositories)
- Analytics tools (e.g., Amplitude, PostHog)
- Typeform
- Marketing
- ASO and ASA research tools (e.g., AppFigures, AppTweak)
- More to be added
- Development
4. Room for errors
I need to account for potential errors and unexpected expenses. A 10% cushion feels reasonable, especially given unknown costs related to marketing tools.
Calculating the budget
| Category | Item | Cost per App | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Development | Design | $500 | Hire for app UI/UX only; DIY other design tasks |
| Engineering | $2,000 | DIY + hire for partial app development work | |
| Marketing | Organic Marketing | $0 | DIY (ASO, blog, social media) |
| Paid Marketing | $2,000 | App Store Ads, social ads, influencer marketing | |
| Tools | Development Tools | $279 | Includes Cursor/Windsurf, LLMs, server, GitHub |
| Marketing Tools | $200 | ASO/ASA research tools |
Summary:
- Total cost per app = $2,500 (development) + $2,000 (marketing) + $300 (tools) = $4,800
- Total for 3 apps = $4,800 × 3 = $14,400
- Final total (with 10% cushion) = $14,400 × 1.1 = $15,840