According to IDC, the Augmented Reality & Virtual Reality Market will grow from $5.2 Billion in 2016 to more than $162 Billion in 2020. When we talk about VR, we’re not talking about a niche business. We’re talking about a large industry, one that is creating jobs and real revenue and an entirely new technology. Like the early days of Internet and Mobile before it, Virtual Reality is a greenfield opportunity for individuals and businesses.

One of the cool things about VR is that it’s applicable across a whole bunch of different industries and use cases. While Gaming and Entertainment have yielded the most revenue so far, entrepreneurial people are disrupting a wide variety of industries by building VR. We’ve written before about how VR is changing the real estate business. And marketing agencies. And hospitality. How it’s being used for training. And for education. And retail.

People are just starting to scratch the surface of what VR can be used for. And with increased headset adoption will come increased interest in building VR — just as the mobile apps industry exploded post iPhone launch. It’s now a normalized occurrence to see a subway full of people looking down at their phones. Will VR headsets be ubiquitous in the future? Possibly not for a while, but in the meantime there are still many businesses making substantial amounts of money from the technology.

One of the primary roadblocks to building a VR business is the perceived need to know coding or the cost to hire an expensive VR developer. That’s simply not the case anymore. InstaVR is democratizing the process of VR creation. Just like WordPress and Wix have done with web pages, InstaVR allows any person to create VR. No coding, no specialized knowledge, and at a reasonable price point.

Entire businesses can be created with nothing more than a 360 camera, an internet connection, an InstaVR Pro account, and a little creativity. 

As of February 2017, Google had shipped over 10 million Google Cardboards. That number continues to accelerate, along with sales of higher end headsets like Gear VR and HTC Vive. The prevalence of VR headsets creates a demand for VR content. 

Before you jump into launching a VR business, you have to put together a business plan. This will help guide you as you launch your venture. And a big part of business plan writing is addressing the big questions that your company will face.

So let’s take a moment to look at some of those questions…

What need are you filling? Probably the most important question you need to ask before launching any business. Why is there a need for your venture? Who are your customers going to be? And what problem are you helping them to solve? If you’re not filling a need, you’re going to have a hard time generating demand for your service.

Why Virtual Reality? The next question you have to ask yourself is what unique feature of virtual reality are you leveraging with your business. VR has a lot of cool features — it’s immersive, it can be educational, it can be accessed on a mobile device, it’s unique, etc. But before you build a business around VR, you have to make sure your reason for focusing on VR is sound. For instance, if you’re going to create an app to teach new therapists how to interact with patients, that’s a great use case of VR! It allows the user in a friendly environment to practice and become familiar with interaction before doing it in person.

What is your specialty? It’s much easier to launch a business if you specialize in a particular area. Or, if you already have a business focused on a certain area, it’s easy to add VR to your skillset. For instance, if you’re going to create a production house focused on VR, it’s best to start off with clients all in a similar industry. You can become an expert on creating VR house tours, and pitch your services to real estate agents. Or become an expert on building tourism apps, and pitch that to Convention & Visitor Bureaus. Or become an expert on creating promotional VR music videos, and pitch your services to bands. But by specializing in one area, you can carve out an expertise that gives you a foundation as you pitch companies your VR creation services.

How will you monetize your VR business? We have clients that run the gamut in terms of monetization. You can charge clients per app you create or hourly. You can charge clients a monthly subscription for access to your services. You can sell your apps on iTunes or Google Play. There’s many different approaches to monetizing your VR app creation expertise, so you have to figure out the best fit for you that will still provide value to your clients.

How will I market my services? You can be the most creative or efficient creator of VR apps, but if you can’t effectively market your business, you’re not going to get any customers. So how do you market your business? You can do the obvious — buy Google Ad Words, network through your contact list, cold call. But for VR, there are some other approaches that can help you, such as publishing a Proof of Concept app to iTunes/Google Play or embedding VR directly on your web site. Furthermore, you might want to take on a few projects initially for free or at low cost, so you can have some clients to point future potential clients towards. Never underestimate building up advocates for your VR work!

