You know well how technology is changing the way we live. First, it transformed mail to email and now emails to video calls. I think even teleportation will become a reality in some years.

The world is changing with continuously progressing technology; hence, you need to be aware of these technological advancements to adapt to them; otherwise, you will be left behind.

Software is a significant component of technology and runs the world from launching rockets to Mars, self-driving cars, remote patient care, and helping you order Pizza from your favorite restaurant and get it delivered through a drone within minutes.

Why should you invest in custom software development?

Many businesses usually put off the idea of getting a custom software development because of the associated software development cost. And this is true in many cases where there are generic processes, business is in initial stages, or budget-related issues. So, picking an off-the-shelf is a sensible option. 

There are other multiple use cases where custom software proves to be a game-changer because of the unique problems it addresses: the opportunities it provides for innovation, improves customer experience, and opens new revenue streams.

Custom software solutions are for you if you desire streamlined processes, improved customer service, efficiency, and productivity. Below are the five reasons you must consider developing a custom software solution.

Innovation

Think of Zoom, Service Now, Workday, Salesforce, Tesla, Amazon, Netflix, Adobe, Autodesk. What do you see in common?

These are all leaders in their respective industry verticals. The other thing common is that all these businesses are fueled by custom software.

Custom software takes off all the limits from what you can do; it is like painting on a new canvas. For every entrepreneur looking for a competitive edge or innovation, custom solutions are the key. 

Custom solutions give you the platform to experiment and innovate. It helps with improved customer experience, more significant market share, competitive edge, and improved revenue.

Seamless Integration

You are a growing business; initially, you had few customers, few team members, and few vendors. You were managing everything on MS Excel. Now you have thousands of customers, hundreds of team members, and hundreds of vendors, you have outgrown Excel.

Now you have a CRM to manage customer relations; an HRMS to manage hiring, payroll, attendance, appraisals; accounting software to manage invoice and finance; a project management software to manage client projects; a marketing website to drive inbound leads; one software to manage inventory and warehouse; another one to manage vendors, one more to manage orders, etc.

What will happen if these different tools do not talk to each other? Suppose a lead came in and sales did not get its notification, or the order placed was not put into pending orders for manufacturing. Who will eventually suffer?

Like MS Excel, using off-the-shelf solutions could have made sense at some point in time. As the business and team size grows, you need a specific solution created for your business processes, which integrates various functions to work as one for a unified customer experience.

Flexibility and Scalability

One of the strengths of custom software solutions is their ability to cater to new features on the go. They are custom-tailored to suit all the needs and unique processes of a business. When a business workflow evolves due to growth or change in the environment, custom solutions prove to be flexible and scalable.

The architecture of a custom solution can be built, keeping future expansions in mind. When the proper time arises, new features can be quickly added to support growth ambitions.

Discussing your long-term visions and product roadmap, ensure that the scope to develop features in the future is embedded in the software architecture. 

Compliance Management

Most ready-to-deploy solutions are created for global users and can significantly miss following National, State, or industry-level compliance with data privacy and consent management guidelines. Working on such software solutions could result in following processes that are not compliant with multiple guidelines and could eventually cost you a lot in terms of legal penalties from lawsuits.

It is another area where having a custom solution built helps comply with government and other geopolitical guidelines. It could also adapt to changing policies because of its small and agile size.

Customer Satisfaction

There are multiple ways custom software can empower you to be customer-centric and improve customer satisfaction. 

 Your web application and mobile app can make your business accessible 24/7. IT makes it easier for your customer to buy your service or product anything they want from anywhere. 

You can provide better service by implementing an issue tracking system and putting sincere efforts into resolving customer complaints quickly.

Your software can remember your loyal customers and provide them with gift cards and reward points whenever they bring a new customer to you. You can also have a feedback mechanism built in to understand current opportunities and strengths of the business and work on them proactively.

 You can work on online strategies to improve customer engagement, put yourself in front of them often, and implement the features to establish direct communication.

Conclusion

A custom software development initiative for startups is a sizable undertaking and should not be the first step while establishing the business. It is always recommended to start with a low-risk and low-cost engagement, which could be managing business requirements on office management apps like MS Excel, then testing a few off-the-shelf apps, then thinking about an MVP and iteratively building on it.

 For established businesses, custom software development allows you to have a solution that meets all your business requirements. It also saves a lot of pain that enterprises go through while getting an off-the-shelf customized as per their needs and then integrating them with the business ecosystem. And later, with changes in business requirements or flows, all the effort and cost go to waste.

Suppose you are planning for a custom software solution and don’t have an experienced development team or someone with experience managing a software development process. In that case, you need to have a reliable development partner to help you succeed with the initiative.

With years of experience in developing custom software for businesses across various industries, Taazaa Inc. can be the right partner to help you build your software platform. Taazaa Inc. has been recognized by industry-leading rating platform ‘Clutch’ as one of the best Software Companies in Cleveland.