< Symptoms your Business Needs Custom Software Development />

The demand for business software solutions is nothing new. If you are running a business in the 21st century, I'm sure you already know that. While some may disagree when I say E.T is the best movie of all time (#sorrynotsorry) but, disagreeing with the fact that software, indeed, is the foundation for a successful business will be silly. Being in this industry for the last 15 years or so and working alongside Tech giants like Google, Amazon, and Salesforce, I could closely observe that how custom software improves productivity, increases efficiencies, decreases costs and streamlines processes. Software automation helps businesses of all size and stature.

Running a business has a lot of aspects?—?Supply chain, operations, administration, customer satisfaction, and analytics. All this together without any technology spells chaos and mismanagement. Also, when your competitors in the same niche decide to micromanage all these with the help of technology, read custom software, it means a huge competitive advantage for them.

Being in this custom software development business, often companies approach us not being quite sure as to whether they actually require software developed? Or they should buy a ready-made solution? When we talk about software, there is always the "Build vs Buy" dilemma. Yes, you can opt for ready-made solutions if you think the software fits your requirements. And yes, the cost incurred will be less too.

But, with off-the-shelf software, scalability and flexibility are a question mark! Seamless integration of the software with another enterprise system will also require extra development. Plus, as too many people in your niche will be using the same software, you will have no competitive advantage over your competitors. Let us now understand what are some of the early signs that can tell you that your business may need Custom Developed Software.

Think….. Do you have any business problem that needs to be solved or has an area of improvement? Or recurring things that require a lot of time and manual labor? Ummm… I guess so. That's why you are still reading, Am I right? ;) We have listed down a few symptoms, that if checks out, will need you to take your software requirements to a Custom Software Development Company. If you recognize your business in even one of the below, it may be time to consider custom software.

1. Your business is overwhelmed by a lot of manual processes and paperwork and you see a serious decrease in efficiency

One of the basic objectives of any business is to increase revenue. And chances of higher revenue increases drastically when there is higher productivity. But, more often than not, you see your employees struggling with too much manual work or continuously entering never-ending data into spreadsheets resulting in increased time to complete the work and also human error.

A custom business software developed according to your requirements seems like a good solution here. A collaboration software will provide an all-in-one environment for all employees with permission to plan and execute workflows as well as communicate seamlessly and access them anytime, anywhere.

Let me give you an example of how Hooligan developed a custom software for a real estate giant. The backend software and mobile app that we built for them massively helped them automating indoor and outdoor field inspections, reducing manual errors and eventually cutting down the whole delivery time dramatically(from 4–5 days to 2 hours) without compromising the quality and enhancing the efficiency and reliability in the process.

2. Too many common and recurring problems that need to be sorted out on a daily basis

This is too common for a start-up or a small business, you tend to manage three to four clients at one time, all on your own. So that means organize email addresses, contact information, email sending, assigning similar tasks, sending notifications, scheduling meetings, drawing invoices etc?—?all day every day! Investing in a custom software solution will let you automate all these repetitive tasks automatically without any unnecessary hassle and scale your business in an error-free manner. This helps you and your team with better visibility, powerful business insights and scalability, as and when required.

3. All your data needs are fulfilled by a worn out spreadsheets and are tracked and analyzed by hand

Acc. to sources, Businesses can spend up to 80 percent of their time collecting, monitoring, analyzing, and reporting data. But, you already know it! You practically own Excel! You're almost running the entire business on excel.

So, you ought to know that it takes a lot of time to manually enter the data and even more maintaining it. Also, it doesn't provide every information immediately and quickly. And analytics? you can forget analytics! A business software solution will be a one-stop solution for these woes as with analytics integrated with it, you can easily monitor all your metrics and key performance indicators from one place and also share specific details about your business with team members, keeping your confidentiality intact.

