When you start a business, you find you need an array of software to keep you up and running. Some of that software will be packaged software solutions that will work perfectly for you. However, there will also be times where the software you could buy will not meet your needs and will actually hamper instead of help. How will you know the difference?
Let’s start by defining custom software development as the process of designing, building, maintaining, and evolving a software product unique to your business. Custom software solutions are precisely tuned to your requests so you get exactly what you want to meet your specific business needs.
In the past, the costs of custom software development services made it an option primarily utilized by big corporations or heavily funded technology companies. However, the global technical landscape has changed with many technological advancements allowing for decreased costs and increased access to tech savvy team members. As a result, custom software solutions for small businesses are now more affordable than ever.
How do you know your shelf software is failing your business?
Your employees hate it.
They have spent time to create workarounds to manage the software tasks. When training a new employee to use the solution, they will bring out spreadsheets and guides created to do what should be simple tasks. How much money have you spent paying for these software solutions, only for them to be able to somewhat use the software, and for replacing the employees that left your company because dealing with the application left them dissatisfied?
Your decisions are not driven by live data.
You have wonderful data, but you cannot easily access it in a way that benefits your business. Data from this system and that one and the other one need to be exported and configured into a usable form. Often this process results in mistakes made when manual processes, such as entry into multiple systems, cause human errors. Instead of checking a dashboard or running a report with current live information, you are always working with past information.
Your people are doing tasks computers could do.
If your employees spend valuable time every day doing many tasks that do not need human thought and creativity, you are wasting money and human capital. So many tasks can be automated using innovative digital solutions that will increase both efficiency and employee satisfaction. You can decide which items should be automated in your custom software applications to maximize productivity while still retaining control.
Your software spend feels out of control.
When you struggle to find well-designed, ready-made software applications that are compatible with how your business runs, you often end up purchasing multiple products and paying multiple licensing fees without receiving any personalized features. You may only use a couple of the available features, but you still have to pay the full price. And even with multiple different software solutions, you may be missing functionality your team requires. Of course, as your business grows and your users increase, so do your per user costs. Take a step back and make a list of the exact features you need and you may find out you can build your own custom software solutions for less than you pay for a year or two of packaged solutions.
When is custom software a MUST for your small business?
Competition is fierce for small businesses. To succeed, you should conduct business in a way that makes life easier and better for your customers. Software can help you do that–especially custom software. Here are three questions to consider:
Can software enhance your differences?
The word difference is important to focus on. If what makes your company different from your competitors can be delivered through software, we call it your differentiator and you want to invest in custom development for it. If you can use the same software as your competitors, how will you outpace them?
Custom software for small businesses like yours are designed for your unique needs. It will optimize your business offerings and allow you to stand out in your industry.
Do you want to disrupt an industry?
Whether you are the leader in your industry or a smaller company seeking traction, some of your focus should be on considering how technology can disrupt your industry. The technology of Uber disrupted the taxi industry, Redfin disrupted real estate, and Airbnb disrupted the hotel industry. These are only a few examples of how technology can change an established industry, leaving the current market leaders struggling to keep up or closing their doors altogether.
If you want to be tomorrow’s Netflix instead of yesterday’s Blockbuster, designate energy and resources to innovating and disrupting through custom app development.
Should your customer experience include technology?
Can your customer’s experience be improved through software? This is a question you should ask yourself, your team, and your customers. Most businesses’ operations have aspects of the customer-facing experience where using technology has become the expectation instead of an innovation. Are you missing out on customers because you do not offer the right technology experiences? Or worse, are you losing customers to competitors who have their experiential game supported by current technology? Delighting customers with easy-to-use software solutions can enhance your bottom line.
What are the advantages of custom software for small business owners?
Custom software for small businesses is built specifically for your business’s needs and is tailored to your users. Unlike off-the-shelf solutions, it is not a suite of features that fits any business but is uniquely created for your business services to fulfill your unique preferences and requirements. You will never be limited by the features of custom app development and can create exactly what you need when you need it. Similarly, you will never be surprised by your software changing, perhaps even removing your most used feature, because the leadership of your packaged software makes decisions for ALL the small businesses that utilize their solutions. As the only leader for your software, you will be in control of your software growth and directly benefit from the advantages of a custom application.