It’s easier to launch a business if you have a specialty focus. For instance, if you have contacts in the real estate industry, it’s better to initially launch with a focus solely on creating virtual home tours. It’s easier to broaden your scope of industry focus later on than it is to pitch your services broadly initially.

Creating a VR app using InstaVR is a fairly simple and straightforward process. We’ve covered the end-to-end steps previously, in our guide on creating VR apps using a Ricoh Theta camera.

But below we’ll cover the steps with a particular eye towards if you are a business building a VR app for a client.

1. Capture Your 360 Images or Videos – This is a very important step, as it will provide the raw media that you’ll be incorporating into your app. You’ll want to use the right camera for the right job. If it’s a simple home tour, you can use a Ricoh Theta to get a pretty good house tour. If you’re creating a marketing app for a concert event, you might want to invest more and purchase a Nokia Ozo. If you’re doing a very high end project, requiring high resolution images that may be used for Gear VR or HTC Vive, consider a substantial investment in something like a GoPro rig. For further reading, look at how client Left of Creative chose their camera gear for a VR app designed to promote the US Navy.
2. Author the App – Our very intuitive interface makes this relatively simple. After uploading your 360 images or videos, you’ll need to add the Navigation between scenes and the overlaid Hotspots for augmenting your media. You’ll also want to design your app icon and splash + home screens. All of this is covered in our online Tutorial, or you can interact with our Support team via the link your Console.
3. Package Your App – After you’ve finished Authoring your VR experience, you’re going to want to package the app. We simplify this process as much as possible for you. Since we don’t charge per app, feel to package as often as you need to. You can even multi-variate test multiple versions of your VR experience to see which one comes out the best.
4. Distribute – Your mode of distribution is intimately tied to your monetization model. If you want to charge users of your app, then publishing to the iTunes Store and Google Play Store are the obvious answer. If you have a client that has Gear VR headsets, you can easily sideload your app onto the Samsung phones that will be used with the headset. And if your client is looking to get the most eyeballs on their 360 media, embed it on their web page.

Creating a VR app is simple and can be done in minutes using the InstaVR platform. The only limitation is your imagination!

If you don’t currently have the equipment to capture 360 media, your first order of business will be purchasing a camera and monopod. There are many different types of cameras — I always suggest reading the professional reviews on a site like Tom’s Hardware. I also strongly suggest reading the customer reviews on Amazon, looking for showstoppers. For instance, the current Ricoh Theta S is a 2K camera. If your clients are going to require incredibly crisp imagery, you may want to hold off a bit until Ricoh releases their new camera that will capture both 4K video and spatial audio. 

Creating a Proof of Concept app will be vital. If you’re going to pitch your services, clients will want to see what you’re capable of doing. In creating that POC app, put your best foot forward. Choose an interesting subject and add Navigation + Hotspots. And publish cross-platform so your potential customers will see what their finalized VR app would look like on everything from a web site to a Google Cardboard to in a Gear VR headset. 

The VR industry is changing rapidly. If you’re going to be an expert on VR, and instill confidence in your clients, you have to follow VR news. I suggest following the Twitter account of all the major VR news sites, including VRFocus, UploadVR and VRScout. 

Don’t be afraid to ask for help. We want you to create the best VR apps possible. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to our Support team via the Live Chat support button in your Console. They’re available 24-7 on weekdays. Our team of VR experts has helped literally thousands of clients build VR apps. 

VR presents a huge opportunity for entrepreneurs. The technology is helping to push forward just about every industry imaginable. Savvy, creative, hard working individuals are making money right now off of VR. And the best part is you don’t have to take 6 months to learn coding or spend excessive amounts of money on a high-paid VR developer. All you need is a 360 camera, an internet connection, an InstaVR account, and a good business plan. Whether it’s a side business or your primary source of income, you can literally build a business on top of InstaVR as soon as today!