When Do You Need Custom Software? 5 Signs Excel Is No Longer Enough

Custom software is a program designed and coded from scratch around a business's workflow, and for most businesses the need arises when Excel sheets and off-the-shelf programs start slowing down daily work. The short answer: if you are entering the same data in more than one place by hand, if errors are costing you money and if you are changing the way you work to fit an off-the-shelf program, it is time for custom software. In this article, drawing on the projects we at Diyojen have worked through with our clients, I walk through these signs and how to start the right way.

What is custom software, and how is it different from off-the-shelf software?

Custom software is a program built solely around your business's rules, steps and team, and you own it. Off-the-shelf software, on the other hand, is built for the shared needs of thousands of businesses and gives everyone the same screens and the same steps.

The limits of off-the-shelf software usually don't show in the first few months. As the business grows, you need a field the program doesn't offer, the team fills that gap with an Excel file, and before long the information lives in two separate places. Monthly license fees climb with the number of users, moving your data to another system gets harder, and getting the program to do something it wasn't built for is often simply not possible.

With custom software, the screens, permissions and reports are built around the way you work. In every piece of software we develop at Diyojen, our first question is the same: in this business, what steps does a job go through from start to finish?

When do you need custom software? 5 signs

You need custom software if at least two of the signs below happen in your business every week. A single sign can sometimes be solved with a small adjustment; when several of them come together, the problem is no longer about workarounds but about the tool itself.

1. Are you writing the same information in three different places?

Entering the same data by hand in more than one place is the clearest sign that you need custom software. Writing a customer's details first into a phone, then into Excel, then into the accounting program wastes time and creates a new chance for error with every copy.

2. Does the knowledge live in one person's head?

If a task only moves forward when a particular employee is in the office, the process depends on a person, not a system. When that person goes on leave or quits, the business is left in the dark. Good software takes knowledge out of individual heads and moves it to a shared place where everyone can see as much as their permissions allow.

3. Are errors directly costing you money?

A missed rent payment, a forgotten appointment or an incorrectly entered invoice is lost revenue, plain and simple. After designing and coding the corporate website for the Özpınarlar Group, we moved their rent tracking to software that talks to the bank; the goal was to stop tracking from depending on manual checks.

4. Are you changing how you work to fit an off-the-shelf program?

If you are breaking your own workflow to match the steps an off-the-shelf program offers, the tool isn't serving you; you are serving the tool. The pre-accounting software we developed for Remim, a manufacturer of window and door systems, is an example of this kind of solution, built around the manufacturer's own way of working.

5. Does growing mean hiring more people?

If rising business volume forces you to hire new people just for paperwork and tracking, your process isn't scaling. The vehicle tracking and booking software we developed for Lotus VIP, and the patient tracking and online appointment software we developed for HosDent, were both built so the system takes over the repetitive work.

Off-the-shelf or custom software?

Off-the-shelf software offers a quick start for standard, small-scale needs; custom software is the better choice when the work is unique to you, the data is valuable and the system will be used for the long term. The table below compares the two approaches from a business owner's point of view.

To be honest: custom software isn't necessary for every business. If your workflow is simple, your team is small and your needs are standard, it's still too early for custom software. Once the five signs above become clear, though, the math usually changes when you add up license fees and lost time.

How does the custom software development process work?

The custom software development process starts with mapping out the work, and coding only comes once that map is clear. These are the steps we follow at Diyojen:

1. Discovery: We talk with the team about how a job flows through the business from start to finish.
2. Scope: We separate what absolutely has to be in the first version from what can wait.
3. Design: Our design team prepares the screens, and users see the flow before any coding begins.
4. Development: Our software team builds it piece by piece, and every piece is shown in working form.
5. Transition: Data from the old Excel files is moved into the new system, and the team gets up to speed with short training sessions.
6. Maintenance: Once the system is in use, it is improved based on the feedback that comes in.

The most common mistake is trying to cram everything into the first version. A small but solid first version shows what the team actually uses and makes the next steps clearer.

What should you prepare before starting custom software?

The most valuable thing to prepare before starting custom software is a written description of how your business runs today. No technical knowledge is needed; a plain explanation is enough.

• The files you use: Which Excel sheets, forms and notebooks get opened every day?
• Users: Who will use the system, and what should each person see or not see?
• The most frustrating step: Which task wastes the most time or produces the most errors each week?
• Integrations: Are there systems it needs to talk to, such as your bank, accounting program or website?
• Success criteria: What do you expect to have changed six months from now?

In user experience, task analysis, meaning observing step by step what a person does to complete a task, is the foundation of this preparation. For anyone curious about the topic, the Nielsen Norman Group's guide to task analysis is a good place to start.

In short

• Custom software is a program designed and coded around a business's workflow, and the business owns it.
• Entering the same data in several places, knowledge concentrated in one person and errors that cost money are the clearest signs you need custom software.
• Off-the-shelf software is fast for standard needs; if your work is unique, the limits on licensing, data portability and customization turn into costs over time.
• A good process starts with discovery and moves forward with a small, solid first version.
• The biggest contribution you can make before starting is to write down your current workflow in plain language.

If you recognized several of these signs in your business, you can see how Diyojen approaches a project on our how we work page, and then we can talk through your workflow together.

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