Fit
Your company is unique with technology needs that solve your specific issues and serve your many operations. When you create custom software, you determine exactly how your applications will work today and in the long term. You create the features and functionality that you need as opposed to using a general set created for a wide audience of users. This approach ensures your application is the best solution for your company.
Security
Packaged software is more susceptible than a custom product. First, there is a bigger payoff for hackers when breaking into an off-the-shelf solution used by hundreds of companies. Additionally, the code is developed for wide use and is widely available, making accessing it easier than unique custom code, resulting in less data protection. No matter what your industry, you want all of your sensitive information to be secure, which is why your custom software will be designed with reliable data protection and a security approach specific to your business.
Efficiency
As a small business, your employees must operate at max efficiency for you to be profitable. An experienced custom software company can help you analyze and identify project ideas that could increase effectiveness through technology. You can save a lot of money by using a desktop or web application to complete tasks and remove various business processes from the team workflow. This technology is optimized for your business needs and will make training and maintaining employees easier. Plus, your employees can focus less on repetitive daily tasks and spend more time on customer management with premier clients. Creating custom software is not only an important asset your business will own, but it will also be an asset to your employees every day.
Cost
When you improve business efficiencies, you reduce operational costs. Custom software development enables your employees to complete tasks in less time and with greater satisfaction. Your team members are able to focus on higher priority, higher value work, such as customer relationship management. This increase in productivity will directly impact your bottom line. Custom software is more scalable than off the shelf. The cost of creating custom software for small business owners can be more than purchasing a readymade product or it can actually be lower. Either way, the application you create is a long-term investment in the future of your business and becomes a proprietary asset, making it a smart choice for your financial sector.
Control
When you utilize off the shelf solutions, you may be forced to change your processes to fit the readymade solutions. On the other hand, creating custom software allows you to design the necessary functionality that you require allowing you to simplify how your team conducts business. This control over the application will save you time, effort, and money. With custom software development, you make all the decisions. With out-of-the-box software, you are at the mercy of the solutions. If the company behind your product closes down or sells out, you may find your business struggling to find a new product which can be a sudden and unexpected expense.
Support
When your technology stops working, so does your business. Spending time on hold with a support desk attempting to check on a ticket is a frustrating loss of your time, especially when you could be spending it on customer relationship management. When you own your software applications, you have a direct line to support–whether you are supporting the product in house with a full-time employee or you have technical support through your custom software development partner. You can arrange for different types of support during all the stages of software development and maintenance.
How can custom software help my business grow?
As your business grows and changes, so will your technology. Adding features to your existing custom solution saves time and money that would be wasted hunting for yet another product to add into your enterprise. Custom software development is more scalable than an out of the box system. With readymade applications, when your business grows, you add more software products and more ongoing costs. With custom software development, you can build the essential features for growth and will never be limited by your technology.
Data
Information is everything for businesses. Making data-driven decisions is essential for leadership. Instead of spending time digging through excel sheets and synthesizing information, customized applications can retrieve all the needed inputs and provide real time reports showing you exactly what you require to make the best decisions for your business. You can have customized dashboards and reports for every item that is important for what you do.
Adaptability
Every company creates a set of business processes that make perfect sense for the nature of the business and its operations. At the start, this workflow fits perfectly; however, as time passes, it may no longer serve the requirements of the business. All businesses should be able to adapt and change as the market, customers, and competition changes. With custom software development, you can add functions and features when they make sense for your business, evolving the product with the evolution of your business services.
Integration
There will certainly be a box solution product or two that you will continue to utilize as they are not part of what makes your business unique. For example, you most likely will not want to build your own email system. However, you will want to be able to integrate your custom software with the existing tool to smoothly handle your business processes. Integrating your various systems with ease and security can be part of your custom build.
