When starting a business online, there are aspirations, and then there are questions too in software development . Among a hundred other things, there is no way you can overlook attaining digital transformation. For that, you need to invest in software solutions so it helps you explore new revenue ideas.
When speaking of digital products and services, there are certain points one needs to look into. Usually, when a business pronounces its decision to take the digital journey, the sales teams come into action bringing offers for commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) and ready-to-deploy software solutions that assure generating a great ROI.
The burning question is: Are these ready-to-deploy solutions as worthwhile in the long run as they promise to be?
For a startup, there are so many calculations that come along with every important decision? How much time would it take? What amount of money will we spend on it? Will it prove to be productive and save much effort in the future? In this entire scenario, the idea of custom software development does spring up as well. This is where many startups fail to make a profitable decision. Deeming it as an expensive and needless investment at an early stage, however, the truth is that this one-time investment is rational when looked at from a financial perspective in the long run.
The biggest misconception that startup owners have is that custom software development is quite costly and available only for growing companies or perhaps large enterprises. Quite the opposite, software vendors are aware that startups need to make a base in the market, and that’s why they have introduced good quality, low-costing custom solutions especially for startups.
You might not be aware of this, but adopting bespoke software solutions will probably be the best decision you ever made for your business.
Let’s discuss in detail how these bespoke software solutions can help you move your startup to achieve the due success you deserve:
1. Fewer Complexities
As a startup company, there is so much to look into and a lot more to do. You just don’t need a functional workplace, but also need a high-performing team, finance and marketing agency, and all the while, ensure that efficiency and productivity are maintained. After all, it’s about making your place in the big market out there. You cannot in any way afford to make a poor software choice and in turn, deal with technical problems when business growth should be your primary focus.
Information Technology is a tricky business, but nothing a little research can’t help you with. In the beginning, you might not require all the features a custom software solution has to offer. However, gradually when you pick up the pace and start expanding, your needs and demands will increase, and hence, you will require a solution that meets all those needs of that time. This proves that a one-size-fits-all approach is not viable at the start. Whether a digital strategy, a complete system, or a software installation, your requirements keep growing with your business’ growth.
We’ve often seen startups opting for COTS solutions and paying for features that they don’t need in the beginning, but mostly that’s because they have either little or no choice at all. Therefore, opt for a customized solution that has been designed according to your company’s structural requirements and workflow.
An interesting fact to add here is that a bespoke solution with fewer features means less complexity, quicker development, and timely delivery, making you reach your targets faster and increasing profitability. You can always request your vendor or software solution provider to add more features to your solution as per your growing need.
2. Easy-to-Integrate
When evaluating your infrastructure in the beginning, you may think that you would require several tools from different vendors to perform operations. You need a single service provider that offers you the maximum tools or solutions. Having different software solutions from a list of vendors becomes difficult to manage and gets quite costly later on as well.
The best practice is to have a technology ecosystem that functions as a single, simplified unit equipped to providing value to your clients equally. Bespoke software solutions are made to facilitate every aspect of your business. By integrating them within the existing systems requires the least effort. Also, it eliminates the need for data duplication as well.
Similarly, bespoke software has a set of common standards in development as well as implementation. This allows companies to create interoperable and flexible technology stacks.
3. Endless Opportunities For Innovation
Innovation, problem-solving, modernization, and continuous upgrading are the essential components of a running business. When you start a new business, you wish to market yourself as a brand that can manage all these components. This shows that you have the potential to grow and easily cater to a diverse clientele, meet their requirements, and match their interests.
The question is what happens if you acquire a ready-made software solution, even if from a well-known vendor? In fact, you’re restricting your ability to think out-of-the-box by decreasing your innovation competencies and increasing the possibility of losing your clients.
Another important component of your business is your employees without who your innovation efforts cannot flourish. This is another of the biggest reasons that make custom software development a practical solution for startups opting to automate their business operations and boost their efficiency and productivity. If you integrate a ready-to-deploy solution and train your staff to use it, it’ll benefit you for a certain period. However, soon as you begin to evolve into an SMB or enterprise, you’ll face problems. An evolving company needs a solution that is adaptable to the changing demands. A one-solution-for-all software package can become redundant anytime.
Non-customizable software can thwart employee progress if the features they need to work on a task or project are inaccessible. Building and retaining expert and high-performing teams implies that they are provided with all the necessary tools to help them outperform. If a solution isn’t specifically designed for your company, your staff will end up struggling at one point in time. Eventually, they become less creative, start procrastinating, resulting in a diminished innovation drive and losing value-adding resources.
A tailored software solution helps you grow, innovate, and upgrade as per your company’s requirements and pace. Even if your clients’ needs evolve and change along the way, such a solution helps keep employees proactive, upbeat, and ever ready for every kind of challenge.
In addition, you would save money spent on other software purchases if the existing vendor upgrades or rolls out a new feature from time to time. With a custom software solution, you can save your business from delivery delays, prospective client disappointment, and low ratings for your projects.
4. Bespoke Experiences
In the end, the customer is the king! The customer experience (CX) defines your business’ success. As a startup, you aim to build trust, and this is possible only if you offer high-quality products, services, or solutions. Investing in custom software development helps you accomplish different client needs without limiting you to a specified niche or even a target audience.
For example, you just started a new mobile hardware company and seek to make a digital presence. As the telecom industry has a high standard of acquiring corporate clients, your aim would be to be identified among those companies that have high-profile clientele. Now suppose, your B2C experience is progressing, but your B2B efforts aren’t fruiting. This is where you need to make sure that your customers can browse, research, and make thorough purchasing decisions with minimal assistance. This way, you can:
- Reduce customer service calls and get fewer IT support tickets, thus, freeing up your staff’s burden to concentrate on other significant tasks.
- Stimulate your sales team to manage customer accounts efficiently and focus on gaining more business. It also encourages them to serve your clients more proactively rather than taking on an argumentative approach to handle procurement-related queries or complaints.
- Improve your B2B account administration and customer service levels. It allows your clientele to handle memberships, pricing plans, repeated purchases, and shipping details effortlessly and independently. With a custom software solution, your clients can easily manage their accounts and help you save time and money.
Here are a few popular custom software applications trusted in the market:
- Custom Relationship Management (CRM)
- Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
- Salesforce
- BPO automation systems
- Remote dashboards
- Web portals
How to Choose a Custom Software Solution
Choosing the best custom software development company to work with is complicated. Apart from cost, expertise, and work engagement model, what other factors should one look into to make a sound decision?
Looking at what Forbes suggests, some of the most trending software development trends to watch out for in 2021 include native app development, IoT, AI, Augmented Reality, PWAs, etc. (Read our blog post on 12 Not-To-Miss Mobile App Development Trends in 2021 for further details.
Therefore, use a company that specializes in these trending technologies. Preferably, opt for a company with a diverse client portfolio that covers startups, SMBs as well as large enterprises.
Conclusion
It shouldn’t matter whether you’re a startup, SMB, or enterprise. However, what does matter is that you hire custom software development services, considering how they benefit you with added productivity and greater ROI. Even though you need a reasonable budget set aside for it, it is a win-win investment that will continue to benefit as you progress.
Always decide to choose a trusted custom application developer or a company that asks detailed questions about your project, understands your business objectives, and presents a well-thought-out strategy before you say yes and sign the contract. Plus, a good profile with an astounding work history and experience indicates that their team makes an effort to fully understand your need and can help you accomplish your ultimate goal.
Get in touch with Origami Studios for custom software solutions fulfilling your business needs. Drop us a line right away!