Importance of Custom Software for Your Small Business

Did you know that roughly 20% of small businesses shut down within the first year of establishment? It is because they fail to leverage robust and long-term strategies. However, those who sustain themselves do so because they know the importance of custom software development for small business. Do you want to how it would help your business live long? Read along:

Why is Custom Software Important for Your Small Business?

Whether you run a B2B or B2C business, you need to harness the potential of custom software development. We stress upon it because of the following advantages that it renders to your brand:

Customized Solution

Each department within an organization has a distinct mission and performs distinct functions. For instance, HR deals with the management of the employee lifecycle such as their recruiting, hiring, training, and others. On the other hand, a marketing department coordinates and produces the resources required to promote a brand or service. Each department works to meet a similar end goal and that is – progress. However, today, almost all business operations are atomized and performed in mere seconds by software. Since each enterprise is different in its mission, activities, and outputs – it needs distinct software solutions. True to its name, custom software development yields customized solutions. It offers a need-specific product that is built to meet the business requirement.

Accommodating

Most small business owners tend to rely on COTS software, as it is a cheaper option. However, they fail to realize that their choice will force them to constantly make changes in their previous decisions. Typical, cookie-cutter software fails to cater to an organization’s requirements and entrepreneurs struggle to amend necessary functionalities. This does not only cost them valuable time but also money and other resources.

On the other hand, a custom application or software is built and functions according to your enterprise’s requirements. It accommodates what you need and performs accordingly. By doing so, custom software saves you time and effort and works how you want it to.

Easy-to-use Interface

Since you design it yourself, it is easy to use and understand the interface of custom software. It offers fewer complications and contains features that are fit to run the business. Most importantly, you and your team may need little to no prior training to use the software. It is optimized for each department and hence, everyone would have an idea of how the product works.

Uncomplicated

As discussed earlier, customized software offers a simple and concise business model that simplifies your business for you. It saves the employees and their department considerable time by getting things done quickly. Furthermore, it also minimizes the occurrence of errors in the task delegated and hence saves the workforce to be invested in some other operations. As a result, the company grows forwards and is better able to compete with its competitors. To summarize, custom software simplifies your business operations and helps you make your way to the top.

Improved Security

Security lapse is perhaps, an enterprise’s worst nightmare. It not only puts their data at risk but also their reputation and the privacy of their customers. Therefore, every company is more diligent than ever to invest in impeccable security measures. However, those who favor COTS solutions should know that such software or applications only offer limited security features. These features might or might not even suit your business plan. Custom software, on the other hand, is designed to meet your security needs. You can add additional protection features limit to the ones you need. Moreover, it sets your security strategy apart from others as its idealized and created by you and your company alone. In this way, other enterprises or illegal third parties wouldn’t be able to penetrate. Therefore, by all that it does, a custom solution secures a business from the malware and other vulnerabilities bought about by hackers.

Quick Results

Every business runs on data and needs to retrieve it in a matter of seconds to ensure smooth business operations. While it can be a lengthy process to recover data manually, the software makes it happen within minutes. Custom software simplifies reporting and helps the department retrieve all required inputs. It also facilitates teams to use them to efficiently achieve their goals.

Companies who rely on smart, customized solutions improve their services, which in turn amplifies their brand awareness. The customers notice the improvement which reinforces their loyalty, all of which leads, to stupendous brand awareness and reach.

Cost-effective

If you consider custom software development a costly investment, you’re right. It is an expensive strategy to get on board with, but only in the beginning. After the initial investment, it is perhaps, the most cost-effective approach out there. Typical COTS software may be cheap, but they force you to make changes so frequently, that it surpasses its original cost.

Custom software offers long-term benefits as you do not need to make any more changes in the future. It doesn’t require any significant hardware to operate and runs according to the system, all of which saves money.

Easy Integration

Custom software offers unparalleled benefits for businesses that require integrations. If you run an organization that needs various software for each department, it is the right choice for you. The process simplifies the practice of integrating all the different software and applications into one integrated system. By doing so, the latter can manage numerous processes and offers the teams better control. As a result, the company revels in better results and runs seamlessly.

Scalable

A cookie-cutter software not only hinders an enterprise’s routine tasks but also its growth. Since it is not able to accommodate regular tasks, it’s inefficient in adjusting itself to the business’ growth. To make it run on a bigger scale, you then need to invest in licenses that come at a hefty cost.  On the other hand, custom software is developed to function on a long-term basis. It can expand its functionalities according to the company’s growing demands. Custom software is scalable as the business grows in size.

Low at Risk

Custom software development minimizes risk in a variety of ways as compared to a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) product. By looking after a particular issue, the former does not interfere in other matters. Doing so reduces the chance of causing havoc in other processes.

If you choose COTS software, you’re at risk of paying a higher cost of losing your data. The latter is more likely to happen if the company goes bankrupt or shuts down its operation. Moreover, even their scheduled maintenance may obstruct your regular operations. By leveraging on software development, you can work with a product that’s entirely your own and minimizes such risks.

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Technical Support

Perhaps, the most important benefit of investing in custom software is the technical support you receive from it. Its highly effective technical support blueprint solves issues efficiently and promptly. The skilled support team would be there to guide you at each step so that the product doesn’t limit your operation or productivity. It helps your employees work through complex business issues in a shorter time. By improving their productivity, the approach renders it easy to achieve both short-term and long-term goals.