Another real-time experience of custom software development?—?Take a look at this analytics tool that we custom built so that data on link visits from all over the world can be collected and analyzed and then presented as charts and graphs. This analytics tool helps executives and other decision-makers take valuable insights and informed decisions backed by data in real-time.

4. It's getting harder for you to reach your customers and manage them

You and I both know how essential customer relations is for us. But lately, it seems like you cannot keep up with your customer base and is subjected to many customer complaints, escalation emails or poor customer response to surveys, it might be time for a quick technological switch.

Also, you are running out of ideas on how to keep up with the various social channels your customers are present on. A custom software solution will manage all the customer information, their project flow information, team responsible for the project and hence, maintain continuous collaboration between clients and the people involved in the project. It can also integrate email, customer support, and social media engagement tools so that you never have to find yourself frantically looking for information at the time of crisis.

5. Your business is expanding

Growth and expansion are on a business owner's mind from the very first moment he/she sets up the business. If your business is expanding in terms of location or in terms of employees or customers, you definitely need some business process management software solution in place.

It will help manage workflows that you can change on-the-fly. It also helps integrate all information that is accessible from all locations so that your team can work with customers and other teams globally without any constraint, thus increasing efficiency and also on the same hand, saving costs.

6. Your software isn't scalable

Flexibility is key in business today. The natural cycles of expansion and contraction in the economy usually find their way into your business. Software that cannot scale to meet these demands is software that isn’t efficient for your business.

7. You’re always in search-and-test mode.

There are numerous software applications designed for specific tasks – you know this because you’re in the process of methodically testing them all. Some are less than what you need. Others are complex, with features you will never use. You may even be trying to link several pieces of unrelated software together, hoping to accomplish a whole-business solution.

8. You need to meet compliance standards.

Some industries are subject to government regulations, and the compliance details are usually very precise. Compliance can be more difficult to achieve if your business doesn’t have the means to capture the necessary information.

9. You have multiple locations.

Businesses that operate from more than one location often need to access and update information to benefit all locations. While off-the-shelf software is common in multiple locations, it can also make communication between these locations more complicated than necessary.

10. You have lots of paper.

While many visionaries predicted a paperless office in the future, the fact is that some businesses have never managed to tame the paper tiger. Still, it’s possible to provide good customer service without mountains of paper. Get rid of the whiteboard, sticky notes, and printed dispatch reports.

11. Your software is too old.

Software can be a significant business expense, and many businesses continue to use outdated software in an attempt to wring every last bit of value from it. Legacy systems may operate a critical portion of your business, but they leave you vulnerable.

Isn’t Custom Software Expensive? The word “custom” often equates to “expensive” in many people’s minds. While you will pay more for a custom software solution than you would for a single software application, you have to consider the return on your investment. Can you consolidate multiple steps into a single system? Can you unburden your staff by automating some tasks? How would that create a more efficient use of time and resources? The investment into a custom software solution might actually turn out to be less expensive in the long run as compared to multiple pieces of software.

Custom software can be as large or as small as your needs warrant. You may only need one small piece to link two software systems already in place. Or you may need a robust solution that is unique to your business. .

Summing it all up

As quoted by Bill Gates, "The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency. "

Custom software development for your business is a big decision as it will integrate most major aspects of a company's functioning and play an integral part in the companies operation and success. It will result in productivity boost and increase in revenue. If you self-diagnose any of the above symptoms, your business requires a technological boost. Take a leap of faith based on due-diligence and make sure that you fully understand the processes you're looking to automate.

Evaluate the processes, list out the objectives, flesh out the requirements and hire yourself a professional technical team that will help you develop a custom software that will provide an ROI of many times the investment in terms of time-saving, cost-effectiveness and risk reduction through a structured, scalable and comprehensive custom software solution.

Whatever your needs, a custom software solution can streamline business processes and perform more efficiently than many off-the-shelf software packages. Maybe it’s time you considered it. Book a meeting here – our custom software development can help make your business more efficient