Yeah.
a good thing is slowly getting !!!
I get from BLYNK a pleasure, well, almost)))
The question is simple ???
who how and how did they make money with this resource?
How does this happen ???
I do monitoring, well, I do loggers under the order, under everyones gauges and those processes
how it all happens?
on the table is a ready-made device (for me)))
under the blink works steadily
all are satisfied with everything
issue price?
how much will it cost for the client?
how long will the device have access to the blink server after the sale ???
what guarantees from the blink ???
there is nothing eternal, but all the same - you need to earn everything, both blink and me))
who has a specific experience ??
written a lot vodic …
but specifics, the debit of the loan and that - not nashol
can not only experience will be useful to me ???
Hi Gary, thanks for your interest in the business aspect of Blynk platform.
I’ll try to cover some of your questions here:
There are a few clients with commercial projects: https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Blynk+Inc. You can ask them for reference. More products are coming out this year.
Monetization is different from company to company.
- Make a project and test it out, get feedback from potential users
- Once you are happy with the result - export and publish the app. It’s a paid feature provided under susbscription plans
You can read more about the app publishing here
We recommend making apps free. However, we are also working on a monetization model for all the parties involved.
When you cancel the subscription, your app will stay in the app stores, but your server will be turned off 30 days later. All active devices will stop working in 30 days until you renew your subscription. There is also a one-time buyout option when apps are running on your private server (this option has certain limitations) - scroll down to FAQ section on this page
We offer 99.9% uptime and also technical support in the case of monthly subscription, accordingly to chosen plan
dont work
It is interesting to have the opinion of the one who bought the plan
What do you get?
or the one who bought the finished product, from the one who bought the plan?
Well…
I do not know
for me it is important to find out the opinion of non-founders, namely the users of the plan
Well, I am neither 
… just a App user and forum volunteer… but @Costas has made a very good App with Blynk, his is the ESPproMon, I guess you could message him and ask.
Thank you
What do you think?
Is it business?
or a toy?
Like all good products and tools, and to those who like to make stuff, it can be either or both 
@Gary99 I will answer your recent question on “where is the money?” but in this English topic… (that’s the problem with dual topics… which one do you read, answer, etc 
)
As Pavel mentioned, the App is generally recommended to be free… with the basis being that you develop an IoT product that uses Blynk as it’s GUI interface… you sell the product and include the “free” app in the package.
Or I suppose you could have it as an paid addon purchase to a physical control panel or something. Just add to the product price and flip a “switch” in code that utilizes Blynk… it thus can be added on later or at time of purchase and no need to charge for the App in the App store.
Either way, most IoT products are not just a standalone App, so, while it may cost something to develop, you get your ROE in the full product sale by having such a value added feature.
I read both of my themes
otherwise I would have one
we will model the business plan -
produced a certain product (1000 pieces)
did not go to sales, made a discount and still sold, ok?
further production does not make sense
I mean, paying a blink does not make sense either
30 days, and the service falls for everyone who bought
manufacturer - ala Chinese from I do not know where from
how will blink react? what is the attitude of customers?
I’d be happy to explain various scenarios and solutions, but I don’t understand some of your English. Maybe it’s better to switch to Russian or Ukrainian?
у меня есть вопросы непосредственно к тем, кто уже купил план
как это им помогло сделать деньги
меня устраивает полностью блинк, все работает
устройство мое тоже работает с блинком хорошо
есть и клиенты на устройство
но поддерживать связь , даже за 200$, мне не подходит
слишком мало клиентов
те примеры апк, которые мне показали
имеют загрузок до 200 шт
это не факт, что продан девайс или план
поэтому меня интересует- как люди строят свой бизнес с блинк?
есть ли реальные пользователи плана???
Все опубликованные приложения используют план. И все они зарабатывают деньги своим владельцам.
Как они зарабатывают, к сожалению мы не знаем. Для некоторых, приложение это конкурентное преимущество, для других цена приложения включается в цену продукта, для третьих прямая прибыль через продажу ИОТ сервисов.
Польза Blynk не только в заработке денег, но также в экономии. Стоимость разработки приложения исчисляется десятками тысяч долларов. Для многих компаний, это неоправданные инвестиции, особенно в сфере инноваций, где конечная цель не всегда очевидна. В то же время, с Blynk, всего за $2000 в год, компании получают 2 приложения, сервер, тех поддержку, неограниченные сообщения и тд.
