I don't agree, I think that any business who feel they can't afford a few thousand Euro to invest into something as important as an app probably hasn't got their priorities in order.

That is of course only if you need an app. The app rush seems to be cooling off slightly so if your app is just a glorified website, stick to the website and make it adaptive at least, or perhaps even a progressive web app if you can.

If your business is actually centred around the app and you can't raise a few grand, there's a problem there much bigger than the capital. At that point you do it yourself probably, as you have done. But it could easily work out more expensive if you could be doing something more productive with your time.

Your comment on startups, I completely agree with that one. I fell into that trap myself once upon a time with my own fledgling company, now gone the way of the dodo. Lessons learned the hard way!