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Custom Software Solutions for Small
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Custom software lets you embrace what’s special and unique about
your business by supporting all the things that you deem are important.
Why standard off-the-shelf software does not cut the mustard
Smaller businesses are much more concerned about the cost of software
and its affordability. In a perfect world it would be great to buy
a standard off-the-shelf solution costing just a few hundred dollars.
In reality this usually doesn’t work out.
It’s not until you start using standard software that you
discover its limitations. It’s too generalised, lacks some
depth you need, or probably has lots of functionality that you don’t
want which just complicates things. To make matters worse, you have
no means to change it as customising is not offered as an option,
or it’s prohibitively expensive.
Evaluating a custom software solution
Developing software solutions for smaller business does not need
to be expensive or risky. The initial cost may be higher than an
off-the-shelf product, but the long term gains are much greater.
Compare this with a quick fix system which saves very little in
the long term as its limitations impact upon performance every day
it’s used.
The following points may be useful when considering a new system
- List the short comings in your present system
- How are these impacting on your business, e.g. time inefficiencies,
limiting products or services, customer annoyances etc?
- What key functionality must your new system have?
- What major benefits will result? Also think about the side
benefits e.g. lower labour costs, faster responsiveness to customer
queries etc.
- Now think about the technology to run such a system. Where
is your comfort zone, what basic assurances will you require?
- How quickly do you need this system? What is it costing
you to be without it?
- What available resources do you have to obtain it? Who has
the expertise to bring it together?
- What are the risks? How can they be managed?
The critical factor
The common thread all through the above points is having the expertise
that can bring the project together correctly, quickly and at low
cost. For small businesses it’s a one to one relationship
between two critical people, the key person in the business who
knows what is required and the solutions expert who knows how to
make that happen.
Small businesses usually have very limited resources and are often
tempted to do it themselves. The problem here is it is not what
you know, but what you don’t yet know! Trying to do the job
without all the skills becomes a major distraction which may well
harm the business.
Call the experts in for a no-obligation assessment.
Your cost is just some of your time. Your benefit may well be a
turning point for your business.
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small businesses
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