← All articles

Off-the-shelf software or a bespoke app? How to decide

Every growing business reaches a point where spreadsheets and generic software stop fitting. The question is whether to buy, adapt or build.

Apps By Kris Wolton CITP 2 min read

Spreadsheets, paper forms and a patchwork of apps get most businesses a long way. But eventually the workarounds cost more than they save. At that point you have three options: buy off-the-shelf software, adapt something existing, or build an app around how you work.

When off-the-shelf is the right answer

Buy rather than build when:

  • Your process is standard, accounts, payroll, email, basic CRM
  • There are mature products used by thousands of similar businesses
  • You're happy to adapt your process to the software
  • You need it working this month

For most core functions, a well-chosen off-the-shelf product is cheaper, faster and lower risk.

When a bespoke app pays off

Build when:

  • Your way of working is your competitive advantage
  • Off-the-shelf products need so many workarounds that staff avoid them
  • You're re-keying the same data between several systems
  • Your industry is poorly served by generic software, common in trades, contracting and agriculture
  • You need a tool that works on site, on a phone, in the way your team actually works

The middle ground

Often the best answer is a mix: off-the-shelf for accounts and email, and a focused app for the part of the business that makes you different, connected to the rest so data only gets entered once.

Questions to ask before you build

  1. What exact problem will this solve, and how will we measure it?
  2. Who will use it, where, and on what devices?
  3. Which existing systems must it connect to?
  4. Who owns the code and the data? (It should be you.)
  5. How will it be supported, secured, backed up and updated?
  6. What is the smallest first version that delivers value?

Industry apps: built by the trade, for the trade

We build our own industry apps alongside bespoke work. Our landscaping app was designed by landscapers for landscapers, and building, groundworks and agricultural contracting apps are in the pipeline. The lesson from all of them: the best business software is designed with the people who use it every day.

How we can help

We can help you decide whether to buy or build, choose and integrate off-the-shelf software, or design and develop a bespoke app, with security, data ownership and integration built in from the start.

Related articles