Since you're a one man band, I might also suggest you try to copy a successful app on the Android market. Find an app that is relatively high priced that you think you could copy and then sell at a lower price. They've already proven that the market exists. Once you have the app built, then iterate by adding features that the competition may not have thought of.
I do agree that the risk is very minimal if I had asked someone to look after my stuff, however I could not risk loosing the data on my laptop (loosing the laptop itself is not a big deal). And yes, I used Dropbox to backup most of the important stuff.
I went through the same experience when I was doing my startup. The biggest problem I found was going to the washroom. I was always afraid someone would highjack my stuff so every time I went to the washroom, I had to pack everything up and bring it with me. This was pretty annoying. Also, if the coffeeshop is busy, good luck finding a clean toilet to sit on.
I've created 3 apps for the Mac App Store. I'm not too sure if its a success since I'm making about 5k/month in sales and I'm still keeping my day job. I guess its just more disposable income.
I really enjoyed reading your story. I had similar experiences with my side project as well.
In my case, I tried to take on the behemoth that is Intuit. I spent 2 years working on the same side project. In my third year, I decided to quit my job and focus on it fulltime. Six months into working on my startup I realized that I made the mistake of trying to pick a fight with Intuit since the product that I was building was too much for me to handle.
I decided to switch course and focus on niche products for the Mac App Store. Two months after my pivot, I was making a few thousand a month from my apps. I've since accepted fulltime employment and am continuing to work on my Mac Apps as they are still generating the same amount of money.
From this experience I learned its best to focus on a niche market if you are a one man band. I think your failure was because your focus was too wide. Perhaps for your next project, you should consider focusing on a niche market.
Here is my story. I graduated from Mechanical engineering 3 years ago. After I finished school I got a job at a small company doing embedded development, mostly in `c`. My salary was $78000.
Two years after I started my job, I decided to learn iOS programming during evenings and weekends. A few months later I quit my job and decided to do iOS programming full time. At the time, I was working on an idea and didn't have anything ready for the world to see. Months passed and I still wasn't ready. I realized that it would take me another year to complete so I decided to pivot and work on another product.
After 1 month of pivoting I released my first project on the Mac App Store and was making ~$5000/month. A few months later, a company came knocking on my door and gave me a job offer. I accepted and am now making more than I did in my first job. I still have my business running on autopilot. I am 27.
This is not to brag. It is to show that if you really want to get out of the rut that you are in, lock yourself in a room, build something and release it into the wild. If you don't have a good idea, copy someone else's. By doing this, you'll learn new skills and will eventually become valuable to others.
For fear of competition, I'd rather not say. They live in the education, lifestyle and graphics category. Two of them are ranked within the top 10 of most paid in many countries.
I have 4 apps on the Mac App Store. It took me a total of 2 months to develop. I make roughly $3300 in sales per month. After taxes and Apple's 30% cut I make roughly $2000.