Есть у нас и клиенты, которые зарабатывают автоматизируя задачи. Например мониторинг фабрики. Прибыли это не приносит, но экономит компанит десятки человеко-часов в месяц. А это тоже огромный ресурс.
В общем, каждый случай частный. Нет такой таблетки в ИОТ, которая спасет всех.
Blynk это инструмент, который помогает бизнесам решать задачи посредством ИОТ.
понятно)
Very interesting topic indeed.
It should be better to be published under “WishLists” etc, but anyway.
I’m focusing in the very small scale manufacturing.
In such a case an “off the shelf” or semi custom product tries to find it’s way to the market.
Each one appliance sold and paid once. the manufacturer may ask for an optional paid upgrade, but he must ensure backward compatibility at no price for some years.
In such a small scale production scenario, there is no many resources available, you have to take advantage of the free stuff at it’s maximum extent, and you have to use your skills and mind for the best results. Fortunately, current technology gives opportunities, and i guess many “hobbyists” here in, keep an eye on the possibility to develop and sell a smart appliance-application.
Blynk is a great platform and one can survive by using only it’s free part, but its main advantage for the small scale manufacturer is it’s paid GUI part.
To my opinion there is a contradiction here in.
Blynk asks for a paid subscription (monthly or yearly) while the manufacturer is paid by piece.
That means that the manufacturer has to sell a minimum number of appliances every year in order to undertake the Blynk subscription, and in case of failure of the business plan, has to be prepared to keep subscription for some years after he is out of business (this is to satisfy the last buyers).
I have to notice here that nowdays market is full of appliances that appear, sell and disappear after some time, but once you buy it you expect use it up to its end of life. An appliance can be an innovation and get outdated next day.
StartUp plan is $2,000 per year. i will round it to 2,000 Euro/year for convenience.
Consider an ESP8266 appliance to sell at 50 Euro/piece and include 10% (5 Euro/piece) Blynk fees for the GUI. That means 400 devices minimum per year. if you want to be safe you have to set a target of 800-1000 pcs per year. It may be much better than this, but in the beginning you have nothing but prosperity and hard work. Additionally, in the beginning is where you need to make most changes in the application.
I guess Blynk team is more experienced in working with the big Enterprise and have underestimate this kind of market, although it has set up the basics (i mean the Energy idea).
I would propose a paid Extended Developer plan but not in a subscription basis, roughly shaped as follows
- Developer will use Blynk cloud with a single account and only for its own use with a very limited number of projects (prototypes)
- Developer shall operate and maintain its own local server in order to serve its own clients
- Cloning of projects shall be an one direction paid service, from Blynk cloud to the local server
- Cloning is not supported inside the local server (will need a special local server version?)
- Only sharing is supported inside the local server
- Cloning shall be paid in source (developer), not in destination (local server)
- Cloning cost shall follow Blynk’s policy concerning cost of widgets as well as purchase of Energy packages
- Shared application (concerns a single auth code) shall have the same capabilities as the original project, excluding the ability to start-stop the application and get into modification menu (an exception could be the ability to setup a specific email, into email widget or something)
As of the rest, the Developer plan features as well as terms and conditions shall valid.
@kostas , thanks for your feedback, it’s very insightful. I would prefer to skip the discussion of Blynk pricing, because it’s not what this topic is about. I would rather focus on monetization and planning.
A few important points I would comment on/
This is a big problem in IOT. Also, this approach is slowing down the technology adoption. Because you mix two conceptions. Old way: “manufacture->sell->forget” will simply not work. When building a connected product, it should be built as a service. Unfortunately, most of the companies think like: we will add wifi to {put your product here} and it will become smart and will make us a ton of money. No, it won’t. It’s not the hardware that will make your product successful, it’s the strategy.
Hardware and manufacturing will only become cheaper. 1 sensor with connectivity and smart strategy behind it can disrupt old, established multi-million dollar industries. I’m not joking, you will see more and more of that in the next 5 years (and some of them will be running on Blynk 
Forgive me for being so direct, but this is such a wrong assumption, that i need to waive a huge red flag to stop anyone assuming so.
