Custom software is built to address the unique requirements of a particular organization or business. It can be designed to meet specific workflows, processes, and business objectives, ensuring a better fit and alignment with the organization's needs. Here are a few reasons why custom software might be the best choice for your business.
Flexibility
Your business is different. Current workflows exist for a reason, and it can be difficult to transition to large software platforms that just don't fit with your existing needs. Custom software allows you to create a process around what works for you, not what works for the big software company. As a business on an island you might find yourself making a lot of special orders for your customers. These special orders need to be tracked, the customer will need communications on the status of this order, and you still have your regular inventory to manage. The workflow you have to manage this process is unique, building this into custom software will allow you to get back to what you love about your business, and stop focusing on administrative details.
Efficiency and Productivity
There are tools like excel that allow organizations to create a custom method of managing information. However, manually entering information into excel or similar solutions is error prone and time consuming. Data held in these tools may be deleted or corrupted easily. Custom software can be built with protections to keep company information safe. Processes can be automated to eliminate manual data entry and additional labor. For example data is frequently collected from a form or via email and then manually added to a system or spreadsheet, custom software can automate these steps to eliminate or reduce manual work.
Scalability
There are two ways to scale, with more people or with more automation. People are great. They are what make island living so special. Unfortunately, there is not always the budget to hire more people. When there is not a budget to hire more people, and as a business owner you are taking on more and more work to keep your business going, it might be time to think about automating processes. Automations can help almost anything from billing to customer communications. If there is a standard process for onboarding a customer an automation can be built to set up that workflow and prevent important steps in the onboarding process from being missed. These are just a few examples of ways a business can automate.
Support
With custom software, organizations have more control over support and maintenance processes. During the software development and implementation phases you will work closely with a professional to ensure that the product being developed and implemented will meet the needs of the organization. The relationships built during this process give you someone who you can directly reach out to in the future if issues arise, or new features are required. Further, because your software is unique to your business, support received over time will be tailored to your needs.