Scalability
Planning to grow into new regions or markets? Contemplating an acquisition? Considering franchising your business? For optimal growth, you require a scalable software solution. If your application slows down or cannot handle an increased volume of business, you will be unable to delight your new customers. Ensure your business can scale with your plans through custom technology that can keep pace with your growth.
Success in your software build
Custom software development for a small business might seem overwhelming. You hear about projects going over budget and missing launch dates. There are a ton of details, and it may seem difficult to know how and where to get started. Here are a few items to get you on the road to a successful project:
Understand the process.
Custom software development follows a pretty streamlined process:
Design. At the start, you will determine the specific requirements needed for your business processes. You describe the workflow of your business and capture the various processes in documents. You will also create images that capture the journeys your users will complete while using your application.
Build. During the build phase, your custom software developers will create your data model and code the application specific to your business needs. You should have regular demonstrations of your build as features progress to ensure it looks and acts like you designed.
Test. Your development team will test your application as items are completed, but you will participate in testing. This User Acceptance Testing (UAT) is an essential part of crafting the right custom software development product for you and your business’ specific needs.
Launch and Evolve. How you release your application to your team and your customers should be part of your long-term plan from the start. You may choose to release to a small group, receive feedback, and evolve before a larger release or you may decide to fully launch and evolve after a predetermined time. Either way, your software solution will evolve to meet the needs of your business over the long run.
Find the right partner
Finding the right partner for your project can be a daunting process. Here are a few things to consider:
Experience in BOTH business and software. You need a partner that knows more than just the technology side of development – you are looking for a partner that can easily understand when you describe what your business does and what will fit today and for the future.
Confidence. You want a partner who brings expertise and helps you to build to receive all the benefits of custom software development for small business. They should be able to make suggestions that will help you get what you need, not just do what you ask.
Communication. A strong partner is one you connect with and feel like they understand what you want to do. They should be responsive to your needs and listen to your concerns. You should be able to speak directly to software developers on your team to discuss specific requirements.
Price. Although it is tempting to take the cheapest option, be careful to compare the offers apples to apples between the software development companies you are considering. An initial low-ball bid may end up costing more than your highest offer as items you thought were included need added in the long run.
References and recommendations. Get recommendations from your business network to start. Have an initial chat with several different custom software development companies. After you narrow to your favorite one or two, ask for references. Any good partner should be able to give you contacts who will speak to you about what it is like to work with them and the benefits their business received.
Final Thoughts
In today’s market, you need technology that will propel your business forward. If you are ready to discuss the benefits of custom software development for small business and whether or not a custom application may be right for your business, we are here to help.
Geneca has significant experience with software development for small businesses. You can chat about your needs with us during a free consultation. We are here to listen and help you decide if custom development will be the right choice for your business.
Also read: How to Prepare for Your First Custom Software Project
FAQS
What software do you need for a small business?
Small businesses often take advantage of the following types of software:
- Accounting management
- Project management
- Customer relationship management
- Ecommerce
- Document management
Small business owners may choose to pay monthly subscription fees for packaged software options, or they may choose to develop a custom software solution that meets their specific needs.
How can I create my own software?
If you want to create your own software for your business, a custom software development partner can help. By outsourcing the development of your software project, you can take advantage of experienced developers, cutting-edge technology, and quality assurance professionals. Your custom software partner should involve you through every step of the process, so you know exactly what you’re paying for.
What is customized business software?
Custom business software is built to meet the exact needs of the company or organization it’s created for. A software development team will work with their client to identify everyday frustrations or cumbersome workarounds to design a new streamlined system. Whether the client needs a completely new software solution or wants to seamlessly integrate their existing solutions, custom business software can help them achieve their goals.
What are examples of custom software?
Custom software is any software solution that is tailored to the needs and wants of the users it’s being developed for. As a result, there are countless possibilities when it comes to different types of custom software. Some of the most popular options include applications for:
- Project management
- Ecommerce
- Customer relationship management
- Database management
- Loyalty or rewards programs
- Enterprise resource planning