What Is Custom Business Software?
I usually get a puzzled look when I say I specialize in custom business software. It’s not on the radar for many, many folks so it’s not immediately obvious what it is.
Custom business software is software that’s made for your unique business. That’s it. To get custom business software you work with someone who knows how to create software. Their job is to go through your unique business needs - the information and processes that make your business tick - and craft software to handle those.
So, why would you want to get custom business software?
A Brief, Brief History
Before computers rolled into business offices, all business records and information were handled on paper. Paper has obvious disadvantages compared to computers but the person/people in charge of the filing system could craft it to their needs. Without getting into the details, businesses would follow established filing methods but they were free to customize them. Every business could have a custom filing system.
Computing systems were enormously expensive when they first began rolling into business offices. And huge. Very huge. They didn’t take over desks; they took over entire corporate floors. With multi-million dollar price tags you can bet the businesses made sure the computing systems fit how they worked. (See the movie Desk Set for a classic romantic comedy which occurs when a large computing system is installed in a corporation’s reference department.)
As computers grew smaller, faster and cheaper, it became possible to buy relatively inexpensive desktop computers, purchase mass-distributed business software and get to work. This, however, is where problems began.
The Pain of Standardized Systems
No business is the same. Two businesses may even operate in the same industry, with the same client demographics, and still behave very differently. Businesses are made of people who have different quirks and strengths. This gives rise to the business’s culture which, played out over time, becomes the business’s history - which also influences the culture.
The point? The natural way for information to flow through businesses can vary dramatically. This can cause pain when using off-the-shelf software to manage all of the business information. Not uncommonly, it won’t fit! No number of off-the-shelf products, cobbled together with spreadsheets, will do what your business needs. People often don’t know there’s another option so they go about their jobs quietly suffering or openly griping about their problems with their software. If the thought of custom software crosses anyone’s mind, it’s usually dismissed as something prohibitively expensive.
What I Do
What I a three-step process:
Discovery and exploration. I offer a one-hour, free consultation to begin understanding the situation. Depending on the complexity, I may follow-up with an investigation. Usually, people only clearly see their own part of the business information. I track down the right people to talk to. My goal is to create a visual map of all the business information and how it flows through the business.
Plan. With a map of the business information and processes in hand, I can make a confident recommendation on whether or not custom software will solve the issues and what the cost will be. If the client wants to pursue custom software, we work together to craft the software requirements. Often we plan to leave key software, like accounting software, in place and integrate smoothly with it. I am flexible and adaptable at this point, but I don’t want any major unknowns. That’s why I’ve already done the legwork to understand what the business information is and how it’s used.
Implement. The plan contains what the software will do as well as how we roll it out. Perhaps we will launch it all at once; perhaps we’ll roll it out in pieces. As I create the software, I’ll regularly have the right stakeholders review and approve it. I want my client involved throughout the process to ensure the software will do what they need - and that they like it. Sometimes we’ll learn new things and being able to adapt the software at this early stage is critical to meeting the business needs.
One last thing to mention - custom software doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. It’s usually a big investment, true, but there are a couple things which can make it very cost effective:
You buy it. You own it. You don’t have to pay huge subscription fees. I usually aim for the software to pay for itself within the first year or two.
It does what you need. This frees up your employees’ time and energy so they can focus on growing your business.
The End
Hopefully this post has been useful to you. If you’d like to learn more, feel free to get in touch!
I’ll be writing soon on signs your business could benefit from custom software and the price of custom software.
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Featured Image Credit: NASA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons