When bespoke software makes sense.

Here's my take on when bespoke software makes sense...

The Spreadsheet Problem

But first let's address spreadsheets (the common place people get stuck and then consider bespoke). They're great for some things but, when they turn into a project management system or essential part of business operations, they become a HUGE time drain. We've written more about this in our article on replacing spreadsheets with business systems.

It's not the system you've created either. Spreadsheets mimic the function of a database in many ways.

The BIG difference and where the problem lies is in who's inputting, validating and reporting on all the data.

With spreadsheets, that computing power is yours and your team's brain power!

The Human Computer Problem

And when things get beyond trivial, that brain power struggles. It takes AGES, mistakes get made and everything feels messy.

That's simply because you and your team are not computers!

Inputting, validating and reporting are much better tasks suited to software.

And that's why bespoke is a great option.

The Bespoke Advantage

It's taking your existing structure and process and letting something else take on 80% of the work. This aligns with our 80/20 principle in software development.

And a bespoke system won't:

• Call in sick
• Make mistakes
• Take the afternoon off
• Need training

Not like new staff who need weeks to learn how to act like a computer and manage your data rows and cells.

The Off-the-Shelf Compromise

Off the shelf is another option that many go for. The issue is that it's normally expensive and even then, won't do what you want. We explore this further in our article about the problem with off-the-shelf software.

And that's because it fundamentally can't.

Again, your spreadsheets, your systems and the way you run your business are unique. No "one size fits all" system is going to perfectly accommodate that.

There will be compromise.

The ROI Consideration

So bespoke will typically have the greatest time savings and integrate best with your current way of working.

Changing how you do things will be minimal.

The downside is that the upfront investment isn't trivial and you do need to maintain it.

That being said, most people can get an ROI in about 6 months.

That's mainly because the time-saving opportunities are so great. It can be quite a simple one to justify. If you're wondering about costs, check out our guide on how much bespoke software costs.