Is it worth developing a custom software solution for my business?

Is it worth developing a custom software solution for my business?

Is it worth the time and effort to have someone build custom software for you? Lets have a look at the pros and cons of having custom software built compared to purchasing an off-the-shelf product.

Some insight

Custom software which is also sometimes referred to as bespoke or tailor-made software is specifically designed and developed according to a clients unique specifications. Thus allowing each software package to cater for a unique set of requirements.

A custom developed software package does not necessary have to be an enterprise-grade system, it only has to fulfill a client specific requirement or preference.

So why build custom software?

Businesses with a very specific niche or unique service offering often require a unique system to fit their specific offering.

These businesses often lean towards developing their own system either because the system they need is not available or is part of an existing software package which can either be to expensive since you still need to pay for all the other features you may not need or want or is not always available in their particular country.

Large corporations also tend to prefer a custom designed solution as they have developed specific way of running their businesses and require custom solutions to better provide their own service offerings.

A business may also be planning on launching a new product or service, for which they need a custom software solution to either be the product they are selling, for example a cloud platform for other business to manage their documents or they may need a custom solution to manage their new product or services.

The pros and cons to building custom software

Let start with the good news

Developing custom software can be a very fun and exciting process, you will have the chance to see your own custom solution evolve to exactly what you envisioned before starting the process.

This also comes with the great feeling of achievement as you now own a system that does exactly what you need it to do, and doesn't exist anywhere else in the world!

Designing a custom solution for your business thus ensures your exact business needs or product plans are catered for, thus making it a unique solution to take your business forward.

Finally, a custom software solution also does not have to be expensive, with the right software partner and planning this can be very affordable. Understanding exactly what you need the software solution to do will make developing your custom solution much more effective as the goals will be clearly defined and can then be clearly budgeted for.

Some down sides too

Developing a custom software solution can be very expensive, if a project is not properly planned for there can be continuous add-on or changes which will drive up the development fees.

It can also be a lengthy project, depending on the complexity of you project this can take a few days to months, so this needs to be kept that in mind when considering developing custom software development.

You may also need to rent some infrastructure, once again depending on your project this may require you to rent a cloud server or even purchase a physical server if you prefer hosting it yourself.

Picking the right software development company is crucial

Nowadays there are so many software companies it is easy to just go with the first one in the google search results, now normally the companies that appear at the top of the list have been at it for a while, however they have also built up a big client base by now and wont necessarily be as keen to take on your project if the project is not “big enough”.

Now we are not saying this is always the case, but from my experience this has occurred with many smaller businesses that need to get their product into the market but cannot afford the massive fees these top ranked companies charge.

It is vital to the success of your business to choose a software partner that understands your business goals and dreams, instead of just taking on the project for the sake of making money.

At Livex we have specifically designed our business to avoid this approach, our business goal is to help all businesses whether they are big or small to grow faster by providing a world class service. We have help businesses get their products into the market fast and on a very small budget as well as revamping an old product and system into a cloud solution. We aim to grow with each of our clients because if you succeed so do we.

We welcome you to contact us to discuss your product idea or business goal