Founder & Owner · After Hours Data Systems

Single-owner mobile app business I started in 2014 and incorporated as After Hours Data Systems in 2021. Started with around 20 apps, unpublished the 19 unprofitable ones, and concentrated development on the profitable product. That app has since exceeded 50,000 lifetime sales across iOS and Android. Today, it operates with minimal ongoing maintenance.

Product development and maintenance

Taught myself mobile development and shipped the initial Android apps. After narrowing the portfolio to one product, rebuilt it in 2018 and released the first iOS version, expanding sales to both platforms.

Later migrated to Flutter and Dart to maintain iOS and Android from a single codebase. Marketing is largely organic through App Store and Play Store search. Updates address platform compatibility and content changes, with an average annual workload of a few days during the winter off-season.

What the work demonstrates

• Self-taught cross-platform mobile development. Built and shipped paid apps, expanded from Android to iOS, and learned Flutter to maintain both platforms from one codebase.
• Product judgment. Unpublished 19 unprofitable apps from an initial portfolio of around 20 and focused on the product that went on to exceed 50,000 lifetime app sales.
• Disciplined platform migration. Rebuilt the product twice as platform needs changed, most recently migrating to Flutter to support its continued operation.
• Operating a real business. LLC formation, accounting, Apple Developer Program, Google Play Console, App Store Connect, tax filings, payment processing, customer support workflow, all handled directly.
• Durable engineering. A product that has paid out for years with minimal intervention is itself evidence of how it was built. Clear separation between content and code is the difference between "side hustle that died" and "passive income."

Companion tooling

Python tooling for content collection, deduplication, and ingestion. Keeps the content pipeline maintainable as updates are needed.

How it fits with full-time work

• Passive income, maintenance mode. The product is mature; sales happen automatically through the App Store and Play Store with no support queue.
• Annual time commitment is a few days during the winter off-season. Some years require nothing.
• Zero overlap with employer markets, vendors, or customers in my IT career.
• Sole owner, no team, no parallel operation. The LLC is a legal wrapper, not a parallel job.