In a world of IOT, where software “eats the world”, putting a 5% of the cost for:
- UX
- Design
- App development for iOS and Android, web.
- Backend
- Making it all work with Hardware
is just a very very big mistake which will put any new business into the grave straight away. My best recommendation, based on our experience in this industry, is to consider software component of the connected product to be at least 40% of the cost. Btw, don’t forget 20% for marketing expenses.
Unfortunately, engineers tend to think, that device itsels is the most important challenge they need to solve, and all the money and energy should be put into this. Sadly, it may, but usually doesn’t work this way.
You are so right here. I tend to think that mostly, in life we always pay with 2 things: time and money.
Let’s look closer at your time spent when building a new product. We will assume that you need apps and all the infrastructure to launch it.
Let’s say, you know how to code in Android and you need a goog looking graph.
You will spend about 100 hours to find a good library, set it up, integrate into your code, squash the bugs, change design, etc. Let’s say your hour rate is $10/hr (for Android developer it’s an impossible rate, but let’s dream here)
So, chart alone costs you 100 hours, or $1,000
If you hire someone, aim for $25 at min. And same time. Which is 100 hours + $2,000.
With Blynk: 20 min and forgot. Basically we just saved you 99hours or $990-$1,980, and we didn’t even start counting in backend, hardware, skype calls with developers, etc.
That was a rough estimate for 1 feature only. I’m not going to list all the other benefits of Blynk, but my point is that your time is the most precious resource you have, which can’t be neglected and should be always counted in any estimate.
Considering all the above, Blynk plan for $1,990 per Year is the one of the best investments a new business owner can make if they want to save time, money, and get faster to market.
в том то и дело
все стремятся не опоздать
а войти в рынок
вопрос - как?
пока я не получил ответ сдесь
бороться с гигантами я точно не смогу
блинк заразил простотой тестирования железа
осталось научиться продавать
in fact of the matter
all aspire not to be late
but enter the market
The question is how?
until I received an answer here
I can not fight the giants exactly
blink infected with the simplicity of testing iron
It remains to learn how to sell
I think it’s the market that makes the rules. If you have a different solution to propose, you expose it to the market and either is taking its share or returned back for redesign. I’m involved in Industrial Refrigeration - Energy Saving. Service means fees. Either on a subscription basis or in a case by case. Taking a look in the applications @Gunner proposed as Blynk related, i was wondering how is it possible to ask for subscription fees in let’s say Watch Level Application (and i’m focusing in this kind of applications).
You sell an appliance together with a mobile app as a package. There is service, there is subscription cost to the manufacturer, but you can’t transfer it to the final user. You will get paid by piece.
I believe that, that’s why i’ve spent a lot of time (and some pennies) in IOT and Blynk.
It’s OK, i will fully agree with you, but maybe i was misunderstood.
I said 10% instead of 5% mentioned from your side, and based not on cost but on selling price (including marketing expenses and the rest). This is very close to your 40% on cost.
Although an engineer, i’m thinking of a product (or project) as an orchestra. A single bad acting musician is enough to turn the whole thing into ruins.
First of all, i don’t mean to underestimate the tremendous work being done from the Blynk Team!
I’m aware of all these and a reminder is always useful just in case…, plus i’m not an Android/iOS developer and i don’t have plans to become in this life…
When i was thinking of IOT a couple of years ago, i did a little investigation at various protocols-platforms (Kaa, MQTT, OpenHAB, Sedona), so, sticking with Blynk is anything else, but “by accident”. I’m intended to use what is generously offered open, and compensate for the proprietary, as it needed in the workflow.
I will again agree with you but still believe that something fits between free Developer Plan and StartUp plan. Something that will attract users of the free “tank” while will not affect users of StartUp plan. as they use to say in my country “worst enemy of the best is (something) better”
I will retry an approach here in from the “StartUp plan” point of view.
StartUp plan features deduct
- Technical support (Community lists is OK)
- Blynk.Inject
- Blynk.R
- App Publishing (your existing Blynk app with Qr scanning shall be used)
In conclusion, what shall be added to your free features is a Shared app enhanced with the “Chip” icon with the information of device status (online-offline) and the “Export to CSV” action