The biggest opportunity right now (huge shift happening)
Consumer mobile apps is what ecom/dropshipping was in 2015. It's so early, although many are already taking advantage of this shift. The strategy consists of launching single utility, often simple apps that solve one problem and then marketing them through TikTok/Instagram Reels influencers.
Here are some examples of apps that are doing this. All of these are making thousands in MRR (you can check it yourself in SensorTower):
- Oasis - Water Ratings
- Cal AI - Calorie Tracker
- Plug AI - Texting Assistant
- Death Clock - AI-Powered Longevity
I would say there are 2 factors that have allowed for this new wave of "viral apps" or this new way of doing ecom but with mobile apps instead of physical products:
- You can now build mobile apps so much faster thanks to AI. You can create solid mobile apps even as a non-technical person with tools like cursor.com and appAlchemy.ai.
- Short form content which is now consumed by the masses has gone mainstream (TikTok, Reels, YouTube Shorts) and created an entirely new way of distribution for apps. Just one TikTok that goes semi-viral can drive millions of app downloads and in-app purchases.
More examples:
- This guy scaled a simple app for quitting vaping to almost $44k per month. He breaks it down in his YouTube channel and has very good content related to this.
- This 19 year old scaled an app that helps men quit porn to $250k revenue last month (full podcast here)